my job is weird
just when i think i have seen it all, something happens that literally just makes me laugh, not always a good comfortable laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
i did a job in january through a designer for a magazine that to remain anonymous is basically about karma. ok fine, the shoot was of an art therapy teacher, it went well, i got a gushing email from the subject on how fun it was to have me and my assistant shoot her, how beautiful she thought she looked in the magazine when it hit the stands, she even sent me a gift. it was a great shoot and experience.
then a few months went by and i never got paid. then a few more months went by and i got a letter explaining that i may never be paid. not just my fee mind you, everything, the assistants fee, gear, car rental, everything.
i try to not play games anymore, for too long i treated this like something fun to do vs being an actual business. so i got a lawyer on them, we took it as far as we could without actually serving papers. the amounts involved just weren’t enough for the lawyer and honestly, publishers know that me spending over 5 figures in fees to get a couple thousand, if that usually, just wont happen and a straight copyright violation while worth over 6 figures, happens rarely, and costs more then you can imagine.
i just had never been this blatently not payed and told i would not be paid, this one was a kick in the teeth that truly stung, certainly since its a magazine about karma, how could they not pay?
well, as of today it’s been over 9 months, and today, a few minutes ago in fact, i received a box with cookies, tea, brownies, a pine cone, a handwritten note from what appears to be a new publisher and a check.
nice. it would seem someone at this magazine about karma, wants to keep it on the up and up, and for this, after all this, i am actually kinda greatful, of course, minus the lawyers fee grateful, but greatful.
my job is weird.