Money Makes the World Go Round...

By Tony Lee

So this week, I went shopping.

Nothing major, we're not talking 'I went out and bought a car' or anything, I just popped in the main shopping area of Birmingham for an afternoon and picked up a few things – a shirt, some DVDs, had a nice lunch – all because two days earlier, I'd received a cheque from a publisher. Which meant that I could go and buy things.

And here's what I'm talking about this week – the relationship between money and a freelancer. I know I've talked about the money side of the job before, that I'd spoken about the good times and the bad, but there is one important thing about getting money in a job like this. You need, more than anything in the world to remember that getting money does not warrant having a break in your workday.

No, think about it. I'm a freelance writer, and as such I'm totally anal now about my money – when you're in this sort of business, you need to estimate how much you'll make in a year and then how much you'll need to survive – rent, food, taxes, etc – And then you give yourself a 'salary' – most of the time it's the bare minimum, but you get the idea. You take the money that you make and you put it into savings, each month trickling your 'salary' into your account.

So, say for example you give yourself a salary of (and we'll make it a rounded one and in American dollars), say 2k a month, 24k a year – you need to ensure that you make this money each month. And to be honest, most of the time you'll only just be able to make the amount you set, because you'll set an amount that's relevant to the amount you make. And your deadlines split at this point – because now you have two deadlines for every project. You have the deadline that your publisher gives you, sometimes months ahead in the future, sometimes weeks, sometimes even days – and you have the more important one, the 'how long before I can invoice this gig and get paid' deadline. And for a freelancer whose world is based around the need to eat, often this can be a far more motivational deadline. For example – say that your rent is due at the end of June. That means your money has to be in the bank just before the end of June. Now, say that you get paid by cheque. That means that you need to have that cheque arrive and be in your hands by the third week of June – let's say the middle of June to be safe. That way the five or so working days it takes to clear will still leave you the money in time.

On a side note, if you get paid in dollars and you're a UK freelancer, you get to have even more fun. Because you might have to wait up to six weeks for the cheque to clear, depending on what bank you're currently with...

So. You've got your cheque, in your hand in the middle of June. That way if the cheque is late by a couple of days, you're still safe. But to get that cheque on that day, it has to be cut and sent the week before, so you need to have them start the cheque process on the second week of June. Which means that they need to be working off your invoice at that point. Invoices are usually based on a 'paid thirty days after invoiced' basis – some people, like Marvel or DC will usually pay you within a couple of weeks of the script being accepted, but you can't rely on these two companies funding you unless you're a lot higher on that 'A list' league table – so you're looking at sending that invoice around the first week in May. That way you have your thirty days invoicing period. A week or two to get the paperwork through and the cheque written, a couple of days for sending, a week to clear and then a couple of days of grace before the rent is due.

Still with me? Good. Because now we get to the fun bit. Often your invoice will be 'on acceptance of script'. That doesn't mean 'once you've emailed it in', it means 'once the editor is happy with it'. You might go through three, four revisions before they're happy. These revisions and sign offs and all that might take an extra month from the moment you send in the script until the moment they sign off. And only then in most cases does the invoice get looked at.

So, in a worst case scenario, to ensure that you're getting paid at the end of June, you need to have finished the work around the end of April. Almost two and a half months before the money clears. Which means that while you're working on this, you need to ensure that you already have the end of April money and the end of May money in the bank. You're working three months in advance.

Of course, this is an ideal world. Because in the normal one, there are a variety of ways you get paid. Some places will be back end profits; some book publishers will provide you with a chunk of advance money, some will tell you to send in the invoice with the script and put it straight through, some will pay you without an invoice needed. The list is long and extensive. And it means that a writer who does the same amount of work each month may find that one month they make several thousand dollars, the next they make nothing. It's the way of the beast, and the biggest reason why you plan ahead, and give yourself a salary. Otherwise you may find that one week you're partying like it's Disneyland, the next you're unable to pay a single bill.

The problem with this however is that when you realise that you're 'safe' for a few months, i.e. you've got enough saved up money not to worry about the issues above, you find that you start to relax. You don't need to finish that script today, as the money's not desperate. And so you blow off a day, go do something fun, stop working early because hey, you're financially secure for a while – but then you find that a month has passed, and a gig you expected to get has fallen through and suddenly some money you expected to get later in the year isn't happening until next year, and then the money you had as your back up... Is now the only money you have. And you're a month behind on the script you're doing, and therefore your next cheque will be a month late.

So, no matter how much money you have, you still need to work. The world of the freelancer is filled with people who 'binge party' – become hermits for weeks, and then party for a week as if it is the end of the world before retreating once again. Many use conventions as their release point. And this is another reason why some of the most successful writers out there still work twelve hour days, seven days a week – even though they have the money.

So, if you're going to be a freelancer, you have to be scared of money. You need to be as respectful of it as you are a naked flame. Because you need that money. You need to ensure that the flame you're looking at doesn't flicker and die. When you get the ultimate writing gig in the world, you should still be pitching for other work. Because when that book gets cancelled, or you get dropped off for the next big thing to start on board, you need to still be working, still making money.

Because money? It makes the world go around.

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A couple of weeks ago, Doctor Who: The Time Machination came out and so far the bulk of the reviews have been incredibly good – but one of the few dissenting factors of the reviews (mainly by fans) is that it's a bit 'Fan wanky' – i.e. writing little easter eggs inside that only diehard or even long term fans would get. One of the parts of the story that people have picked up on is my reference to Blackpool, which people have taken as a dig at David Tennant's previous show, Blackpool. And I wish I could say I was clever enough to think of that – I just really never liked Blackpool all that much, and I remember there being a Doctor Who exhibition there once – but it really wasn't deliberate.

But the problem is, people say that I put a lot of subtle back matter in as if it's a bad thing. And if I was being really candid about this, I'd say that I take these criticisms as a compliment, as some of my favourite writers do the exact same thing. When Mike Carey took over Hellblazer, he immediately brought back some of the characters from the Warren Ellis run, and the fans were mixed, with most loving it. When Andy Diggle took over, he took places like Ravenscar and brought them back to life. And Geoff Johns puts old fan references into pretty much everything he writes, and I love him in a way that dare not speak its name for it.

I saw Terminator: Salvation this week, and I'd gone in there expecting a mediocre movie from the reviews and the friends opinions that had already seen it. But, as a massive Terminator fan – and by massive I mean MASSIVE, in letters twenty feet high and made of Coltran steel, I knew that I'd most likely enjoy it.

I loved it. I utterly, utterly loved it. But, it wasn't the movie that made it for me; it was the moments of fan-friendly subtexts that made it for me. The moment that the title credits started, in the same way as the first movie, the music played as John Connor takes a Skynet bike down, the random lines spoken – and of course the big surprise that happens near the end as the 'big final battle' – you know what, there are over a dozen moments that I could rant about and go how I cheered at certain point and all that – but then I wouldn't allow you to find them for yourself, so just be aware that every one of these added to the fact that this movie was one of pure awesome. McG showed himself to be a fan of the source material, and his homages to previous films, while keeping it all canon were sometimes masterful.

I loved this film because of these. They didn't detract or even distract. And when people talk about The Forgotten, they say the same. So call me a 'fan wank' writer, because to me, this shows that I have a knowledge and love of the story I've written. And that is one of the best reviews I can have.

Of course, I'd like to get paid more...

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© 2008, Tony Lee

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