Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Just Curious
I ran across an interesting anthology call over at Duotrope this morning. Interesting because they were looking for short stories about dragons and they wanted to cover all the genres which sounded like fun. I was all set to post the link when I discovered that they wanted rights to the story for four years. That seems like a long time to hold rights (both print and electronic) to a short story that's being published in an anthology. Anybody else seen contracts like this?
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6 comments:
I've seen two years, which sounded ridiculous. Four years? Unless they're paying $10 a word or something, it doesn't seem worth it.
They're only paying a share of the royalties, Katherine. I can see how an ebook might sell for an extended length of time, but sales ususally decline after a year or so to a point where no one is making enough money to make holding the rights worth while.
Exclusive rights?
Way too long.
Non-exclusive, I could see keeping it in "print" for a few years. Specialty anthologies like that need a long time to sell.
I agree, Thomas. I can't see the thinking behind having the rights for so long.
Hey Sandra,
And then I see the following language in the rules for a contest.
"You retain all right, title, and interest in and to your Submission, including the copyright, provided, however, that by participating in the Promotion, you hereby grant Sponsors the non-exclusive, royalty-free right and license to publish your Submission, in whole or in part, and your name, image, likeness, and biographical information for publicity, advertising, and promotional purposes, without limitation, and without consideration whether or not such Submission is selected as a winning Submission."
Stephen
Yes, Stephen, that phrasing is coming up a lot and not just in contests. I've seen some zines use that, too.
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