• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Holdfast Magazine

TamMac

Potato-eater.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
90
Reaction score
1
Location
Victoria
Website
tamthewriter.blogspot.ca
So I submitted a story to Holdfast Magazine (holdfastmagazine.com) and had an email acceptance. When I asked if there would be a contract coming any time, I got the following email:

"...We don't ask for the rights at all. All we do ask is for you to not publish it anywhere else until the next issue of holdfast is out (so for approx four months) . So we didn't see the need for contracts. Hope that is all right with you,..."

Of course I said I didn't consent to publication under those terms. But I'm baffled. Anyone else had interactions with them?
 

Thedrellum

Grr. Argh.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
852
Reaction score
57
Location
Houston, Texas
Website
www.patreon.com
Sounds a lot like the practice of many smaller literary magazines I've had poems published in where the acceptance e-mail serves as the default contract.

Most magazines, though, when they get larger or become associated with another organization (a university, for example) tend to move towards having contracts of even the most basic sort. Since Holdfast seems to have just started, maybe they haven't yet realized how contracts help them just as much as they help authors.
 

Cybernaught

Decker
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2008
Messages
1,376
Reaction score
185
Location
Philadelphia
It's not uncommon. I've had a few stories accepted by smaller mags and only the last one actually emailed me a contract to sign. The other ones just wrote in their submission guidelines that they only want first publishing and anthology rights.
 
Last edited:

TamMac

Potato-eater.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
90
Reaction score
1
Location
Victoria
Website
tamthewriter.blogspot.ca
A little follow up on this, should anyone be interested. The folks at Holdfast have sent over a contract and we're negotiating some terms. More thrilling updates as events unfold.
 
Last edited:

TamMac

Potato-eater.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
90
Reaction score
1
Location
Victoria
Website
tamthewriter.blogspot.ca
Final update on this cookie - I have signed a contract with the folks at Holdfast. They were very understanding of my requirements, very polite, and quick. So after a bumpy start, two thumbs up.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
10,034
Reaction score
7,466
Location
Virginia
Congratulations, TamMac! Keep us posted.