Posts
When submitting to a regional publication, which is the best way to go? A reprint automatically cuts your chances of selling a first-rights piece. But does a simultaneous submission get to confusing, or is it it the way to go?
Perhaps with a simultaneous submission, one could begin contacting only warm leads to keep the list more manageable. After say, one month, if first-rights haven't been purchased, offer it to the remainder of the list as a reprint.
I am simply thinking aloud. Thoughts, comments and experiences?
I love the idea of contacting warm leads first. I hadn't thought of that. I guess the word "reprint" could be an automatic turn-off.
ReplyDeleteIf an article hasn't been printed but you send to the whole list, do you offer as a "reprint" or wait to see if someone picks it up first and then negotiate if you get multiple offers?
Your question is the same as mine, Jenni. I think I will try offering an unpublished article to warm leads first. If that doesn't pan out, I would then send the article to the remainder of the list--I think as a reprint, but I am not sure. Thanks for your comment & I hope there will be more.
ReplyDeleteI really like that idea, too, especially after having created a few warm leads for myself! I wonder with these smaller publications if they even have it in their budget to pay more for a first-rights submission than a reprint? Every one who has contacted me about a piece seems to have a teeny-tiny budget. But maybe that's just the ones who happen to like my work. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks again for addressing the whole topic of RPPs, Julie!
Stephanie, I had a similar experience when I first started submitting my work to RPPs. I just decided that it was quicker to submit to the whole darn list as a reprint. I was eager (still am) to get stuff published. I sold my last essay to a publication I haven't worked with & they offered me the most money yet from an RPP. The email even said, "this is what we pay for a reprint." I thought, crap, what if I hadn't said it was a reprint? So far, no one else has purchased it anyway. So....trial and error!
ReplyDeleteI just read Brette's ebook, and she says many small pubs offer the same amount for a reprint as for first rights. I am starting to feel on board with submitting as a reprint if it gets your work scattered farther. Up to now, I've always relied on "warm leads" but it does involved waiting, and I think that only at the national level (and some regionals) do you actually make real money at this. But I wonder about simultaneous submissions, too. What's the difference? Hmm.
ReplyDelete