Understanding Kill Fees

As a freelance writer, you’ve probably faced a number of contracts (or you will in the future), and some of those contracts may have a “kill fee” clause. That sounds dangerous, right?

Actually, a kill fee can really protect you as a writer in the event that the project gets canceled or your client changes his/her mind about the work. Every day, however, I’m amazed at how many writers don’t know what a kill fee is or why it is an important part of a contract.

Eeek...not that kind of kill! (Image via sxc.hu)

First things first: a kill fee is an amount you are paid if the client decides not to use your work. This can happen for a number of reasons:

• You write something that the client can’t use, even if you do revisions
• The client changes the terms of the project (payment amount, rights they’re purchasing, etc) and you don’t agree to those changes
• The client decides not to move forward with the project for whatever reason

A kill fee is usually a percentage of the full price – between 10% and 50% is common. In some cases, the client will pay 100% as a kill fee, but that’s extremely rare. Most of the time, I see kills fees of about 25%.

What most writers don’t understand about kills fees, however, is when you’re paid them. Just because a project ends early doesn’t automatically mean that you’re entitled to a kill fee of any kind. It depends on what your contract says, but in most cases, the work has to already be done and turned in for you to be entitled to any kind of payment. Yes, even if you had your schedule planned and were counting on that money, you may not be given a kill fee.

For example, let’s say that you’re hired to write 10 articles for $50 each over the course of two weeks. At the end of week one, you turn in five of the articles. On Wednesday of the second week, after you’ve already completed three of the other articles, the client decides to cancel the project completely. You’d be entitled to a kill fee for the first five articles for sure, but it gets complicated after that. In most cases, you would not be entitled to a kill fee for the three you completed (but didn’t turn in) OR the two you were assigned (but never started).

Of course, every client is different. Some will pay you the kill fee for all you’ve completed, even if you haven’t turned in all of the articles yet. Few will pay for the articles you haven’t completed, but in some cases, you’ll be paid a very small percentage for these articles or an overall fee for the inconvenience of messing up your schedule. Those clients rock!

When you’re paid a kill fee, you retain the rights to your article. The only exception to this is if you’ve paid a 100% kill fee – which basically amounts to a client saying, “We can’t use this right now, but we want to keep it as an option for the future.” If the contract calls for you to give up your rights under a kill fee payment, you don’t have a very good contract! Why would a client get full rights to something without full payment? So, if you’re paid a kill fee, you can move on to sell the work or publish it yourself elsewhere.

Kill fees are confusing. When working with a print publisher, they’re a little easier to understand, but for online freelancers, things can get a bit hairy. As with all points of a contract, make sure you understand the kill fee clause and ask questions as needed.

Any kill fee questions? Just leave a comment below!

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