Comments on: The Legal Side of Writing for Anthologies

By: Top Picks Thursday! For Writers & Readers 06-15-2017 | The Author Chronicles

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 17:02:48 +0000

[…] There’s a lot of business-side stuff to publishing, especially if you are self-publishing. Savvy Book Writers tells how to get multiple sales of your manuscript via subsidiary rights, and Susan Spann explores the legal side of writing for anthologies. […]

By: Victoria Marie Lees

Victoria Marie Lees — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 15:58:11 +0000

As always, thank you Susan for this excellent advice on writing for anthologies. I've shared it generously online. As for contributing to an anthology, I submitted a memoir piece about raising my special needs daughter for the anthology Easy to Love But Hard to Raise, real parents’ experiences raising special needs children. I received ten copies as compensation and became a part of their blog, contributing posts occasionally.

By: Fae Rowen

Fae Rowen — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 02:01:32 +0000

Thanks for this short and easy list to remember, Susan! I could see Trap and Pitfall 2 falling into the cracks in a desire to "get published."

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 16:22:50 +0000

In reply to cerrissakim. What a fantastic question!

By: Writing Links 6/12/17 – Where Genres Collide

Writing Links 6/12/17 – Where Genres Collide — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 11:12:05 +0000

[…] https://writersinthestormblog.com/2017/06/the-legal-side-of-writing-for-anthologies/ What to look for. […]

By: cerrissakim

cerrissakim — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 02:04:49 +0000

Hi Susan-I always learn so much from your posts. I am currently editing an anthology and a few author's asked for first serial rights, mostly so they can sell their work in another place. I want to offer this to all the contributors. This is an anthology of mixed Korean stories and the proceeds are going to two charities. Do you have an idea of where I can get a copy of a contract that I can give to our writers. Most people are not "professional" writers but I want to make sure they all have their rights protected. Thanks!

By: Susan Mark

Susan Mark — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 14:00:51 +0000

In reply to Susan Spann. I did ask first, but ended up walking away from an anthology I was accepted into over rights issues. First, they had written it so that I gave up my rights whether or not the anthology actually got printed. They did fix that. However, they wanted exclusive rights, all formats, for the life of the copyright, including condensed/expanded versions. Although technically, they did not ask for the copyright itself, I saw no substantive difference between what they asked and giving away my copyright entirely. I told them this was unacceptable, and they never did come back with a reasonable contributor agreement revision. The sad thing is -- this is a well-known publisher, and one that I thought was reputable. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

By: Laura Drake

Laura Drake — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 07:57:30 +0000

In reply to Susan Spann. Like a Judge Judy episode, right?!

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 06:11:06 +0000

Fantastic advice. I recently read an anthology proposal with a quasi contract an author was organizing for charity. It had so many holes in what she wanted: how the royalties were being handled, lack of the charity named, etc...I didn't bother to seek more info with so many red flags.

denise

By: Susan Spann

Susan Spann — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 02:46:05 +0000

In reply to Laura Drake. This is so, so smart Laura. Ironically, the only times in my practice that I've seen writers' friendships go truly and irrevocably nuclear are the ones where authors entered into a writing project without a contract. Where a contract exists, it gives a peaceful way to resolve issues, and it truly does save relationships as well as projects.