A major media outlet only just paid me for an article I wrote over 2 months ago, and only after exchanging over 30 emails with their editors and accounts payable department. I spent 2x as long trying to get paid as I did writing the article. Not the first time this has happened.
My first job in journalism was writing a series of music and culture articles for the Houston Chronicle’s youth culture blog—called 29-95–which folded, and I never got paid for those. I only followed up about 5 times before giving up because I was 22 and didn’t know better.
Earlier this year it took me about 6 months to get paid for another article. It seems like outlets either PayPal you right away, or you have to take a part-time job hounding them for your couple-hundred dollars they owe. Is this just a me problem or systemic?
Do any veteran freelancers have tips on how to head this off? Is there some whisper network of outlets that actually pay you in a timely manner? Invite me to the Slack pls 🙏
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