Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Payment methods

This is topic Payment methods in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :

I don't know if this one belongs here, if not please bear with me.

I am slowly getting ready to pitch my first submission to a magazine (electronic submission). Now I have a question:

In case I become published what would be the best method to receive the payment?

I am not talking about making money here. I am not writing for money of course... I just don't want to be ignorant and lost when this matter is concerned.

Now, I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I am from Bosnia. So what kind of account would I need to start submitting?

Paypal, payoneer, epassporte, moneybookers, alertpay...

Western Union? Or will a simple debit bank account do it?

Do you have any advice/experience considering this matter?

I would REALLY appreciate it...

Posted by BenM (Member # 8329) on :

I've not published a story either, so will be interested to see what others' experiences are. I've found that banks charge a sizeable transfer fee when I deposit small US cheques here in Australia. Much more than simply receiving money in Paypal and transferring it to my bank account. So I'm sure there must be a better method...

Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :

I'll answer this in general terms. I run a CGI business from Australia, but get paid in USD, so the issues are similar.

You're main limiter will be whatever the publisher/magazine/whowever is willing to do. In most cases this is either a cheque in USD that you need to deposit in your local bank acount, or PayPal. Some organisations may offer other avenues, but most won't.

You'll need to investigate what fees your bank will charge for depositing a US cheque. Most bank have a very high fee rate.

PayPal will also bleed you dry in fees. They have the stated "cross border fee", whatever it is in your country, plus a hidden cost that's buried in their currency exchange rates. It's an unstated fee, and if you're declaring it on your tax, you need to manually work out what it comes to by examining each transaction. It's 2.5% at the moment.

PayPal is more or less instantatenous, but takes about 3-5 business days to transfer into your bank account once you issue a withdraw transaction. A cheque is limited by the postal system, and whatever delays your bank imposes (clearance time, etc).

Posted by babooher (Member # 8617) on :

Dropbear's advice is right on the money with what I've experienced with publishing in different countries.

Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :

Paypal seems the safest option so far.

The only problem is that I can spend my money only online. Money from Paypal cannot be withdrawn here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. No hands on cash. But that's a minor issue.

So most magazines seem to work with paypal?

Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :

Most ezines pay with paypal, but this comes a far second to a company check. I think all the pro-rate markets for the most part pay with check. I am sure that since you are from another country they would bel willing to work with you on some level.

Posted by Foste (Member # 8892) on :

That's reassuring to hear. It would be awful for a possible publication to be thwarted by that...