There’s no doubt that publishing rights can be confusing. Hopefully, this will help clear things up a bit.
QUESTION #1
What are the different Rights that a publisher might ask about?
These are some of the basics:
First Rights: First rights gives a publisher permission to be the first to print your article. You can only sell First Rights on an article or story once.
One-time Rights: The publication agrees to publish your piece only once. This may or may not be for a work that has already been published somewhere else. After that, the rights revert back to you, the author.
Reprint Rights (or second serial rights): If your article has already appeared elsewhere, any subsequent publisher will purchase Reprint Rights. Many publishers will want to know when and where the piece previously appeared. It is important to note that most publishers consider any content posted on a website or your blog as “previously published”. In other words, you will probably not be able to offer First Rights on blog entries or Challenge entries (see next question). These would need to be sold as Reprint Rights.
Regional Rights (i.e. First American Rights, First Australian Rights): When you sell Regional Rights, you are allowing your piece to be published for the first time in that particular region. You could offer one publisher First North American Serial Rights (FNASR), another publisher First European Rights, and yet another First Electronic Rights. A tip: Save First Electronic Rights for last, as some print publications will not consider work that has been previously published online.
Anthology Rights: This gives the publisher the right to publish your work in a one-time collection. Many anthology pieces are reprints.
All Rights: If a publisher purchases all rights, you no longer own the article or manuscript. That means that if you wish to publish that piece elsewhere, you will need to get permission from the publisher first.
Work-for-Hire - This is similar to All Rights in the sense that once you are paid for a project, the piece is no longer yours. It belongs to the publisher, who is then able to rework it, edit it, and alter it in any way they choose, without compensating you for it.
Exclusive / Non-Exclusive Rights. If you sell Exclusive Rights, you are agreeing that you will not sell the article elsewhere for a specific period of time (as agreed upon in the contract). Once that period has ended, you are free to sell the piece again (as a reprint). Non-exclusive Rights allows you to sell the same piece to multiple publications at the same time. Providing, of course, that none of the publishers require Exclusive Rights.
QUESTION #2
Is it true that everything I post on FW is considered “published”?
Yes. Anything that appears on a public site, whether that be a blog, a public message board, the FaithWriters site, or something else, is considered published, in the strictest sense of the word.
Many publishers will not care if the piece is on the FW website. However, it is important that you mention it whenever submitting an article or a query.
If you have a book or long piece you are working on, we do recommend that you not post it on the FaithWriters site. Book publishers are stricter when it comes to previously published work. And although it rarely happens, we’d hate to see someone steal your idea or work, making it impossible for you to get it published down the road. If you would like feedback on a longer work, we recommend you email it to a writer friend or two.
Hopefully, this has helped clear up a couple of questions you may have about Rights. Feel free to ask for further clarification or help if you need it.
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11 Comments until now.
Thanks Lynda. I was just wondering about rights. I know I read it on the FW site when I first joined but I couldn’t remember where and hadn’t got around to searching for it yet.
What about excerpts from a book – like on your blog (before it’s published, that is?) Will that be a problem?
Thanks for this info! This is great. But I have one other question: what about our “Writing Challenge” stories? If we wanted to post those on our personal blogs, AFTER they have been submitted to Faithwriters for the weekly challenge, is that permissable, as long as we note that it was an entry for Faithwriters?
Thank you so – this clears up a lot of unanswered questions for me -
Joanne, I’m really not sure, but personally, I wouldn’t do it until my agent or editor gave me permission.
Michelle, your Writing Challenge entries are yours and you may certainly post them on your personal blog. Many FaithWriters post former Weekly Challenge entries on their blogs. There is no need to note that it was previously posted on FaithWriters, since FW is not a “publication” but a place for you to showcase your work. It’s just when you submit to a publication that you need to disclose where it has been published before, as they will want to know the general audience of who has seen that piece. But all of the content you post on FaithWriters is yours. We don’t ask for any rights to your work unless a piece places in the top 10 and we will be publishing it in a quarterly anthology.
Hope this helps!
Due to health issues I have been inactive at Faithwriters for more than a year. Reading your article on publishing triggered a question re a challenge entry I wrote that was to be published (hard copy)in one of the Faithwriters books. Can you update me on how the book projects are coming along?
Sadly, I have really lost track of things at Faithwriters.
Janice,
So good to see you here. Janice Fitzpatrick kept us pretty updated and you had lots of people praying for you.
As for the books, we are in a transition period and the way the books are to be published is going to change (Deb Porter will be taking on the publishing part). Not sure how close she is on getting everything in order, but we’ll be sure to post when there’s any news. You can view the books available here: http://www.faithwriters.com/books-challenge.php.
Again, welcome back!
Thank you so much for this information Lynda. Much appreciated.
Love the tweets. Please count me in.
Thanks so much for this information! I’m starting to toss around the idea of submitting one of my challenge entries to a local publication, so this was very helpful.
A question: Should I offer it to them for “One-time Rights” or “Reprint Rights”? What’s the major differnce between the two?
Thanks so much!
If the piece has been published before (either online or in print and either for pay or not), you will be selling reprint rights. You would have to wait and see what each individual publication asks to purchase. This will be explained in the contract. If you aren’t satisfied with what they are offering, you can always discuss it with the editor, who will help you understand exactly what you’re signing.