Ask Sally #9 When Do I Get Paid?

Do women's magazines pay you when they accept your story or when it's printed?

This answer applies to any sort of sale in publishing, not just women's magazines. The simple answer is that it depends on the publication, and each one will have a different way of working out the financial side of things. The Weekly News, for example, tend to pay upon acceptance. Take A Break/Fiction Feast pay once the story has been published, but this is because they pay by the page (which is why we all want a story in TAB/FF!) and don't know until the story has gone to press how many pages it's going to fill.

If your story has been published and you haven't received any sort of remuneration after a month, it might be worth contacting the publication to ask about payment. This advice doesn't apply to things like anthologies, who may pay royalties on copies sold, which will usually pay out quarterly.

Usually magazines are pretty good at paying promptly, but I have a friend who tried for seven or eight months to get payment for an article she wrote for a lifestyle magazine, who'd actually commissioned her to do it. She got the money in the end, but it was an unpleasant experience. Luckily these unprofessionals, at least in the proper publishing world, are few and far between. Needless to say she won't be writing for them again.

I would advise that you don't be shy about asking about payment. After all, you've supplied a product and you've been promised a fee. That constitutes a contract.

There's no need to get stroppy. Just phone up or email the publication and politely point out that you haven't yet received payment. I had a cheque go missing in the post earlier this year, and The Weekly News, who'd sent it to me, were absolutely wonderful about ensuring a replacement was sent out once they knew I hadn't received the first cheque.

Only if the publication doesn't pay up should you start being firmer. Write a letter including an invoice for the work you've done. If they still don't pay up at all, you might want to consider whether it's worth chasing it through the small claims court, or just writing it off if it's only a small amount. Only you can decide that.