I have. Credit control and client selection is now two key factors in how I do business and who I choose to deal with. I keep a close eye on outstanding invoices and start chasing for payment the moment it falls due. If the client is a regular late payer then I take a long hard look at what material they are being offered, and in some instances have declined to supply further material. I should add that I am under no illusion that this one-man stance goes unnoticed by the rest of the planet.
All the time people don't chase or give up the suppliers become a form of interest free credit and publishers will squeeze any so-called "overhead" to the extreme in the pursuit of profit and shareholder rewards. They are in it for the money. Many underwater photographers are in it for the love of the art. These two aspects are generally diametrically opposed.
As long as people continue to supply material and never chase for payment then the practice of late payment will remain with us.
I have often wondered just how much underwater photographers subsidize the publishing world.....I think the number would be very very large indeed.
Simon you are so right about it being a collective issue and not one that will change from the stance or efforts of one. It requires all photographers to value their work and hold the management of publishers, not their
accounts dept's, accountable. This experience has sure been a wake up for me as these two images were my first to be published in Magazines. Sure I was chuffed at getting some exposure in print but I always expected
receiving payment. I was guilty of sitting on my hands though once the payments had gone past being 3 months due, which is a reasonable amount of time to expect accounts to be finalized. Magazines like these two
publications need to look after
all their contributors not just the in-house ones. After all we all know the amount offered for images pales in comparison to the advertising revenue they help to generate.
I am happy to report though that in my case I have been assured of payment from both magazines by end of month. My recent persistent emails and public venting have finally spurred some action.
We must all do our part to ensure that this does not persist as a frequent practice and I hope my story has served as a warning to both contributors and publishers alike. I may not be a professional but have gone to
considerable time, effort and expense to garner my images and so put great value to them. To be treated in this way by a publisher simply makes me want to avoid that publisher and warn everyone I know about
how that publisher operates. Surely it is a false economy to think there are plenty of photographic fish in the sea.
Cheers,
Jim.
PS: I will post again once I have actually received the payments..........
Edited by JimSwims, 21 May 2010 - 04:46 PM.