Let’s talk about kill fees, those profit-sucking vampires that deserve a good stake through their hearts. For those not in the know, a kill fee is the money you get when a magazine decides not to accept a contracted article for reasons ranging from poor quality of the finished piece (fair enough) to the editor deciding he doesn’t want your piece after all (not fair at all). Terms are written into a contract and the fee is usually a percentage of the original article fee, anywhere from 50 percent (very rare) to 25 percent (more common) — or less. Freelance writer Erik Sherman often reviews contracts on his blog; check out how different magazines determine and levy their kill fees.

Since every publication has its own contract language, kill fees clauses vary greatly, but one thing they all have in common: publishers are using them with more impunity. Over the last year, I’ve heard some awful stories from writers, like, for example, this one. The writer turned in a story by deadline to a national women’s magazine. The editor said it looked great, but she’d have to pass it around before she could approve it. Months pass, the writer follows up diligently, and finally the editor gets back to her with revisions — pages and pages of them. Basically, the editorial team decided the story needed to go in a “different direction.” (South perhaps?) When the writer asks for more money — it’s a different story from the one that was assigned — the editor says No. (That’s when I would have walked.) But the writer, who doesn’t want to burn a bridge, decides to re-report the story and revise the thing top to bottom. It goes through the waiting game again. The editor finally gets back to her in an e-mail that goes something like, “I’m afraid this story isn’t working for us, so we’ll have to talk about your kill fee.”

Makes you want to kill something other than the fee, doesn’t it? In no other industry I can think of can an organization contract a service, change the specs while refusing to renegotiate terms with the service person, then decide they don’t like the result and offer only a portion of the total fee.

Of course, the answer to all this is that freelancers should negotiate better. It’s not fun, I know, for many of us to talk money and kill fees, but dammit, why should you feel nervous or bad about this? Obviously publishers aren’t afraid to talk about it, because they write these wily terms into their contracts, then let editors wield them with impunity. Why should you be afraid?

So here are some tips for dealing with kill fees:

• When you get a contract, check that kill fee clause carefully. Many contracts will have something like, “A kill fee of X% will be paid to the Author if article is deemed unsatisfactory for publication.” That’s a pretty vague condition. What exactly does “unsatisfactory” mean? Who deems it unsatisfactory — your editor or a committee? Of course the publisher wants to keep things vague — that way they can keep you hanging. So press for specific conditions that have to be met, such as a missed deadline or a number of rewrites.
• Many contracts do not include a description of the assignment, so do make sure you have an assignment letter from your editor in your files. Sometimes they’ll send these by e-mail. Other times you’ll chat on the phone about a story and there’s no paper trail. Create one! Write up your notes from your conversation, ask, “Does this sound right to you?” and e-mail it to your editor. Not only does this give you ammunition should you need it down the road — especially when the publication asks you to go in a different direction during a re-write — but you’ll appear conscientious to your editor.
• Like Kenny Rodgers said, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em/know when to fold ‘em.” Sometimes you send a story in, knowing you nailed it, and your editor gets back to you with, “You know, we thought about this — there’s a new angle to this story we hadn’t thought about.” Stories are like that, so you’ve got to be willing, at times, to go on a new fishing trip. But you should be compensated for that new fishing trip. Many magazines will pay up. Others won’t. You’ve got to be ready to say, “Sorry, these new terms aren”t going to work out for me. I fulfilled the original terms you set out for me, so I’ll be sending my invoice shortly.”
• Remember, everything is negotiable, even signed contracts, so don’t be a fool — negotiate! Say you fulfilled the terms of the contract, but for whatever reason, your editor isn’t liking your story, and offers you a kill fee. You look over your contract and heave a sigh — it looks like the publisher can make a good argument for paying you the contracted kill fee. If you’ve gone through several rewrites (and especially if you sense the editor doesn’t know what the hell he wants), you should fight for the full amount. What do you have to lose? Seriously, do you want to work with this editor again? And do you actually believe he wants to work with you again? State your case objectively and fairly. You might not get 100 percent, but chances are good you might get more than the contracted percentage.

Any kill fee horror stories or tips you’d like to share? Add your comments below. [db]

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