I wrote the editor a letter expressing my disappointment about not being paid despite everything I read about them being a paying market. She explained:
“it would be more accurate to say we typically don’t pay for unsolicited manuscripts or those requiring a substantial amount of staff editing. It is true that we pay up to $450 for published stories. We pay for articles that we commission to authors with an assignment requiring a a substantial amount of research and interviews.”
I told her that this explanation was a great help, however, it should still documented in their writer’s guidelines and shared with the sources reporting that people will get paid.
Anyway, it is great to know that Toastmasters stand on their mission of being a communications and leadership organizations. Just by responding, the editor helped to clear my negative feelings about submitting another story to the magazine. Heck, I like being dubbed an “International Journalist.” And, one more thing, my story did not require a substantial amount of staff editing. 🙂
Image: sftoastmasters
Glad you called them to account. They insist talks be clear – so should their payment policies.
I agree. I appreciate the fact they responded. They made the disappointment of not getting paid melt away….a little.
Appears they do pay, however, as long as they accept your query and contract the assignment. That’s not too far off the mark.
Hope Clark
FundsforWriters.com
I would venture to say that they are not going to pay until after that first assignment. So, new writers should not expect pay as stated in the guidelines.