Understanding sales and rights

[J C Armstrong]

I'm finally understanding that most sales are for full rights articles, but I have a question. If you are starting out, and would like to actually retain credit for your work and build a body of work with your bylines, how do you advance your writing career and opportunities if you've sold the rights? Thanks!

[Cyndy Hardy]

This is a great question, J.C. There is no pat answer -- it depends on how you choose to conduct your own business.

The Internet changed the playing field for professional writers. Most of the articles I've read on CC and similar sites are the type that businesses used to get from advertising agencies; and they paid much higher fees for them. The Internet has opened the market for anyone who wishes to write and competition has driven the prices down to the consumers' benefit.

These type of consumers often demand full rights because they want the ability to change the content to suit their needs; and because they don't necessarily want an outside byline.

If you choose to do business in this market you can't expect to use many of your works in your portfolio.

CC is the cream-of-the-crop for this type of writing, J.C. The rights we sell here are necessarily simple, I believe, because copy rights are inherently complicated. I'd like to see some additional rights 'products,' but CC has to balance its product line with what the the market will buy.

There are other markets like newspapers and magazines. These markets are harder to break in to, but they pay better and generally the publishers understand that they aren't buying your article -- they are buying rights to publish it. Most publishers have set guidelines for what rights they buy. You should decide what rights you will sell. Then you look for the right 'fit.'

Reprint rights are a huge part of the old-school writing profession. Our work is our inventory and there are many benefits to retaining your rights.

For example, my housing crisis article first earned $100 in a regional arts-and-news tabloid and is being purchased by another publisher who offered $250 for reprint rights. It's unusual to get paid more for reprints. That's just how it happened this time because I found a publisher who's compensation guidelines are better than the first.

The article also caught the attention of a national housing magazine who wants it reworked and updated for its Fall issue. They pay between $250 and $1,000 and I still retain rights for reprints.

In another example, retaining rights protects your financial interest in future use of your work. Many small publishers like special interest groups like to publish articles relevant to their causes. When I wrote for the local newspaper, those articles belonged to the paper under U.S. 'work made for hire' copyrights. Special interests could reprint my articles at will as long as they credited the newspaper. My paper did not charge for reprints, but many other papers do. The writer rarely gets additional compensation for work-made-for-hire.

Now, as a freelancer, I own my articles. Those groups now pay me for reprint rights. Newspapers who buy rights to my work now pay me extra to republish on their Web sites.

I like CC for several reasons. It insists on higher quality from its authors. In the bigger picture, that means more writers are learning how to be professional, which makes the market a better place for all of us. Second, the writers here are exceptional people. I respect these writers' ability to find success in a market that frustrates me. I'm sure you'll hear from some of them and learn more about how to 'make it' here. Third, CC is a great place to store my inventory for unexpected sales.

Again, this is just my opinion. CC is the primary source of sales for many writers. Others write as a hobby and the money is incidental. There is no right or wrong.

You have to examine your preferred market and your business plan (if you don't have one -- do it soon) and decide accordingly. Be flexible and prepared to readjust as your learn. (I've been burned on use rights, so I am currently reconsidering how I do business here. I might decide to [i]only[/i] post articles I have no future use for and only offer full rights.)

I suggest you also read up on copy right law, check out some professional organizations' Web sites (like the Editorial Freelancers Association) and Google 'editorial calendar.' Read through the guidelines and find magazines that publish articles you like to write. Learn how to write queries and start taking chances. Most important, expect rejections and be mentally prepared to learn from them.

[Celeste Stewart]

Good morning,

Many full rights purchasers do leave the byline on. They may buy the full rights so that they have the right to edit the content to better suit their needs.

If you are adamant about keeping your byline, only offer unique and usage rights. But doing so will limit your success. Much of the content that sells is for website and marketing pages where a byline isn't appropriate. For example, the "Mission Statement" request wouldn't fly with a byline.

After you have a few sales, Google your name (or the first paragraph of your sold article) and see what comes up. You may be surprised to see that the full rights articles still have your name associated with them.

Welcome to the fun!

[JD]

Great advice/info - even for those of us who have been around a little while...

Thanks.

[J C Armstrong]

Cyndy,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and thorough answer; I truly appreciate it!