Should you try to kill a 'kill fee'? Maybe ...
Love 'em or hate 'em, they're still a factor
Hello friends! I hope your fall is off to a lovely start and you’re as excited as I am for ~spooky season~ (cue millennial cringe comment).
This week we’re talk about what can be a sometimes contentious topic among freelancers: kill fees. Some folks like them, some don’t, but they’re always a factor.
I’ve invited veteran freelancer Lola Mendez to make her case for trying to get them out of contracts or negotiate them up to 100%. Take it away, Lola!
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Contracts can sometimes subject writers to terrible terms, like one-sided indemnification clauses, net-90 payment schedules, and the dreaded kill fees. Some freelancers hate them, some find them a lifeline in situations gone awry, but they’re worth reconsidering. (And yes, you can fight to have them removed. As with most things in life, everything is negotiable.)
As a veteran journalist and a consultant on the Business of Freelance Writing with clips all over the internet, I usually try to negotiate kill fees out of contracts. I’m running a small business and a key to my success is trying to eliminate them whenever possible.
What is a kill fee?
The “kill fee” is a clause in a contract that typically states that if the publication doesn’t publish the commissioned article, it will only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon rate. Generally, this is less than half of the fee. Writers create work for a set fee, but do so without a guarantee of full payment. Every freelancer runs a small business and carries a significantly larger financial risk than a multimillion-dollar publisher.
Many kill fee clauses are onerous for journalists with language stating that if the publisher, in its sole discretion, decides not to accept a complete and reasonably acceptable work, the writer shall be subject to a kill fee. I’ve had articles killed because a publication decided the piece posed a legal risk to publish, or the piece never ran because of editor layoffs and it got lost in the shuffle, or because the section the piece was commissioned for was no longer in publication. They were completed pieces that met the brief, were within the scope of work, and had been edited. In none of those scenarios was it my fault the piece was killed, yet I was expected to bear the financial burden. All of these instances happened with major, multimillion-dollar publishers.
I’ve never had a piece killed because the draft wasn’t up to par, which should be the sole purpose of paying out a kill fee. But kill fees tend to protect the publication, ensuring that if a writer submits a poorly written draft and fails to address comments and edits, the publication can pay a partial fee.
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To kill or not to kill (a kill fee)
Still, some writers do feel that kill fees protect them from not receiving any payment, since sometimes it’s better than nothing.
“I turned down an assignment because they wouldn’t include a kill fee,” said Joni Sweet, a freelance writer. “Instead, the language of the contract basically said that if they didn’t want this story after I submitted it, they had no obligation to publish it or pay me for it.”
Pris Blossom, a freelance journalist, agrees. “I’m usually pretty happy if there’s a kill fee mentioned in the contract, so at least I have something to fall back on even if it’s not the full rate,” she said.
But Kaitlyn Rosati, a freelance writer, added that the onus for situations in which a kill fee could be implemented should fall on publishers, not freelancers.
“As long as there’s no breach of contract, journalists shouldn’t be penalized with a kill fee for decisions out of their control,” she said. “When taking on assignments, there’s often thorough communication on factors like deadlines, word count, rates, and whether sourcing photos is necessary. If the journalist meets all of these requirements, and the publication subsequently decides to kill the story, we deserve to be paid the agreed-upon rate."
Negotiating kill fees out of contracts
Here’s the language I use that’s worked for me: “I can only agree to a 100% kill fee as I cannot agree to work for only a guarantee of partial payment” and “I cannot sign a contract that doesn’t guarantee full payment for completed work. Can you please drop the kill fee or make it a 100% kill fee?”
You have the right to advocate for your business and request amendments to a contract before signing. When requesting to amend a business contract, use direct, clear, affirmative language. By being courteous yet firm, I’ve successfully negotiated kill fees out of contracts or changed them to a 100% kill fee. Of course, it doesn’t always work, but I’d say about 75% of the time I’ve requested to amend the kill fee clause the publication has agreed. For my business, it’s always worth a shot.
Lola Méndez is a queer Uruguayan-American freelance journalist who writes about sustainability, travel, culture, and wellness for CNN, USA Today, NatGeo, ArchDigest, Refinery29, and more. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and Substack.
Oh, a few other things …
A brief programming note: I’m in the process of moving, so I’ll be taking the week of Sept. 22 off and I’ll be back the following week. I’m heading back to New York for a while, see y’all soon!
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if the story gets killed, can't you take it to a different publication? is that wrong?