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pencilone

Re: When Publishers ask for ''all rights''

Thanks, uncle Jim.
You are the best! ;)
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

Re: When Publishers ask for ''all rights''

This is great info and more than I'd hoped for. Thank you all!
 

andyzack

Re: When Publishers ask for ''all rights''

Pencilone:

Many an author has started with a publishing contract that was awarded because of a contest. I see no harm in trying out the WotC contest if you want.

As for the contract, well, that needs to be looked at carefully down the road, preferably by an agent with experience. I have done many a contract with WotC and have to say it's a bit tricky for sure.

Best,
 

pencilone

Re: When Publishers ask for ''all rights''

Andy,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

I keep on ploughing hard and I hope I'll be ready to submit in time (I also count on Airmail services from UK to US to take no more than 10 days).

If I win, you'll be the first to contact (I keep my fingers crossed already!) ;)

Best Wishes,

Pencilone
 

Pencilone

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I am totally dismayed, as my submission to WOTC got lost in the post. I posted it by AirSure from UK on 23 Feb (thinking that AirSure is better than Airmail as it is more expensive). It makes me wonder what, if anything, I need to do next. The competition is gone, I know.

What postage services should I use from UK to send letters to US? What is more reliable? DHL?



I feel pretty low as this was my first submission :(.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Don't sweat it. A work that's publishable by one is publishable by many.

Bad stuff happens to good manuscripts. Send it out again to another market, and meanwhile work on your next story.
 

Rose

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Confession: I've written four essays for a reference book, and each time signed a work-for-hire contract.

The articles are quite dry, as you can imagine, and don't seem reprintable in mainstream magazines. However, it's easy to imagine changing the slant and style (and using some of the juicy stuff turned up in my research but left out of the academic write-up) for a commercial publication.

I can do that, right? It's not the topic I sold all rights to, it's the essay...right?
 

James D. Macdonald

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RoseReifsnyder said:
I can do that, right? It's not the topic I sold all rights to, it's the essay...right?

IANAL but the information can't be copyrighted, only the specific words. I don't see any reason you shouldn't write new articles based on your research and shop them around. (You didn't sign a non-competition clause, did you?)
 

Rose

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Thanks, Uncle Jim!

Whew - no "non-competes" in the contract.

There is a line that says the company will consider my requests to reprint the essay in other scholarly publications after it appears in their publication. I'm guessing I'd get to keep the reprint proceeds, but probably won't know until I actually make such a request.
 

Rose

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One more thing. Can anyone help me determine the pros and cons of writing these "work-for-hire" essays? I can't quite figure out how to figure out if writing them is the right decision for me!
 

James D. Macdonald

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The pros of WFH contracts:

You're published, with a real publishing credit.
You work with a real editor.
You're paid real money.

The cons:

If the work takes off, someone else makes the profit, not you.
You can't sell the work or the subrights to other markets.
 

DeadlyAccurate

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I do quite a bit of work-for-hire. Some I wouldn't do again (being published in Dragon magazine, for example), others I still do. Every game review I've ever done has been "all rights." In theory, of course, those reviews could be reprinted a million times without me seeing another dime. In reality, that'll likely never happen. Game reviews just aren't terribly useful beyond a certain time period, and no gamers want to see the same reviews in multiple places. Game reviews pay decently as long as you don't figure out how much time you spend playing the game. :)

Another area that others might understandably disagree with is in the roleplaying industry. I do a lot of work-for-hire that pays very little. I do have an understanding of this industry and like most people, do it as much out of love as for money. Most of the publishers can't even do it full time. They have day jobs and run their publishing business on the side. It's a business flooded by amateurs and semi-professionals, and I recommend people only get into it for enjoyment and to practice their skills.

Novels are one area I will never give up all rights without a significant amount of money, and even then, only shared world fiction. I made the decision not to enter WotC's open call because I refuse to hand over rights to my current series.
 

Lauri B

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Hi Rose,
I did a work-for-hire project for a publisher several years ago that paid very well, took relatively little time to write, and NO time to revise. It was the right choice at the time for me, since although I received no royalties on the project and retained only the copyright, it led to quite a few other offers (and the dollar-per-hour breakdown when all was said and done was great!). It was also on a subject I'm not especially interested in pursuing, so it was not a big deal for me not to be able to re-use the material. I think it depends on the topic, the project, the money, and where you are in your career.
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

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Ping!

And... now that the deadline has passed, and those who were gonna submit have or haven't by now, now I find me the information I really wanted. *grrr*

Peter Archer said:
In this imprint, as opposed to our other imprints and lines, the books will not be written as work-for-hire. In a work-for-hire, the company, in this case Wizards, owns all the rights to the characters and settings. In this new imprint, the authors will retain the copyright to the works....

Each contract will be negotiated on an individual basis. As I said earlier, the key provision of this contract is that the author will retain copyright of the work.
Lookee there. On the off-chance they like my proposal, I have one less reason to feel ambivalent about it.

There's also info in this chat that wasn't in, or flat out contradicts the submissions guidelines. For instance:

the chat log said:
The chapter outline should be extremely brief. A sentence or two for each chapter should suffice.
submissions guidelines said:
A chapter-by-chapter outline that indicates what happens in each chapter of the novel. Don't go into exhaustive detail. That's what your story is for! Just tell us in 3-5 sentences what happens in each chapter.
*Sigh* As writers, we do try to please. I was very careful to keep each chapter's description between 3 and 5 sentences. Life goes on.

Anyway, thought y'all might be intrigued by this!
 

transom-jumper

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What's up with Wizards?

Hi Gang,

I sent a partial to Wizards in early December (Somewhere around the 6th). I know they get flooded with manuscripts, but does anyone have an idea of response time? Their website isn't too user friendly for non D&D types. How do I know if the manuscript is lost? Do they have a contact e-mail for submissions?

All my best,
Transom-Jumper
 

transom-jumper

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Thanks!

Thanks, I am pecking away at my latest version of the great American novel. Perhaps I'll even cool my heels at a small Hawaiian oceanfront tavern and wait for The Duke to show.
Transom-Jumper
 
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My-Immortal

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I sent a submission to them for the first open call a couple of years ago....and if I remember correctly, it was about 9 months before I heard anything back from them.

Good luck.
 

JAK

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I waited only a few weeks for my December '06 rejection. Maybe yours is a better signal
 

herdon

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Wizards of the Coast can definitely get books into bookstores. I don't know how well they do with their imprints. (Plus, posts about new publishers should go in new posts -- that way people can find the information when they are looking for it.)
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Mirrorstone is an imprint of Wizards of the Coast, which is a division of Hasbro. I know nothing of this particular imprint, but I know that WotC has traditionally not always had the most author-friendly contracts for their Dungeons & Dragons products. But you will definitely find their books in bookstores.

Badducky will be published by WotC. You might contact him for info.

Side note: WotC gave me my very first rejection letter, and the very first personal rejection.
 

eqb

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Not sure if this experience will match a novel sale, but I recently sold a story to a Mirrorstone anthology. The editors were friendly and professional and a joy to work with. The contract was...interesting. I ended up with something acceptable but it took several rounds.