Why You Should Insist on Them
You should insist on assignment letters for the basic reason that if you are going to do work, you deserve to get paid. An assignment letter — even in the absence of a contract — serves as legal proof that a magazine hired you to do a job and promised you compensation in return.
There are many reasons you should retain written proof of this arrangement. Sometimes you will need a copy of your assignment letter to straighten out a misunderstanding, while at other times you will need the paperwork to ensure that less-than-reputable editors make good on what they have promised you.
Does an e-mail count as an assignment letter?
Sometimes, yes. When an editor sends instructions to you via e-mail instead of on company letterhead, you should retain a printed copy of the e-mail in your records, alongside the magazine's writing contract, if there is one.
Interoffice Miscommunication
As with most offices, magazine editorial departments have communication problems from time to time. One editor thinks another editor is handling something when, in reality, it's not getting done at all. This is basic miscommunication. It's nothing sinister, but all the same you don't want it getting in the way of your getting paid for the articles that you write.
Let's say, for instance, that your regular editor sends you an assignment letter but fails to send a copy of it to the magazine's managing editor. The managing editor, who probably is responsible for making sure you get paid, has no written record of the amount to which you and your regular editor agreed. Thus, when you file your article on time and as assigned, you may have to offer the managing editor proof of your arrangement with your regular editor.
This sort of thing happens all the time, say, when one of the editors involved goes on vacation. Will the problem likely get straightened out on its own, even if you don't have a copy of your assignment letter? Sure — but perhaps not in time for you to pay your rent.
New Editors
Most magazines' editorial staffs are constantly changing. Editors come and go, with new editors stepping into a sea of agreements and assignments left behind by their predecessors. You want to make sure that you will still have the work you were promised even if the person who promised it is no longer with the magazine.
When you find yourself with a new editor, it can be immensely helpful to simply offer that editor copies of the assignment letters you already have received. The conversation might start something like this: “I've been working with the other editor for several years now, and these are the assignments I'm currently writing. I thought you might like to have records of them, so that you'll know what's coming from me even if there is no record of the paperwork on your end.” In one shot, then, you will have introduced yourself, made clear that you are already working on the assigned articles, and presented yourself as someone seeking to be helpful to the new editor in charge. Not a bad way to begin a relationship at all.
Money Matters
Questions about payment crop up all the time at magazines, and an assignment letter can help to answer them quickly. As you learned earlier in this chapter, an assignment letter, even in the form of an e-mail, is written proof of a magazine editor's intent to hire you for a job. If that letter or e-mail states that you will be paid $700 for the job, then you have written proof of the contracted payment amount.
Some magazines pay “on acceptance” of your article, while others pay “on publication.” When possible, insist on written acknowledgment that you will be paid “on acceptance,” which is the day you complete your assignment. Otherwise, you may write an article in January and fail to get paid until the magazine decides to print it the following December.
You can easily surmise when this kind of written proof will be invaluable, such as when there is a disagreement with the accounts payable department. Again, the problem may be a simple misunderstanding, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure you get paid.
Deadlines and Kill Fees
Sometimes, a contract or assignment letter will state that if you miss your deadline, then you will not be paid the full amount for the article. Instead, you will sometimes be entitled to a “kill fee.” Technically, this is the amount a magazine pays you if it “kills” your assignment, but it can also be the amount you may be entitled to if you fail to file your story on time.
Most magazine editors will give you an opportunity to file at least one revised version of your article before imposing a kill fee. Your revision usually does not have to be filed before your original article's deadline, but you may receive a new deadline that you have to meet for the revised article.
The easiest way to prove that you have made your deadline, of course, is to have a written copy of that deadline in your files — your assignment letter. That way, if an editor tells you that you will be receiving a kill fee instead of your full compensation even though you submitted your story exactly when the editor wanted it, then you can point to the assignment letter as proof that you made your deadline and demand your payment in full.
Requests for Revisions
One of your obligations when you write a magazine article is to assist your editor with revision requests. It's rare for an editor to receive a story — even from longtime, highly successful writers — and put it directly into the magazine's pages without at least asking a few questions or wanting a few changes to the copy.
There is a difference, though, between editors who ask for revisions to a story and editors who ask for an entirely
If you find yourself working with an editor who seems to constantly change her instructions about what your story should include, then you need to refer to your assignment letter and point out that you have already completed the job as it was assigned. In some cases, the editor may force you to take a kill fee instead of being paid in full for your work. Unfair, certainly, but it's usually a far better financial option than spending weeks or even months revising a story countless times for an indecisive editor.
Some editors, often those who are new to the business, will ask you for a story about apples and then decide — after you've written it — that they really want a story about oranges. This is bad assigning on the editor's part, and it does not constitute a reasonable request for revisions. Your assignment letter will help you prove that you met the editor's original request.
