I think I am almost behaving like a victim of emotional abuse WRT to this bastard client, please help me toughen up or something...

[bitmessedup]

I have been doing work for them for over a year, they have never paid on time or without a lot of phone calls and pleading. They have now not paid me for four months. Nothing seems to work WRT making them pay, they say they have 'cashflow problems' and are asking freelancers to 'work with them on this'. They are still commissioning work and trumpeting the fact that they have acquired some more titles. The two editors who commision me are friends (but not remotely in charge of the chequebook).
They always say its a temporary problem, and more than once they have paid an overdue invoice and paid the next one at the same time, a week early. So I find myself feeling that I can't just go after them and shut them down because a) I have put up with this for a year and b) they have sometimes paid one invoice a bit early along with the very overdue one.
I don't know what to do. I think I am about to be made bankrupt by creditors now.

It doesn't cost much to start small claims - worth it??

My client is in serious financial difficulties - but he pays the bills that are small claims court pending first!

Someone even added interest, court fees and £300 'inconvenience' monies to their £345 bill. Don't know if the court will allow it though.

I'd add a charge for the time it's taken you to get payment out of them, to make the amount now owing up to £750. Swines.

How can a business be run like that?

The tail is wagging the dog surely, because they can't have any idea how good or bad you are at your job but they can still instruct those that do not to use you again. That's lunacy. Will the editors follow their ruling?

I guess you feel that they are intimidating you - punishing you for asserting your rights. But if you looked at the situation impartially, would you really want to take another commission from them?

If they really have such terrible cash flow problems then there would be a high probability that any work you might do would also go unpaid (tax man will always get his money first). You are probably a fantastic writer but it's going to take more than your brilliant words to rescue them from their current predicament.

Pursue them for the rest of what they owe you, but put most of your energy into developing your other contacts and generating new business and opportunities. That is where a positive future lies. Don't let the group you have been working for hold you in the past - move on now without them.

If anything, feel sorry for you friends and former colleagues who are still employed there - they are likely to be looking for freelance work soon too - and you will have such a great head start on them.

Why not write a blockbusting article about how the credit crunch is affecting freelancers like ourselves - I bet many on here would contribute their stories.

With reference to the title of this post - if you were a victim of emotional abuse, then they are abusers. What would you advise someone in a similar position in their relationship to do now? Move out? Change the locks, so the b**@$d couldn't hurt you any more?

Move on with your head held high.

Oh I wasn't going to do any more work for them anyway - I really can't see them surviving much longer. I am mainly just that they think they can treat contributors like this - and I am sorry for the editors, who are all getting very stressed out because they are losing so many contributors (either the contributors are refusing to do any more work, or the contributors have committed the awful sin of pushing for overdue payments to be made and the editors have been told they may not use the contributors again).

Good for you sgsb.

So what's next on the agenda?

Well I have a new client, and a new part time job, so within a few months I should be managing OK for money (am going to have to get a loan of some sort to consolidate debts though, but will switch it to a nice bank loan after a few months of increased income).