Hello,
Well, having never published anything before, I won an Amateur Short Fiction contest. First of all, let me say that I am thrilled. I didn't think it would affect (effect? See - totally amateur) me as much as it did.
The winner gets published in a science-fiction convention program/fanzine, and on the web site of the organization. There is a contract for me to sign. Needless to say, I have no experience with this.
I'm going to paste all the significant portions of the contract, with names XXXed out, at the bottom of this posting.
So I have some misgivings about the contract, maybe unreasonably, but I just wanted to get some opinions.
- Does this have all the necessary stuff? Does it look like a contract one would reasonably sign, on publication of a short story?
- Is it reasonable to add something explicit that states that, so long as the story is on the organization's web page, it must also include my name and contact info? (Say, a link to a web page?)
- Is it possible/meaningful/reasonable to stipulate that these are North American rights? That they exclude audio rights?
- Is it even plausible that another science fiction magazine (Asimov's, say, or Strange Horizons) would consider publishing this story if it were offered them subsequently? The publication run of the conference program/fanzine is ~2000 copies, I believe, but as you can see, unspecified by the contract. The publication on their website seems open-ended.
Probably the cost of taking this to an actual lawyer would exceed the prize money, so any insights or suggestions you can make will be well appreciated. Thanks.
------------- Here comes the contract text ----------------
This agreement between XXXXXX ("author") and YYYYYYY ("YYY") is for purchase of publication rights covering the work known as "ZZZZZ" The author warrants that s/he has legal authority to grant the rights explained below.
YYYYYY intends to publish the work both on the website YYY.yyy, and in the May 2016 issue of YYYYFan, a yearly convention guide published at the convention YYYYcon. From July 1st, 2016 onwards, YYYYY will hold non-exclusive publishing rights to the story therefore from that point onwards the author may feel free to attept to get the story published in other venues. YYYY encourages the author to do so. However, as YYYY maintains non-exclusive rights to the story for five years, if YYYY ever decides to do an anthology of some kind collecting stories from the YYYYY Amateur Writing Contest, ZZZZZ may be included for a nominal payment of $10.00 to the author.
The author will receive a $250.00 payment for this story, mailed to them as requested.
By signing this contract, the author understands and agrees to these terms.
Well, having never published anything before, I won an Amateur Short Fiction contest. First of all, let me say that I am thrilled. I didn't think it would affect (effect? See - totally amateur) me as much as it did.
The winner gets published in a science-fiction convention program/fanzine, and on the web site of the organization. There is a contract for me to sign. Needless to say, I have no experience with this.
I'm going to paste all the significant portions of the contract, with names XXXed out, at the bottom of this posting.
So I have some misgivings about the contract, maybe unreasonably, but I just wanted to get some opinions.
- Does this have all the necessary stuff? Does it look like a contract one would reasonably sign, on publication of a short story?
- Is it reasonable to add something explicit that states that, so long as the story is on the organization's web page, it must also include my name and contact info? (Say, a link to a web page?)
- Is it possible/meaningful/reasonable to stipulate that these are North American rights? That they exclude audio rights?
- Is it even plausible that another science fiction magazine (Asimov's, say, or Strange Horizons) would consider publishing this story if it were offered them subsequently? The publication run of the conference program/fanzine is ~2000 copies, I believe, but as you can see, unspecified by the contract. The publication on their website seems open-ended.
Probably the cost of taking this to an actual lawyer would exceed the prize money, so any insights or suggestions you can make will be well appreciated. Thanks.
------------- Here comes the contract text ----------------
This agreement between XXXXXX ("author") and YYYYYYY ("YYY") is for purchase of publication rights covering the work known as "ZZZZZ" The author warrants that s/he has legal authority to grant the rights explained below.
YYYYYY intends to publish the work both on the website YYY.yyy, and in the May 2016 issue of YYYYFan, a yearly convention guide published at the convention YYYYcon. From July 1st, 2016 onwards, YYYYY will hold non-exclusive publishing rights to the story therefore from that point onwards the author may feel free to attept to get the story published in other venues. YYYY encourages the author to do so. However, as YYYY maintains non-exclusive rights to the story for five years, if YYYY ever decides to do an anthology of some kind collecting stories from the YYYYY Amateur Writing Contest, ZZZZZ may be included for a nominal payment of $10.00 to the author.
The author will receive a $250.00 payment for this story, mailed to them as requested.
By signing this contract, the author understands and agrees to these terms.
