ever sold story to a magazine?

[gypsy_100%]

hi,

I've submitted my real life story to a magazine, they want to pay me to

publish the story. i wondering has anyone here ever worked with a magazine?

what should i know about the process? can anyone here list the pros and

cons? any input would be appreciated

[Jozanny]

I have, but I am not sure what you need to know. Publishers who pay usually discuss renumeration up front, and offer a standard royalty contract, as do web sites. I get paid anywhere from 20 to 750 American dollars with standard reprint restrictions applicable. Most print magazines pay 15 cents a word standard; web sites that have money can go 50 cents or higher.

Were you offered a contract? The contract usually stipulates that, upon payment, the publisher owns the copyright, and after 90 days you have the reprint sale option (this rarely happens for any writer). There may also be a clause that stipulates your royalty rights if the publisher sells your manuscript to a third party. The contract also usually asks you to certify that the manuscript is your original material, and so forth. If you have a specific question, I will do my best to help you.

[aBIGsheep]

http://www.absolutewrite.com/

This forum is A LOT more hardcore about publishing stuff. They have their own forum about being rejected from publishers. Not to mention their success stories, they're probably one of the few forums that does a good job of critiquing your work and giving you feedback.

They even have their own forum for publishing your works in magazines. I don't want to be advertising or anything, but the site just seems like a VERY useful tool.

[Jozanny]

Big: If you write for money critique and feedback knocks down your chances of editorial acceptance significantly. I am not talking the ghetto of creative writing, but journalism, where, despite major economic upheaval, it is still possible to earn at least 75% of a traditional salaried income.

I am on semi-hiatus because of my wheelchair misery and other living disruptions, but I know of what I speak. Feedback sites do not help you become a sale-earning freelancer--and even with poetry and fiction, conformity can overtake learning how to submit and expose your work.

I am not saying these sites don't work at all, but most professional authors don't use them.

The OP seems confused in a manner that leaves me puzzled. I learn what a publication wants, what they pay, and what their guidelines are before I ever submit work to them--but I will await clarification, if any, from gypsy.

[aBIGsheep]

It's a great thing when you get a 2nd opinion other than "that's good." These guys actually go out and highlight, add commentary, and read the whole story. And one of the wonderful things about critiquing is that you don't always have to agree with the critic. You can blatantly ignore everything they've said.
These are people that've been published themselves and have gone out and seen how the business works all too well. Not saying that you haven't been around the bend, but damn, but they know what people are looking for. Anything wrong with that?

And I'm wondering, could you explain why critique and feedback would be such a negative thing?

[gypsy_100%]

so far the magazine only expressed that they are interested in my story. and they have requested some more details. after which they will send me all the information i need to make a decision as to having them publish my story.

jozanny are you saying i would be giving away my rights to my story?
what if i wanted to turn my story into a book one day, are you saying it is no longer an option for me?

i was under the impression that they were just paying to run the story and thats all.

please clarify. thanks!

[Jozanny]

gypsy: Getting paid for writing a personal memoir is a good thing, and if the publication accepts your work, congratulations--but yes, if they are paying you, they are paying you to own the first printing rights, and hence the content, of your piece.

Here is one of my contracts--this one is slightly more simple than what a newspaper company gives you, trust me, but hopefully it will give you some idea. "Copyright" means, as a legal term, the right to "copy" (print) original content. Even if you just give a magazine a manuscript for free, legally they have taken first printing rights. Getting paid is better. Your magazine should have guidelines. Ask them for a copy if you do not have a directory. I don't want to know what they are offering you, but 15 cents a word is standard. 150 dollars for a commentary of about 750 words, standard.

