When To Say No…

Initially this was written and I was going to ask Stupefying Stories to run it on their blogspot, but I didn’t want to put Bruce or his publication in a difficult or awkward position while I railed against another publisher, so I’m posting it here on my own blog in it’s original form.

If the publisher recognises themselves and wishes to have their say, please, do get in touch to present your opinions. I’ve tried to be as fair and balanced about the experience as possible. Even after over 6 years of submitting stories, I was still unsure what to do. To other writers, please, be careful what you sign.

I’ve no personal axe to grind against the publisher or their anthology. I wouldn’t have submitted there if I did. I just want writers and the publication themselves to know what is and isn’t acceptable in a contract between author and publisher.

I also reached out to people through SFWA and they gave me advice, which I thank them for.

This is presented to other writers, as a cautionary tale. Not every acceptance becomes a sales or publication.
_________________________________________

Normally, you’d be reading a movie review or my opinions as a grumpy old guy on stuff. This week is different. I wanted to talk about the experience of writing. Not putting words down or creating stories, the actual interaction with publishers.

Bruce, you can breathe easy, this isn’t about you. Stupefying Stories has always been good to me and I’m not just saying that to toe the company line, I mean it. I’ve been treated well, paid on time, all my interactions have been on a professional basis and I’m proud to be part of the Stupefying family, even if it is in the role of Grumpy Old Guy.

What I wanted to talk about are submissions, acceptances and when not to take an offer.

Recently I received my 21st acceptance of 2021. That’s quite an achievement, not just for me but for anyone.

HOWEVER…

All was not as good as it looked on the surface. I had been sent a contract and was asked to read, sign and return it.

I’ll explain which bit of the contract got me nervous, under the section titles CHANGES.

By signing the contract the AUTHOR authorizes the PUBLISHER to edit the complete WORK and publish the edited version without further agreement of the AUTHOR.

Basically, that says we can edit your work and you don’t get to take part in the editing process or see it until it’s published. In their defence, they sent me a sample edit, the first page of my several page story. The above conditions are not normal or industry standard.

I’ve been selling work for over 6 years now, I’ve made over 50 sales. No-one else has ever expected this level of control before, not even the pro markets. Not even when I was a newbie, making my first few sales. In general, markets have treated me well during the journey to publication.

The editing process is give and take, regardless of the publishing date. I’ve been able to work with people who had extremely short timelines, often weeks, and was still able to get edits back in time for them to not only make their publication date but frequently publish before they had hoped to.

I’ve had acceptances which never went anywhere, generally those were markets who simply didn’t get enough stories to publish an anthology. That has happened to me a few times. This case is different though.

I’m not going to name and shame the market here, I’ve already said who this was on my social media accounts, I’m not about to use this as an opportunity to damage them. By all appearances, this was their first attempt to compile an anthology, and they mistakenly or misguidely thought this clause was a good idea. I just want people to know, this type of request in a contract should set off your alarm bells too.

This is when you email back, explain your issues with said contract, and politely ask to work with them on the editing process. These folks chose to decline that offer and immediately terminated the contract, citing “rejection of conditions“.

Effectively, I said no, and they pulled the rug from under me hoping to retain control of the situation.

I don’t want you to think I missed out here. Sure, it was a paying gig, and publication. The pay was a royalty split, I don’t overly care for those but I knew it was in advance and was willing to take the chance there. Generally, I like to know exactly what I’ll be getting paid before I submit a story.

This was a learning experience, not just for me, but I chose to share it so other writers know not just to sign a contract and hope. Read contracts carefully, if you hear alarms, heed them and ask the publisher questions. Any professional publication will welcome your enquiry. Most will generally want to work with you. In this case, because they seem new and relatively inexperienced, they chose not to.

Submission is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Your story will find another home. Maybe not next week, or even 6 months from now, but it’ll find the right market one day, and they’ll work with you.

Don’t ever be afraid to say no to a contract. If if doesn’t look right, don’t sign.
If you’re new and unsure, fairly experienced and unsure, or just plain not sure, reach out to me @RayDaleyWriter on Twitter.

The Grumpy Old Guy reviews will now return to your normal programming. Once I’ve worked out what normal means…