There Be Business Monsters

I recently read of a writer who was working for a publication at a fifth her normal rate because the editor mentioned the possibility of a regular job with them. At the end of the first assignment, suddenly the job was no longer a possibility – at that time, of course. But the editor liked the writer’s work and wanted to use her again, though there wasn’t as much money available for the new assignment. And the job might just be available in the future. So the writer debated taking it the second assignment.

Welcome to the real world of business, boys and girls. No matter how “nice” this editor seemed, she was shameless playing the writer three ways from Sunday. I’ll entertain the benefit of the doubt that she might have been acting unconsciously, but my money would be on her knowing what she was doing each step of the way. In fact, I'll go so far as to state that each and every one of you, possibly recently, has been manipulated by a client (editorial or corporate) that you liked.

That's not surprising. We're all human and we all manipulate others to some degree or another. But many people drop their usual scruples and constraints when it comes to business negotiation. You might hear, "Oh, don't worry, just write it long and I'll take care of it," which translates into, "Give me more material so I can pick and choose, and I'll happily reward you by paying no more than I need to." It could be, "Why, no one has ever had a problem with our contract." Or how about this one: "I'm sure accounting lost the invoice. I'll get on it right away."

Such people are trying to get what they want from you while keeping their budgets in control. Don't be surprised: It's what they get paid to do. Top that with wanting to avoid an angry outburst from someone ill-used, and you've got a monster client.

The real problem for many writers, however, is wanting to believe that the client is a friend. But a friend hopefully wouldn't ask you to put aside your livelihood as a favor one month, let alone ask you to do it again the next, all so the friend could benefit. With friends like that, who needs enemies? It's just another reason to take the emotion out of the business.