I'm currently editing a series of reprint anthologies for the Chinese, and of course their contracts for the
stories they're buying ask for payment information. Now, it happens that a number of the writers I'm
buying from -- including a batch of WotF alumni -- are pretty new and pretty clueless in this area. The
most frequently-asked question I get is: "Do I give them my checking account number and the bank's
routing number?"
Answer: Only if you want to make it easy for someone thousands of miles away to rob you at some
unspecified future date.
Almost all journeyman writers, who are used to making foreign sales, use PayPal, which is nearing
its one hundred millionth client. More to the point, PayPal will use the posted exchange rates, rather
than the usurious ones most banks use. And still more to the point, it'll charge you a maximum of
3% for the transaction, whereas most banks will be happy to charge you in the neighborhood of $35.00
for the privilege of cashing a 50-Euro or 50-pound check. Finally, payment is instantaneous, which
is a word that is not in the post office's lexicon.
Anyway, I think anyone expecting to be paid in foreign currencies, now or in the future, would do well
to consider this.
-- Mike Resnick
Foreign payments
- Mike Resnick
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:24 pm
- Rebecca Birch
- Posts: 1735
- Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:38 am
- Location: Washington (state)
- Contact:
Re: Foreign payments
Mike Resnick wrote:I'm currently editing a series of reprint anthologies for the Chinese, and of course their contracts for the
stories they're buying ask for payment information. Now, it happens that a number of the writers I'm
buying from -- including a batch of WotF alumni -- are pretty new and pretty clueless in this area. The
most frequently-asked question I get is: "Do I give them my checking account number and the bank's
routing number?"
Answer: Only if you want to make it easy for someone thousands of miles away to rob you at some
unspecified future date.
Almost all journeyman writers, who are used to making foreign sales, use PayPal, which is nearing
its one hundred millionth client. More to the point, PayPal will use the posted exchange rates, rather
than the usurious ones most banks use. And still more to the point, it'll charge you a maximum of
3% for the transaction, whereas most banks will be happy to charge you in the neighborhood of $35.00
for the privilege of cashing a 50-Euro or 50-pound check. Finally, payment is instantaneous, which
is a word that is not in the post office's lexicon.
Anyway, I think anyone expecting to be paid in foreign currencies, now or in the future, would do well
to consider this.
-- Mike Resnick
Thank you for the advice, Mike. I hope to have to think about this in the future.
Rebecca Birch
Finalist - 2, SF - 1, SHM - 1, HM - 18, R - 6
Words of Birch
Short Story Collection--Life Out of Harmony and Other Tales of Wonder
Finalist - 2, SF - 1, SHM - 1, HM - 18, R - 6
Words of Birch
Short Story Collection--Life Out of Harmony and Other Tales of Wonder
- Martin L. Shoemaker
- Posts: 4289
- Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:20 am
- Location: Michigan (more or less)
- Contact:
Re: Foreign payments
Thank you, Mike! I have heard of markets paying by PayPal, but I never thought about all the benefits.
http://Shoemaker.Space
Other worlds from award-winning author Martin L. Shoemaker
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!
SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!
REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT!
Patience. Patience. Patience. Patience. Patience.
NNiNN
Other worlds from award-winning author Martin L. Shoemaker
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!
SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!
REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT! REPEAT!
Patience. Patience. Patience. Patience. Patience.
NNiNN
- Mike Resnick
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:24 pm
Re: Foreign payments
Martin> Most of them will use PayPal if you ask them to. Indeed, most of them much prefer it.
-- Mike
-- Mike
- Elen Tel'Ithil
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 3:17 am
- Location: Kinmen, Taiwan
Re: Foreign payments
Thanks for the heads up and all the info!
"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." - Ray Bradbury
"Write until it becomes as natural as breathing. Write until not writing makes you anxious." - Christina Katz
HM x 2
R x 2
"Write until it becomes as natural as breathing. Write until not writing makes you anxious." - Christina Katz
HM x 2
R x 2
Re: Foreign payments
And it also works for us foreigners when we sell to you. That's how AE paid me. Now if anyone else over there would care to send me some money, I have one or two nice stories available!


1 x SF, 2 x SHM, 11 x HM, WotF batting average .583
Blog The View From Sliabh Mannan.
Blog The View From Sliabh Mannan.
- ThomasKCarpenter
- Posts: 1389
- Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:16 pm
- Contact:
Re: Foreign payments
Pro tip from the Pro. Thanks!
Thomas K Carpenter
http://www.thomaskcarpenter.com
SFx2, SHMx1, HMx12 (Pro'd Out - Q4 2016)
EQMM - Feb 2015 / Abyss & Apex - Issue 50
http://www.thomaskcarpenter.com
SFx2, SHMx1, HMx12 (Pro'd Out - Q4 2016)
EQMM - Feb 2015 / Abyss & Apex - Issue 50
- E.CaimanSands
- Posts: 1831
- Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 2:59 pm
- Location: United Kingdom
- Contact:
Re: Foreign payments
Thanks, Mike, a very useful post for me especially considering so far *every* one of my sales has been foreign. Three of them--from the US and Canada--were paid by Paypal I think but I believe my Australian one was by bank transfer. Of course, I'm sure Cat Sparks wasn't out to rob me!
But it's certainly something to consider for the future.

SF x 1 (Extreeemely happy snappy gator)
HM x 9 (Happy snappy gator)
"Europa Spring" - buy from Amazon
The Happy Snappy Gator Bog! Er, Blog...
HM x 9 (Happy snappy gator)
"Europa Spring" - buy from Amazon
The Happy Snappy Gator Bog! Er, Blog...
Re: Foreign payments
All of my sales (so far) have been foreign too! I set up a paypal account after I made my very first sale. Now that I think of it, all payment has been via paypal, with the exception of WotF (which was a very pretty cheque.)
---------------------------
Call me - "klevang" - my login if registration issues get fixed.
Volume 33: Q2 - R ,Q3 - SHM
The "real" Ember is a good friend and let me borrow her account, she won with "Half Past" in Vol. 31
Call me - "klevang" - my login if registration issues get fixed.
Volume 33: Q2 - R ,Q3 - SHM
The "real" Ember is a good friend and let me borrow her account, she won with "Half Past" in Vol. 31
Re: Foreign payments
Like Ember, Paypal has been a godsend for me in Australia. Furthermore, cashing foreign checks always loses me a fortune in bank fees… My writers of the future check differently didn't look as impressive after I got it back home (though it was still pretty impressive)
Nick Tchan
2 x HM
1x Finalist
1 x winner Q2 2011
2 x HM
1x Finalist
1 x winner Q2 2011
Re: Foreign payments
I learnt this the hard way. I'm in Singapore and usually getting payments from the US, and for the last one I requested wire transfer thinking (wrongly) that it would cost less than Paypal. I lost about $50 after the bank's fees and horrible exchange rate. I'm still sad about it.
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