posted
I'm still trying to grasp the rules in the publishing world. If I submit a segment out of my novel-length WIP as a short story, and it gets published (with the understanding that the rights to republish return to me after a few months), does that HELP or hinder my chances at submitting the entire novel? I know that OSC's book, Ender's Game, started out as short story, but I'm not sure if that is a widely accepted practice or not.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Well, there may not have been a consensus, but I had the last word, and no one disagreed:
quote:So, if you have a novel excerpt that works as a short story, go ahead and send it to the professional markets. It is easier to sell a novel after parts of it have gained readers through magazine publication than it would be to do the opposite. If you get all the money out of your writing that you possibly can, all the better for you.
posted
Would a workable excerpt have to be sold exactly as it reads in the bigger work, or is it okay to fiddle with it to make it more stand-alone-ish?
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
You can fiddle. I've seen quite a few books that say, on the copyright page, "A slightly modified version of a portion of this book originally appeared in . . . . "
Posts: 932 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I've wondered about this myself Elan, so thanks for bringing it back up.
I approached a magazine about doing a review on my book (the one in the hands of an editor--I explained this to them) and the submissions editor suggested I send the entire ms in and then they can see if there is an excerpt that might work to take out and publish (they now don't do book reviews unless the book was published by their parent company).
Now, I explained that my book is still "in process" and that the final "yes"--if there even was going to be one--is most likely long in coming but they wanted to see it anyway.
I was hesitant to email the editor that has my ms (I'm not wanting to be the "annoying" submission) and ask his permission, but I really don't want to miss this opportunity. Especially seeing as this magazine is *extremely* huge for my target audience.
Do I even need to ask the editor? I'm worried it will take away some sort of rights and he'll need to have a say. Of course seeing as he hasn't given me a final answer yet...
posted
I would have thought if I could talk a magazine into publishing a chunk of a novel I wrote as a short story or novelette, then the good would outweigh the bad.
I can come up with two points to the good: (1) more jack for me, and (2) it might help promote the upcoming novel.
Bad: the reader might see the novel, think he read it, and put it back.
Potentially bad, but correctible with care: if one makes the mistake more than first serial rights that slice of the novel might be tied up, preventing its use where it belongs.
(Had to edit: omitted a word.)
[This message has been edited by Robert Nowall (edited August 09, 2005).]
posted
This was my main consern: "Potentially bad, but correctible with care: if one makes the mistake more than first serial rights that slice of the novel might be tied up, preventing its use where it belongs."
I guess I'll just have to make sure I iron this out with the magazine pub. before I sign anything. I just wonder if I should bring it up with the editor at the book publisher before I submit it to the magazine or just wait and see what the magazine says.
posted
Silverberg's "The Alien Years" was composed of a number of short stories dealing with the arrival of aliens on Earth, written and published over a period of years, with the individual backgrounds of the stories all filed off and the result spliced together with some new background and linking material---some of which was calved off and sold separately.
I guess it's a legitimate practice, though it hardly seems something that everybody else could do with their novels. Or would want to. One or two stories off the main novel at most, I would imagine, is all most people could manage.
posted
If the magazine is buying anything besides First Serial Rights, you probably don't want to fool with them, anyway. First serial rights don't conflict with book publication.
I don't see why it would hurt to let the book editor know what you're doing, and I can't imagine that they'd disapprove. But I wouldn't ask permission, I'd just tell them what you're planning. If they object, they'll let you know.
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