I have been querying agents for a couple of months now for my speculative fiction novel and haven't had much luck. I don't have any previous writing credentials and I was thinking about submitting an excerpt of my novel to a magazine such as FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE. I would obviously rewrite it so that it's a stand alone short story. My question is: If I get it published in such a magazine, will there be any problems with me using the excerpt in my novel? Will the magazine own the rights to the piece? Will I have any problems if I finally get my book published?
Chapter turned short story
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Writers have done this before, but I'm not sure how the licensing works out. They don't even bother modifying the chapters.
But if you do intend to rewrite the chapter to stand alone, then there are no licensing issues. The short story version would differ markedly from the novel version--it would, by necessity, tell a different story--and they'd therefore be considered different works.
But if you do intend to rewrite the chapter to stand alone, then there are no licensing issues. The short story version would differ markedly from the novel version--it would, by necessity, tell a different story--and they'd therefore be considered different works.
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You also need to remember, Monomaniac, that F&SF might reject the story. So it'd be a good idea to have a list of markets you're thinking of submitting to, so you can fire it off somewhere else if it gets rejected.
Gotta be positive, right?
You can be realistically positive though, like pointing out all the uses for those rejections letters. Clearing up cat sick, wallpaper, something to fold to put under a wobbly table leg... you just can't do that with email rejections.
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F&SF rejection slips aren't quite large enough to clean up cat sick. Hamster sick, maybe. Or you could use them to make origami.
Nicole
Well, I used to have a small cat.
(If anyone is getting coloured ones from F&SF, I'm going to sulk... they've only sent me white ones).
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Assuming you're doing this to put writing credits on your query letter to make the query look better and get a request, let me tell you this plan doesn't work for several reasons:
(1) All a short story credit will do on your cover letter is say you can write a short story someone somewhere said was good, and this has nothing to do with your ability to write a novel many people in many places will say is good.
(2) You're not getting rejected because you don't have writing credits.
I guess 'several' translates to 'two.'
My suggestion? Put your query through Query Hell in SYW and see what kind of feedback you get there.
But!
If you sincerely think your first chapter stands on its own as a short story, and would like to see it published as a short, by all means, go right ahead.
This was only a warning because some people live under the mistaken assumption that short story credits can turn a "no" into a "yes." They really only turn a "weak yes" into a "yes."
It's easier to get an agent than get into F+SF
However there are plenty of excellent mags that orbit a little lower than F+SF. Selling to them is a worthy goal.
However there are plenty of excellent mags that orbit a little lower than F+SF. Selling to them is a worthy goal.
Ditto dempsey's post, especially this part. It's quite common for debut novelists to have zero credits to their name.
If you do manage to sell the first chapter as a short, it won't negatively affect your chances of selling the novel later. It may impress some agents, it may not even blip the radar of others. Everyone is different.
Why not consider submitting your best chapter as a short?
That's not as snide as it may seem: I've read several novels where just that is the case.
That's not as snide as it may seem: I've read several novels where just that is the case.
I’m still looking for an answer to my original question: will I have trouble using the material in my novel?
Yeah, you will retain the rights to your work. And writing credits in a query or cover letter are good -- they establish that someone somewhere thought your work good enough to pay money for. They aren't a magic bullet though. And what waylander said -- way easier to get an agent than it is to sell to F&SF.
Like, several thousand times easier. Damn, if your novel is good enough to get serialized in F&SF, then agents should be (quite literally) crawling all over you.
I wish I had your confidence, Mono. Publication in F&SF followed by a major book deal. I consider myself lucky if I even get a personalized rejection letter.
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