Writer-to-Writer Warnings: April 2008

How Our Site Works

Welcome to our friendly writer to writer warning site. This site allows writers to warn others about clients who have not paid them for work done. The person that maintains this blog makes no claims to any validity of any of the statements made by others on this site. This is not a site where we pursue any legal action, and we intend no harm against anyone mentioned here. It is simply a place for writers to talk about clients that they have had who did not pay them for their work.

email us at : writerstowriterswarnings@gmail.com

If you are mentioned on this site, and you think that you have been misrepresented, PLEASE comment to explain to others the situation. This is a place for writers to leave their own experiences about what has happened to them. If you have worked with a writer that is angry with you and has posted your name here, PLEASE defend yourself! We seek to explore all of the options and we want to hear your side of the story!

What If A Scammer Approaches You For Work?

If someone listed on this site, or on others sites approaches you and asks you to do work, how should you answer? The polite way is to say "No, thank you" or simply not to reply to the email. BUT THIS WONT STOP THEM FROM SCAMMING!

The only way to make things like this blog work is to reply to them with the truth. Say, for instance, "I saw your name and email on a blog warning me about scammers. Because of that, I will work for you, but only on a pre-pay basis. You pay me first, and then I will do the work." The only way that we can stop these people is by making them aware that we all know what they are doing. Let them know upfront. Make them go to the trouble of changing their email addresses again and again again. It is one of the only things that we poor, unrepresented writers can do to try to stop it. Stand up for yourself. TELL them that you know they are a scammer.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Sign-Up Scams

This one has been floating around for quite some time now on freelance writing . com and other work sites. An ad is put out for a freelance writer - sometimes saying they need articles of a certain type, sometimes mass articles and sometime just a few. Any emails sent to apply for the job are responded to with an email telling you that you have been selected as a finalist for a job, and that in order to be put "in their system" you need to go to a site and fill out information. This is anything from a book club to a site about online schools and degrees. Turns out you're being put onto mailing lists, and as soon as you do fill out your info you'll be contacted by people from the sites. Here is an example of the email that one person received:

"Greetings, thank you for applying for this position! I have reviewed your work and think it looks good. We are going to continue to review applicants at this time and we ask you to visit our website and register by getting information on one of the schools, the link is http://www.justdegreesonline.com/. We will wait for you to do this and then contact you for next and final part in order to work with us. Thank you, we appreciate your interest.

Sincerely,
Robyn Stone
Just Degrees Online "

It is obviously a scam to get as many people to sign up as possible. No one has been offered a job from these people yet, that we've heard of. Let us know if it has worked for you!

Meisha Parrott, Two Write hands, MLP Writing and Editing or Sharon Parrott

** From an email**

I have been dealing with a non-payment issue for over a year. I am curious if anyone else has reported having problems with payment from Meisha Parrott, Two Write Hands, MLP Writing and Editing or Sharon Parrott. This is all the same individual, that has published or sold work I did without payment. I was able to track down an individual that was sold many of my articles, after a long relationship with this individual. I was informed my articles were paid for. A completely different story than I was told. If I am not the only one that has been wronged by her, I feel obligated to get the word out. I am actually hoping this is an isolated account.

What To Do Here

1. Read through the posts. 2. If you have had experiences with a person mentioned in a post, please leave a comment to tell others it has happened more than once. If you wish to defend a person, please do so and tell why. No comments will be deleted unless they contain vulgarity. 3. If you find a post about yourself, and you don't agree with what has been said, please leave a comment defending yourself and your business. Again, we will not delete any comment unless it contains vulgar language or threats. 4. If you have a name, organization, email address or business name of someone who has stiffed you out of payment, even for only small amounts, send the information that you have to writerstowriterswarnings@gmail.com with the subject line "writer warnings". We will make a post within the same day with your information.

About Writers To Writers

We are not seeking legal action. Nor do we seek to tarnish anyone's reputation as a freelance writer or a client. We give everyone a right to defend themselves, and we do not intentionally publish false information. We also believe that we are providing a service to writers who are working hard to make their money. All posts made on this site are simply one person's version of events. If you think this site is representing you falsely, please email us and let us know. The bottom line is that the writing world is just like any other world. If you pay your writers and keep up professional attitudes, you will have nothing to worry about. But even neglecting to pay 20$ for a set of articles is not going to be tolerated. Small amounts of money are still amounts of money, and some writers depend on each small amount to make a living. Please pay the writers.

Advice From Contributors

Advice From Creative Blogger at: http://www.blogger.com/profile/05854721996562308787

......how writers can protect themselves from this happening.... ie a simple contract, a partial non refundable fee up front, deadlines re communications etc. A good site to gain this information free is www.copywritersforum.com

My personal recommendation is that in cases like this you give them 2 weeks notice that they pay or you reserve the right to sell the articles on and publish them as you please. Ie, without payment you own the articles not them!

You further advise them that any unauthorized use of the article by them will result in breach of copyright and legal action.

If you want to be polite about it so as to gain more work from them..don't bother! Do you want to work for someone who behaves like this?

I personally do not do any further work until I have rec'd full payment for work already sent. The sooner I am paid, the sooner I get back to work.

If you value yourself and your talent, don't be walked over. There is a ton of work out there and the market is growing.

Check this link for more tips:

http://www.copywritersboard.com/copywriting-discussion/5955-best-w

Writer-to-Writer Warnings