I need to get some other views on an issue and make sure I'm not missing something before I make a decision.
Years ago (like decades ago) I used to freelance for some magazines, whatever interested me and I had something to write about: cars, photography, computers, models, etc. It never turned into a lot but I made a little extra from it. When I got laid off I decided to try to get back into that and see if I could make some money at it today. I had already inquired at a Mopar magazine (which, for the moment, shall remain nameless) before the job ended. I had pitched a number of article ideas, and ended by telling the editor that I lived with half an hour or so of Rockingham and could cover Mopars at the Rock. He wrote back to tell me that none of my articles interested him, but that I could consider Mopars at the Rock "an assignment." We exchanged a couple of other e-mails, so he was aware that I received the "assignment" e-mail.
Flash forward. I covered the Rock show, such as it was. I arrived just after the gates opened, interviewed some car owners, interviewed some vendors, and was just getting ready to covere the just-beginning drags when the skies opened up, at which point I talked to Dave and his buddy for a while before people decided to bail out. I arranged to get the show car winner names and the drag results. In other words, a fair amount of work, albeit enjoyable work.
One other thing here; several people told me that someone else was going around the show claiming to be covering for the same mag. Didn't meet up with the guy and don't know if this is true, but at least three different people told me this.
After the show I e-mailed the editor and asked how he wanted to receive art, and told him I'd have a completed piece to him by the end of the week. I never heard from him. I gave him a few days and sent a reminder note, but still never heard from him.
Frankly, even though it was an "assignment," I think I'm screwed for getting paid for anything I did. This is partially my fault. I should have immediately e-mailed him back after the assignment e-mail and asked for payment rates and other details; without that, he's free to say that the assignment was to cover the show but that we never had a contract for payment or publication. I had assumed that I could take him at his word, and in a similar situation to those posted by some others recently, I found out that his word isn't worth much.
What I'm really wondering is, should I out him for his bad business practices? Should I warn people to be wary in dealings with him, his publication, and the other pubs under the same group? On the one hand, this almost certainly guarantees that I'll never get another "assignment" from him, but given how this one went I don't think I care about that. What I'm more concerned about is, how will other editors perceive this, and will it keep me from getting work published elsewhere?
What say you?
