Getting Screwed by Clients, Part I

Three years ago, when I hooked up with my current employer (for whom I am a contractor, not an employee, but I have a freelance contract with them. I've been getting more business on my own, but the bulk of my business comes from this publishing house.).

I edited, laid out, selected the art, and basically designed the entire book for an author I like...for free. It was my test, implied and assumed, for being hired by this publisher because after I finished it,, jobs started rolling in.

Anyway, because I basically had to teach myself everything, at the time, it was worth doing for free. Plus, the author is so awesome and deserves publication. He promised that I could do his second book--paid, this time.

He was ready to go last summer. I told him that we would accept payments, but no, he wanted to pay in full in advance, as much as he could. So he had a crowdfunding fundraiser. He raised over $1,000 in about a month. After it was over, he asked me if we would take PayPal. I checked, the publisher would, but prefered not to because they would lose money on the fees; they preferred a check. He was fine with that and even offered to personally PayPal me a small percentage of the raised amount because he knew we could use it (as always). I gave him my PayPal email and we waited for the funds to be released in a week or so. I had his manuscript, I was making choices, I was ready to go.

I never heard from him again.

Well, not about the book. We're friends on Facebook and Twitter. And not one word about the book since July.

His wife, who does a lot of net marketing, abruptly went to a large convention for her line of work about a week or two after the funds would have been released. It would have required convention fees, flight, and hotel, not to mention food and so on. I think that's where the book money went.

Strangely, no one on Facebook has asked him, "When is your book coming out?"

I talked to my boss about it, and we both kind of shrugged, after all, he hadn't signed a contract.

So he fucked me out of the work and the pay, and more importantly, he fucked all his friends who donated money for a BOOK. My boss actually was the first donor with $50-. I think that's real shitty.

I have decided to no longer mix business with pleasure. My next story will reinforce this idea even more. You won't believe this next one, either. I can barely believe it.