Occasionally professional writers will come up against the situation of clients who are late in paying or don’t pay at all. With many businesses, including publishing houses and independent book stores, struggling in the last years, writers are just as likely as other small business persons to find that their payments are delayed or not coming at all.

Of course we all hope this doesn’t happen to us, but if it does, there are ways to handle it.

What you can do:

• Give ’em the benefit of a doubt. Send a polite letter requesting payment. Assume that the publisher or client simply forgot to send the payment.

• Give a reminder. If you haven’t heard back in two weeks, send another letter, with a copy of the first letter. Make a copy of the contract or purchase order (never send the original) and enclose it. Reference it in your letter.

• Give ’em a ring. If you don’t receive payment in two weeks following the second letter, call. Again, keep it friendly and polite. Keep a record of your calls and what was said on both parts. Ask if there is any reason why you haven’t received payment. Acknowledge the reason, but remind the editor or publisher that payment is owed. Refer to the language of the contract. Don’t adopt a threatening tone. No one reacts well to that.

• Immediately after the phone conversation, send another letter, this one by certified mail, requesting return receipt. Certified mail requires and receives more attention than regular mail. It provides legal proof that you mailed the letter and that the other person received it. Remind the client of the conversation, repeating the points made in it, and the person’s promise to send payment.

• If you are uncomfortable calling, try sending an email. Many editors prefer that method of communication. Be careful here. Email can seem cold and impersonal. Keep your message brief but conciliatory.

• From this point on, if you still haven’t received any payment, use a series of certified letters, phone calls, and/or emails. This tells the editor or publisher that you are not giving up.

• If you are still unsuccessful, send a final letter, by certified mail again, stating that you have no choice but to take action. What this action is depends upon you and what results you desire. Obviously, you want to be paid for your work. If the publisher has gone bankrupt (a not unusual occurrence in these days), you may be out the money. If this is the case, you are free to send your manuscript elsewhere.

• You can turn the matter over to a collection agency or attorney who will charge a percentage to use every device to collect the money. Be aware that unless a large amount of money is concerned, you may not get any takers. The more paperwork you have—a contract, copies of a purchase order, etc.—the better chance you have of collection.

• You can take the publisher to small claims court if the amount owed is below that allowed in small claims court. This varies from state to state.

Obviously, a writer does not want to resort to these last two measures. They take time and will probably cost money. You may decide to cut your losses. Chalk up the experience to the price of doing business and learn from it.

What can you do to prevent finding yourself in this situation:

• Do your homework. Before signing any contract or accepting any writing assignment, check out the publisher. Go to their web site. Check out the quality and ease of use of it. If it is sloppy or amateurish, take a second thought about signing with this publishing house

• Network. Attend writers’ conferences and seminars. Ask around about the publisher with which you are thinking of signing. Writers are usually a generous bunch and will share whatever information they can with you. Don’t expect them, however, to divulge specific details of contracts. Keep your questions general.

• If anything seems “off” about the contract or assignment, run, don’t walk. No promise of future money is worth the aggravation and annoyance of trying to collect payment.

Remember, you are a business person. If you face late or non-payment from a writing job, treat it as you would any business dealing. Don’t take it personally. Conduct yourself professionally.

Jane McBride Choate is the author of 32 books and a Contributing Editor to Children's Book Insider. Her latest book is Larrabee's Luck from Avalon Romance. Read an interview with Jane at Avalon Authors.

The Highlights Foundation is holding a Whole Novel Workshop on March 11-17, 2012, at the historic Highlights headquarters in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The workshop offers an intimate setting to 16 students with lots of one-on-one attention from instructors. Workshop leaders include authors Kathy Appelt, Jeanette Ingold, Alan Gratz, and editor Martha Milhalick (Greenwillow). For more information, click here.
 

My post appears today on the official Picture Book Month blog:
http://picturebookmonth.com/2011/11/why-picture-books-are-important-by-laura-backes/

Read it to see how my son got made into a pizza!

I'm thrilled to be in such esteemed company on this blog. And thanks to Dianne de Las Casas for organizing and promoting Picture Book Month! I can't wait to see how this grows in the years to come!

Here's our quick look at the most common reasons editors at children's book publishers reject manuscripts, and some smart ways to fix them.

Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

We're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that's a bunch of baloney. The cover is our first impression, and it goes a long way toward determining if we're going to open the book and read the first page. Consumers know this, booksellers know this, and presumably publishers know this as well.

Which is why it's so baffling when a book has a terrible cover. I'm thinking in particular of middle grade and young adult novels, where the cover is the only illustration the reader sees. Why are so many of them misleading (looking dark and moody when the book isn't), inaccurate (ever seen a book where the protagonist depicted on the cover looks nothing like the author's description?), or just plain ugly? And to the teens and tweens who grew up in our visually-oriented culture, a bad cover says "This book isn't worth reading."

In her Publishers Weekly blog, bookseller Elizabeth Bluemle offers some cover tips for publishers, and self-publishers should also take note. One great idea: show a pdf of the proposed cover to a few booksellers and get their yes or no before the book is published. It's really a no-brainer: publishers get feedback from the people who see consumers' reactions first-hand, and sellers get books that help sell themselves. If you're self-publishing, you should be building relationships with local bookstore owners anyway, and asking for their quick opinion shows that you respect their expertise. This will only help when the time comes for them to carry your book in their stores.

Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

These days, instead of digging through the slush pile, many editors are turning to the blogosphere for their next big book. And the newest group to catch the eye of the children's book industry is known as Mom Bloggers. A recent article in Publishers Weekly highlighted how Simon & Schuster hosted 29 of the most popular mom bloggers at a luncheon complete with authors and goodie bags. Why all the fuss? Because moms blog about the books they're reading with their kids, and other moms listen.

But publishers don't rely on mom bloggers to simply spread the word about new books. They also look to them to help create future titles. Editors like Kate Jackson of HarperCollins peruse blogs on a regular basis, looking for writing talent and book ideas. These bloggers are also willing to spread the word on self-published books (sometimes their own), that then catch an editor's eye.

There are two lessons here for both aspiring and published authors: One, don't ignore these mom bloggers when sending out review copies or planning your next blog tour. And two, blogging about children's books, and doing it well, clearly gets you on the publishing radar. This might end up being easier (and more fun) than sending out multiple unsolicited submissions and hoping to get noticed.