[Journal] Dark Highlands Anthology

BjornAbust · Mar 3, 2011

http://www.darkhighlands.com/

I stumbled upon this on Duotrope a few minutes ago. I couldn't find anything on the boards about them, so I though I'd come here to see if anyone had dealt with them in the past. Does it seem legit?

James D. Macdonald · Mar 3, 2011

Volume One was released last October. Have you read it?

veinglory · Mar 3, 2011

The publisher on Amazon is createspace.

DHBrad · Mar 3, 2011

As far as we are concerned, we are legit. Your definition of legit may differ. Yes, we use createspace.

Our focus is on talent from the Midwest. If you have a short story, poem or artwork that fits our criteria, we'd welcome your submission.

No one is going to get rich being published in the Dark Highlands Anthology. We are very small and we don't pay very much. None of the four of us behind this make any money doing this. It's a side project labor of love. We sell copies out of our cars, at book fairs, art shows, etc.

We no longer accept full-length manuscripts. That information on duotrope should be coming down very soon.

I appreciate your interest.

BjornAbust · Mar 3, 2011

DHBrad said:
As far as we are concerned, we are legit. Your definition of legit may differ. Yes, we use createspace.

Our focus is on talent from the Midwest. If you have a short story, poem or artwork that fits our criteria, we'd welcome your submission.

No one is going to get rich being published in the Dark Highlands Anthology. We are very small and we don't pay very much. None of the four of us behind this make any money doing this. It's a side project labor of love. We sell copies out of our cars, at book fairs, art shows, etc.

We no longer accept full-length manuscripts. That information on duotrope should be coming down very soon.

I appreciate your interest.

Thanks for clearing that up, DHBrad. I hope that I didn't come off as condescending in my inquiry. Being an inexperienced author, I still have trouble differentiating between legitimate publications and scams. I couldn't find a whole lot of information on you guys at first, and as such, I figured I'd inquire here.

Perusing your website and glimpsing your first anthology on Amazon, I have to say that I'm quite impressed. In the near future, I'd like very much to submit to you guys!

HapiSofi · Mar 4, 2011

DHBrad said:
As far as we are concerned, we are legit. Your definition of legit may differ. Yes, we use createspace. ...

None of the four of us behind this make any money doing this. It's a side project labor of love. We sell copies out of our cars, at book fairs, art shows, etc.

That's fine. You're legitimately publishing a fanzine. I see no reason to condemn it.

shelleyo · Mar 5, 2011

HapiSofi said:
That's fine. You're legitimately publishing a fanzine. I see no reason to condemn it.

I thought a fanzine was something associated with fandom, such as if they printed Star Trek stories or some type of derivative works.

Shelley

JulieB · Mar 5, 2011

shelleyo said:
I thought a fanzine was something associated with fandom, such as if they printed Star Trek stories or some type of derivative works.

Shelley

That's what most of us think of when we hear the term fanzine, but there is a whole literary and genre 'zine subcluture. Back when I was involved, there were a lot of zines that published original works. Pay was a comp copy or maybe a token amount. They were pretty much labors of love. And still are. There's still quite the 'zine subculture in SF, particularly in the south.

BjornAbust · Jun 12, 2011

I was recently considering a submission to this market but was a little worried about their submission agreement. I'm no expert on such terms and was hoping to get some input from other authors. I've bolded the parts that I found worrisome.

Submission Agreement

By submitting your work to Dark Highlands and agreeing to the terms of this Submission Agreement, you affirm that this short story, poem or artwork is original to you, that you own all necessary rights to this piece, and that the piece does not defame or otherwise violate the rights, copyrights, trademarks, privacy, or reputation of any third party.

You grant Dark Highlands a non-exclusive, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual world-wide permanent license to duplicate, display, distribute, excerpt, or transmit the work, in any format or media known or hereafter known. In addition to first publication rights to accepted submissions, Dark Highlands is granted the right to publish submissions in the specified volume; include excerpts of winning submissions on our webpage, on our Facebook page, and in podcasts, press releases, and other promotional materials; and re-publish submissions in a future "Best of Dark Highlands Anthology." Dark Highlands shall have the right to own or register copyrights to any works or compilations created by Dark Highlands that contain the submission, in whole or in part.

You agree to indemnify and hold Dark Highlands harmless against any claims asserted by any third parties that allege the submission violates their rights, or from any breach by you of your promises in this Agreement. You shall be responsible for any costs incurred by Dark Highlands for defense or settlement of third- party claims, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees of Dark Highlands, LLC.

