How to Ask for a Kill Fee

As a writer it can be costly when an article that you were contracted for has been canceled. Articles can be canceled for reasons such as the publication ran out of space, it was to run alongside something else that didn't transpire or perhaps they changed direction of the publication or topic for the month and though your article was written to spec it is no longer needed. In short, the kill fee will protect you and provide you with a partial income of what has been canceled.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Letter of agreement
• Contract
• Positive attitude

1. When you agree to write an article for a magazine, newspaper or other source it is always wise to have a letter of agreement. In the letter you should have stated what the length of the article should be, the topic, any deadlines for the article and if there are specifics for the article that the publisher is looking for such as specific key words etc.

2. Now that you have a letter of agreement it is time to consider the contract. As a writer you are being contracted to write the assignment for the editor/publisher. In the contract you need to state who will own the article after it is written. Do you as the writer still have the right to use said article for others or do you give up all rights to your article? Will this be a blanket contract covering all articles to this publication? or will it only cover the one article you are currently writing?

3. What sort of fee should you charge? As a beginning writer it was suggested to me to start with 20 percent of the fee I would be paid for the article. As I have progressed, I have increased it to 50 percent. In due time I may increase it again.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are a beginning writer or new to a company, start lower on the scale for your kill fee percentage.
• Be willing to negotiate. Perhaps your lowest you will accept is 20 percent, but you start at 40 percent knowing that you will accept 20 percent as your lowest offer.
• Remember, just because an article is rejected doesn't mean its not a worthy article, it might just be that they have had more than their share of a specific topic of late (see also my article on rejection letters).
• Always be professional when negotiating a kill fee.
• If you don't like an offer, be civil and polite in dealing with the company.

[veryirie]

on 11/18/2008 All good tips on how to negotiate a kill fee if your contracted article is no longer required.