by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 27, 2009

I've worked as a freelance writer for years, and it's both exciting and scary. The biggest concern is simply earning enough to cover each month's bills, so it's devastating when a publisher turns out to be a crook. Are there really scammers who will hold on to money that you've earned through hard work and the sweat of your creativity? Fortunately, it's not as common as people think - and with a little common sense you can avoid the scammers altogether.

Here's the five most important tips.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. If you have a problem with a publisher, you might check with the Better Business Bureau to search for a pattern of complaints about their practices, and you could even contact your state's consumer affairs department. But there's an even simper way to address problems with payments from online publishers: it's illegal to publish work online if the rights haven't been properly secured. This means that as a last resort, you can contact the publisher's internet service provider and simply file a copyright claim. There's dozens of templates online for a "DMCA notice" (named after the legislation establish it - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998). Every internet service in America has a procedure in place to handle complaints about copyright infringements - and online publishers know that it's not worth the legal trouble to continue asserting a right they don't really own.

READ THE SMALL PRINT. The biggest scam freelancers face is an over-restrictive contract. An author should retain a right to their own work, even after its been published, and most reputable publishers simply ask for what's known as an "exclusive first right to publish." This means it appears first in their publication, but their exclusive rights lapse after a set period of time (usually 90 days). Then you're free to re-publish the article elsewhere - on your web site, in an anthology, or even in another publication. Scammers will try to capture rights far beyond what's reasonable - like the sole right to publish your article, forever, and in every possible medium.

RESEARCH YOUR PUBLISHERS. Most scammers quickly run into trouble, so you can weed out most bad publishers by simply determining how long they've been in business. For online publishers, you can simply check the date when they created their domain. And even offline publishers usually have a web site, when you can gather valuable information about the company's history (though you'll want to check their reputation with other sties on the web).

WATCH THE CALENDAR. When negotiating your article, get a firm commitment about how long it takes to get paid. (Some legitimate publishers will take as long as 90 days before sending a check!) Once the payment date is established, it makes it easier to know when to follow-up - and this is always an important part of a freelancer's job. Put the payment dates on your calendar - and be persistent about following up if payment is late!

CHOOSE WISELY. Dealing with scammers is bad business for an even simpler reason. While you're assembling a portfolio of clips, you'll want to write for prestigious sites - ideally, ones that your future editors will recognize. Throughout your career, when pitching articles you'll be asked who else you've written for - so you should always avoid writing for obscure fly-by-night outfits. Writing for established outlets will minimize your chances of getting exploited by a shady scammer, while it also helps your career!

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