Here is what a typical contract looks like. This one is electronic:

>> 1. I, Joanne Marinelli, grant Breath and Shadow permission to publish my
>> essay, Dimmer Beacons, in the September 2008 issue, Volume 5, Number 6.
>>
>>
>>
>> 2. I realize that I am granting Breath & Shadow nonexclusive, one-time
>> publication rights for the Contribution indicated above, which includes
>> display on the World Wide Web and electronic download. I also realize
>> that I
>> am granting Breath & Shadow nonexclusive rights to display my
>> Contribution
>> in an online archive for up to five months after the month of its
>> publication and for print copies to be kept by Breath & Shadow to be used
>> for public display in publishing, promoting, marketing, selling, and
>> distributing one or more issues of Breath & Shadow containing my
>> Contribution.
>>
>>
>>
>> 3. Breath & Shadow will compensate me by A) paying me __ when it
>> publishes
>> my Contribution. Breath & Shadow will also make sure I get credit for my
>> contribution by including my name (or preferred pseudonym) as the byline
>> for
>> the Contribution. I may also provide my e-mail address and/or Web site
>> address, along with my short biography, to be published with my
>> Contribution.
>>
>>
>>
>> a) If you wish to donate your fee to Breath & Shadow as an inkind
>> donation,
>> please check here ____. (And thank you!)
>>
>>
>>
>> b) If you wish to save your check without cashing it, as a "trophy,"
>> please
>> check here ___. (This is important for our bookkeeping.)
>>
>>
>>
>> 4. Breath & Shadow may also use the name, likeness, and biographical
>> information about me that I have provided for my bio in advertising,
>> publicizing, and marketing Breath & Shadow and by keeping it in the
>> archives.
>>
>>
>>
>> 5. My preferred pseudonym for publication is (give pseudonym if one is
>> desired. If not, skip to clause 6, and the name signed on this contract
>> will
>> be used as the author's name for publication.)
>> ______________________________.
>>
>>
>>
>> 6. I certify that my Contribution is my own original work and doesn't
>> impair
>> anyone's copyright or other right; that it won't libel anyone or invade
>> anyone's right of privacy. I certify that this is my own original work,
>> which is not under submission for any other publication and which has not
>> been published or accepted for publication anywhere since it was
>> submitted
>> to Breath & Shadow, and has either
>>
>>
>>
>> a) not been published or reproduced in any previous publication (check if
>> yes): ____X__. (In this case, should my Contribution be published
>> elsewhere
>> first publication credit will be given to Breath & Shadow.)
>>
>>
>>
>> b) was first published in (publication title and date):
>> __________________________.
>>
>>
>>
>> 7. I am the owner of the copyright of my Contribution. If Breath & Shadow
>> receives any inquiries concerning further use of the Contribution,
>> including
>> paid use, it will notify me of this opportunity and provide me with any
>> contact information we have for the interested party.
>>
>>
>>
>> 8. As part of my grant of rights, Breath & Shadow may:
>>
>> . edit the Contribution for style and grammar, but not by significantly
>> changing its content or meaning unless you agree to such changes;
>>
>> . combine it with other material.

PS: If one day you want to do something else with your work, usually your publisher allows this with an acknowledgement, or permission(s), but this is another issue. One thing at a time.

[gypsy_100%]

that was so helpful, thank you very much!
i read your contract over very carefully, and am having second thoughts about selling my story. would it be o.k. to send you of copy of it? i would like your opinion on turning it into a book. let me know if you think i have a chance of getting it published. i want to be realistic about this. thanks for all your help

[Jozanny]

that was so helpful, thank you very much!
i read your contract over very carefully, and am having second thoughts about selling my story. would it be o.k. to send you of copy of it? i would like your opinion on turning it into a book. let me know if you think i have a chance of getting it published. i want to be realistic about this. thanks for all your help

I am not trying to discourage you from selling it! But that is up to you. Look, I have been in the publishing game since I was about 22--it is getting hazy to remember those first bylines that my professors took me out for drinks to celebrate--but I am nobody, and I have scored some impressive byline exposures.

I am also pretty sure this magazine of yours isn't going to cause you legal trouble if you want to expand what you have now into a book. They would normally just get a tagline which reads "originally published in The X, copyrighted 2009. All rights reserved."

That is how the game is played gypsy. Don't jump ahead of yourself.