You understand that submitting your work does not guarantee that your work will be used, displayed, or otherwise reproduced. Upon publication of the Anthology, the staff will send a prize check to each winner, along with a complimentary copy of the Anthology.

BjornAbust · Jun 13, 2011

Can anyone tell me if the wording of this agreement is cause for concern? Please?

shelleyo · Jun 13, 2011

The permanent license clause gives them the right to re-use your work forever and ever amen without ever paying you another cent. It's non-exclusive, which means you can do what you want with it, too. But most periodicals want first print or electronic rights, sometimes with the ability to reprint later in an anthology or best-of compilcation, not a permanent license to do what they want.

The word assignable may also mean that they could sell your story (as-is, since I don't see anything about their ability to adapt it) to another market, without sharing profits with you. They can assign the license you grant them to whomever they want. I'm no lawyer, but that's what I take away from it.

I wouldn't sign such a contract.

Shelley

HapiSofi · Jun 13, 2011

Bjorn, it's not an advantageous agreement, and the zine is not an advantageous venue. You know from vanity publishing? They're doing vanity acquisition and editing.

If you want to be a published author, write stories for paying venues that have a significant readership.

DHBrad · Oct 16, 2011

Folks, I really appreciate the feedback. We are taking a look at our submission policy and rethinking the wording. It never was our intent to take advantage of anyone who takes the time to send us their story, poetry or artwork for consideration.

We are working on growing readership. It's a slow process, but each day we see small signs of growth. We're very grateful of the creative folks who have trusted us with their works, as it is this original content that is building our readership. Perhaps, someday when we are an advantageous venue, you'll consider trusting us with your short story.

Little Ming · Oct 16, 2011

Just took a look at their "Submission Agreement" and there are a few things that concern me.

"You grant Dark Highlands a non-exclusive, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual world-wide permanent license to duplicate, display, distribute, excerpt, or transmit the work, in any format or media known or hereafter known."

This means that as soon as you submit your work, you've already granted DH rights to publish it in anyway that they want... forever. Which means, even if they never publish your story, they will forever have the right to do so. In addition, because DH has this right, you can never sell an exclusive to another publisher for this story, because DH has a non-exclusive... forever. Even if they never officially offer you a contract, you've already agreed to give them these rights when you submitted.

"Dark Highlands shall have the right to own or register copyrights to any works or compilations created by Dark Highlands that contain the submission, in whole or in part."

Copyright should NOT be register in the publisher's name. It should be registered in the author's name. The only time that I would sign away copyright is if it's a work for hire.

Hopefully, Brad can address this concerns.

DHBrad · Oct 25, 2011

We had an attorney review our policies and we have made changes accordingly.

By submitting your work to Dark Highlands LLC and agreeing to the terms of this Submission Agreement, you affirm that this short story, poem or artwork is original to you, that you own all necessary rights to this piece, and that the piece does not defame or otherwise violate the rights, copyrights, trademarks, privacy, or reputation of any third party.

Should your work be selected for publication, you grant Dark Highlands LLC a non-exclusive, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual world-wide permanent license to duplicate, display, distribute, excerpt, or transmit the work, in any format or media known or hereafter known. In addition to first publication rights to accepted submissions, Dark Highlands LLC is granted the right to publish selected submissions in the specified volume; include excerpts of selected submissions on our webpage, on our Facebook page, and in podcasts, press releases, and other promotional materials; and re-publish selected submissions in a future "Best of Dark Highlands Anthology." Dark Highlands shall have the right to own or register copyrights to any works or compilations created by Dark Highlands that contain the submission, in whole or in part. All contributors maintain the copyright for their individual works and may republish, print, and sell their own works as they see fit. Dark Highlands LLC relinquishes all rights to any piece not selected for publication.

In the event of misappropriated intellectual property, you agree to indemnify and hold Dark Highlands harmless against any claims asserted by any third parties that allege your submission violates their rights, or from any breach by you of your promises in this Agreement. You shall be responsible for any costs incurred by Dark Highlands for defense or settlement of third- party claims, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees of Dark Highlands LLC.

You understand that submitting your work does not guarantee that your work will be used, displayed, or otherwise reproduced. Within 45 days of publication of the Anthology, the staff will send a prize check to each winner, along with a complimentary copy of the Anthology.

CaoPaux · Nov 12, 2013

Volume 3 came out Nov '11, but nothing further and site is now gone.

[Journal] Dark Highlands Anthology

BjornAbust

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

veinglory

volitare nequeo

DHBrad

BjornAbust

HapiSofi

Hagiographically Advantaged

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

BjornAbust

BjornAbust

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

HapiSofi

Hagiographically Advantaged

DHBrad

Little Ming

DHBrad

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless