At the beginning of September I blogged a brief warning to writers about Laray Carr Company (aka LCP Media aka Laray Carr Publishing). For those affected, or if you’re simply following the story, see this new update over at Deb Ng’s blog: Laray Carr Update

Unfortunately, there is now even more reason to believe that this whole thing has been an elaborate scam affecting not just writers naive enough to sign contracts stating “paid on publication” for a now seemingly never to be launched magazine(s), but also contractors and freelancers in other fields, including their own virtual assistant who actually spent quite a bit of time defending the company across various blogs. (Turns out, even she hasn’t been paid.)

Only my opinion, but I don’t believe writers or anyone else involved will ever see a dime, even through legal recourse (in cases where justified), since I estimate the man behind the plot of this will never be in a position to pay, even on a judgment. However, any writers (or others) affected may want to get involved in reporting this case to the FBI and other proper authorities. Luckily, this seems to be a scam operated on a large level. Potential federal crimes committed may be the key to justice here.

Some lessons to be learned from all of this:

1. Don’t do large amounts of work for a first time client without asking for partial payment up front.

2. If you do decide to take a chance on someone who won’t pay you in part upfront, then write one article and invoice for payment. Don’t write any more until after you’ve been paid.

3. Never sign a contract you don’t understand the terms of.

4. Understand that “on publication” may mean never.

5. If someone who pays “on publication” won’t include a guaranteed publication date or a kill fee (an amount they’ll pay you if they decide to scrap the article), then move on and write for someone else.

6. Follow your gut instinct.

7. Don’t compromise just because you’re desperate for money. If you don’t get paid, you’ll lose a lot of time you could have better spent looking for paying gigs elsewhere.