Advice

On making shit official.

Ok. So I run a blog with a friend of mine and we’re both really liking it. We’ve been slowly rising number wise and we’re finally getting somewhat of a fan base. The problem is that I do all the work. She likes to sit back, take credit and not do anything at all. I have to come up with all our posts and sometimes even figure out her half of some of them (it’s some what of a favorite things to buy, favorite food brands, etc). It really annoys me because she likes to say she writes for it, is a big part of it, etc. I mostly just want to be like “bitch you don’t do shit!” but is that too harsh? How should I go about this?

Get a lawyer. Like, yesterday.

I don’t care if you’re fooling around in your dorm room and it’s all just for fun. You’ve entered into a partnership on a creative endeavor, and you need to slap together some paperwork.

Remember, you’re creating intellectual property with complex underlying rights. Shit gets really messy when writing partners wake up one morning hating each other, and that happens all the time.

The second your thing starts making money disputes like yours go nuclear, and unless you have a clear and well-defined collaboration agreement, you’re pretty much fucked.

Even if it’s just a hobby, take what you do seriously. Be an adult about it. It’s time to make your shit official. If you can’t afford a lawyer, no big deal. Use common sense and Google it yourself. There are plenty of sample collaboration agreements that you can pull from to make your own.

Ultimately, it’s less about the fine print and more about you both sitting down and answering the tough questions about what you’re doing and why.

Come up with a formal arrangement, and then make sure there are contractual consequences for her not holding up her end of the deal. At the end of the day, this will probably be the best way to light a fire under her ass.

Good luck.

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