There’s nothing quite as frustrating to a freelancer as having to chase a publisher down for unpaid invoices. Story Board has reported on late-paying Canadian publishers a couple of times over the past few months. In both cases, freelancers were angry enough to go public with their complaints.
Last fall, a similarly frustrated freelance journalist started a website to name and shame late-paying publishers. With the help of the founders of the journalism crowdfunding site Beacon Reader, Iona Craig launched Pay Me Please, a site dedicated to outing publishers who owe their freelancers money.
And, according to a post this week on the Contently website, it’s having an impact. Since the site launched in October of 2013, over one hundred unpaid invoices have been listed on the site. The amounts owing range from a few Euros to thousands of dollars and the late-payers run the gamut from obscure little publishers to major players like Al Jazeera, BBC, Esquire Weekly and FoxNews.com.
The Contently post says that so far 16 of the invoices listed on the site have been paid. But more importantly, Iona Craig says that some publishers have responded to the mere threat of being named on Pay Me Please.
Contently says that as Pay Me Please gains visibility, it will become more and more useful to “disenfranchised creatives” who have few options when faced with non-paying clients. So share widely, freelancers.
And if you’re owed by a tardy publisher, maybe it’s time to say “enough is enough. Pay Me Please.”
