I was really excited to receive a message from CC saying that I had just sold an article! My first one! It was only a usage license, but still, it's New Year's Eve and I'd like to see it as a sign of the awesome things to come!
Happy New Year to all of you out there! I hope you have an awesome time and lots of great things come your way!
Ok, I checked out where my article was published out of curiosity, and I have a question. When a customer buys a usage license, isn't he supposed to give credit to the writer? Because I didn't see anything of the sort on that page.
I admit, I'm a bit vexed about that. I hate to nag, and it's not about Ego- I'm not even using my real name here. I just find it wrong because the article did not magically write itself! Moreover, if you're looking to build a reputation in the long run, it's going to be impossible if you don't get any credit at all for your work.
Did you put your byline in the document? If it is there, the customer is in contravention of the rights purchased, so you should inform support and see if they can do anything about it. Sometimes this happens because customers don't understand the rights. Unfortunately some buyers are just unscrupulous and most of us have learnt to live with it, because an awful lot of writing time can be wasted following up.
But you must make sure your byline is included. I do it like this:
Document Title (Heading 1)
by A N Other (in a smaller bold font)
Thank you for your reply, jak! I guess I was naive enough to believe that the author's name had to be mentioned anyway, so I didn't include a byline- I didn't even know I had to! It was a newbie mistake and I see that I still have a lot to learn. From now on I'll make sure that no article is submitted without a byline.
jak wrote:Did you put your byline in the document? If it is there, the customer is in contravention of the rights purchased, so you should inform support and see if they can do anything about it. Sometimes this happens because customers don't understand the rights. Unfortunately some buyers are just unscrupulous and most of us have learnt to live with it, because an awful lot of writing time can be wasted following up.
But you must make sure your byline is included. I do it like this:
Document Title (Heading 1)
by A N Other (in a smaller bold font)
The text starts here........................
I have found that the first two pieces I sold for usage were used without my byline (which I'd included in the article) and when I contacted the buyers to ask them to add it in, they were happy to do so. I think many buyers don't understand the need for it, since it's now on "their" website. Once they realize that a writer relies on resales of usage rights and will be considered to have plagiarized the article they wrote if their byline's not included, they seem to be reasonable.
It was only a usage license, but still, it's New Year's Eve and I'd like to see it as a sign of the awesome things to come! 