Q –
I sold an article to (name of magazine removed). They paid me and they were supposed to publish it several months ago. As of today, they still haven’t published it.
Another magazine is interested in buying reprint rights and they want to publish it right away. I really need the money and I don’t want to lose this sale. What can I do?
– Liz
A –
This has always been a problem in the industry. Since you already sold first rights, you can’t allow another publication to publish the piece until the original editor has published it.
To prevent editors from holding an article hostage for months, or even years, I recommend writers include a deadline-for-publication clause in all of their contracts. Editors should not hesitate to agree, especially if they’ve already told you they intend to publish the article within a specific time-frame.
“In exchange for payment of $___ for first rights, publisher/editor agrees to publish the article within 90 days. If this does not occur, the ‘first rights’ clause of this contract will revert to ‘reprint rights,’ with no change to the writer’s fee.”
RELATED:
Editor is Sitting On My Article…and My Money
Editor Holding Your Article For A Rainy Day?!
12 Ways To Get Quickly Rejected By An Editor
Trying To “Trick” Editors Can (And Will) Backfire
When an Editor Shelves Your Article…Before They Pay You!
Enter the Spring, 2018 24-Hour Short Story Contest RIGHT HERE.
Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles
The Do-It-Yourselfer's Guide to Self-Syndication
Practical resource outlining the self-syndication process, step-by-step. Packed with detailed information and useful tips for writers looking to gain readership, name recognition, publication and self-syndication for their column or articles.
https://writersweekly.com/books/4693.html
https://writersweekly.com/books/4693.html
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!
This is great advice. I’m going to use it from now on because I was once in this situation myself, although it didn’t go on for as long. I usually use deadlines for all my agreements/contracts but I never considered it for first reprint rights of my articles. Didn’t even know it was a thing I could do until reading this. But now I know.
Excellent advice!