Xxxxxxx Magazine defaults on payment (but then Facebook comes to the rescue)
UPDATE: After posting this blog, and a similar post on Facebook, I got a phone call from the magazine in about 5 minutes, agreeing to pay, in exchange for taking down the Facebook post. Wow, that was the quickest turnaround I’ve ever encountered. “The power of Facebook to speed up late payments” deserves its own full blog post. Amazing stuff. The power of Facebook: use its power for good, not evil, and the possibilities are endless…..
So, I’ve taken their name out of this post, because, in all fairness, when push came to shove, they relented and paid up. I spent about a half day working to earn money I had already should have been paid, but at least its done.
The original post:
A word of advise to photographers in Vietnam – do not take commissions or sell stock images to Xxxxxxxxx Magazine. The magazine, based in Hanoi, has defaulted on half of my agreed payment for a photo essay that appeared in the latest issue. Their Senior Editorial Consultant was let go over the weekend, so it appears the magazine is having some issues. Regardless, defaulting on payments to contributors is the fastest way to sully your reputation in the media world, and is inexcusable. Always.
I am lucky to have worked with many of the top editorial clients in the world, as well as great commercial and corporate clients in the region, and I have never, NEVER, had a situation where a client has refused to pay a fee that was previously agreed upon, in writing. The dollar amount is trivial, but its the principle of the thing, and I want to get the word out that this publication, which sells itself as a luxury lifestyle magazine, can’t even pay its already meager fees to its contributors. And I’m not the only one – I have heard similar stories from at least two other contributors.
C’mon Xxxxxxxxxx, do yourself a favor and pay up. Please don’t live up to the stereotype of local businesses that cheat their partners.
