A new record on late payment

Writers live at the mercy of publishers who often take unconscionably long times to pay, but in all my 29 years selling my work professionally, I think a new record for lateness was reached this week. One full year after it was due, Pearson Educational Canada sent me a cheque for a reprint of one of my short stories in a textbook.

Granted, it was a nice reprint fee -- $500 to use my 1,400-word story "The Blue Planet," which was also in David G. Hartwell's Year's Best SF 5; that works out to a cool 35 cents a word. But still -- a year? WTF? (That's "Waiting Time Forever," of course ...)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site