Hi folks -
I know several people on the list (myself included, obviously) are writing
fiction set in various backgrounds (Full Thrust, Babylon 5, Exodus Project,
etc.). I was poking around on the Science Fiction and Fantasy
Writers of America page (http://www.sfwa.org) and found this interesting
tidbit:
"Online Publishing
E-publishers and e-zines generally ask only for first electronic rights.
But the issue of electronic rights is not well defined at present, and many
print publishers and editors don't consider electronic rights distinct from
first rights. Generally speaking, if you e-publish your work, you'll be
considered to have given away your first rights, which makes it unlikely
that the work could be subsequently print-published, except as a
reprint.
Note that this rule holds true not just for e-publishers and e-zines,
but for any public forum on the Internet, including writers' groups, Usenet,
or your own webpage."
Note those last four words - yipe! In my case, very little of what I've
written is publishable, but some are very close. Obviously, I'm not ready to
surrender publishing rights to anything I've written, so I've taken the
stories themselves offline. I'm still willing to email the decent ones to
anyone who wants to read them (and hopfully give criticism), so feel free to
click on the email links on http://www.ExodusProject.com/Fiction. Those
of you who think you might one day want to try to publish your work, might
consider doing the same.
TTYL...
> Note those last four words - yipe! In my case, very little of what
Those of
> you who think you might one day want to try to publish your work, might
> consider doing the same.
I dunno, Keith; every published writer I've ever talked to about getting
published has told me that the first sell is always the hardest, since most
publishers won't publish anyone who hasn't already been published (yeah,
crummy logic, I know, but them's th' rules). However, it is
much, MUCH easier to get published in an E-zine than out in the Big
Real, and there's really not a lot of dead tree publishers who can match the
net's distribution range. That being said, pulling your electronic
representation to hold out for a hardcopy buy is sort of putting the cart
before the horse. Electronic publishing isn't the way to fortune (My site is
in the minority in that I acutally pay cash for submissions, and I only pay
$.02 USD a word. That's about average for electronic media but maybe a third
of the bigger mags), but the money spends as well as anyone else's, and
infinitely better than the money you WON'T recieve if your submission is
sitting in some editor's slush pile somewhere for two years. While an
electroinic writing credit may not carry as much weight
as a quote-unquote real credit, they are becoming more respected
offline. And, after all, a writing credit is a writing credit.
Take care,
Hi Tre -
> Electronic publishing isn't the way to fortune (My site is in the
Please don't think I'm slighting e-zines - not at all! I agree with you
100%: an e-published story is infinitely better than a non-published
story, particularly if one gets paid! As you say, a writing credit is a
writing
credit. And again meaning no offense, but I'd _rather_ be published in
Analog or Asimov's, not because of the money but because of the prestige (who
wouldn't?). Not that my writing is anywhere near that level, of course, but it
seems foolish to me to put something on my website (which doesn't pay me nor
does it grant any prestige at all) before at least attempting to submit it to
print, wouldn't you agree?
Here's a question for you as an e-zine publisher: if someone submits to
you a story that they've had on their own site for a year, isn't it safe to
assume that (if it's any good and therefore worth publishing) it's already
been read and/or saved by hundreds of people before you buy it? It
would seem that story wouldn't be worth much to you, wouldn't it? Just
wondering.
As I have never read an e-zine, I have no idea how it works (time to
pop over to your page, thanks for the URL!).
TTYL..