Q: How do you deal with a client who refuses to pay the total amount agreed upon in the contract? (i.e., you receive a check upon agreement of your contract for a 1/3 of the amount and in the end that’s all they decide to pay you – saying they feel you’ve charged them too much)
A: If you’re dealing with good, established companies, and you should be and I did from day 1, it should NEVER happen. Reputable clients just don’t pull garbage like that. More importantly, if it does happen, then you’re partly to blame for not covering yourself with a bid letter (brief one-page “contract” outlining terms of a project, what you’re charging and what they’re getting for that; see pp. 135-6 of TWFW). If it DOES happen, keep pushing and if they refuse to budge, threaten to put the word out in the community that they stiff their writers. But if you pick your clients well and cover yourself with a contract, it should
never happen (and frankly, it’d be rare even if you didn’t cover yourself…) .