You’ve been checking e-mail constantly looking for the message that says, “Manuscript accepted!” Finally it arrives, you’ve done it, you’re published and you will get paid for your work.
CUE ANGELIC CHOIR
Now you can start running to your mailbox constantly or logging into your bank account looking for the EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer).
Getting the money can be as frustrating as making the sale and it all depends on when the publisher issues payment. There are several options that companies can use:
1) Pay on Acceptance – this is the best for the writer. Once your manuscript is accepted as written the publisher will issue a check (or send it via PayPal or EFT).
2) Pay on Publication – this seems to be what the majority of publishers use. What this means is that once your manuscript is accepted as written you are due payment when the work appears in print or online on the publisher’s site. This means you could get paid in a month or two or in a year or more; it depends on when the publisher plans to use your work. Many magazines have submission dates that are six months or more prior to publication. This is one reason why freelancers need to keep good records of who they submitted/sold to and when.
3) Pay on Use (or something similar) – few publishers use this but they are out there. What this means is that they like what you wrote and feel they can use it sometime in the future but even they don’t know when. Personally I do not submit to such companies.
Along with knowing when you are going to be paid is the question of rights. When you sell your work to a publisher you are granting them the right to use it. There are different rights and these affect your earnings.
Some of the different rights a writer can run up against are:
1) One-time Use: the publisher pays for the right to print your work on their site. It may state they have exclusive use of it for a specified time period – one month, one year, etc. Once the specified time period is over, you are free to re-sell the piece.
2) Perpetual Rights – this is the other end of the spectrum. This means once you sell your work to the publisher they own it forever and you can never sell it again.
In between these two options there are many variations. The author must clearly understand what rights they are agreeing to when they make a sale so read the agreement carefully!
Along with when you get paid and the rights you are selling there is the matter of submissions. Maybe I should have started this article with this topic but heck, I’m a volunteer and I’ll do it my way.
Where submissions are concerned, publishers will specify that they accept one of the following:
1) Only original unpublished work not currently being submitted to other publishers.
2) Only original unpublished work; however, you may simultaneously submit this work to other publishers.
3) The publisher accepts articles that were previously published (called reprints).
The freelancer will want to keep track of what they have sold, when they should receive payment and if they can resell their work at a later date. Selling reprints maximizes your income.
In a future article we will cover reusing your work as opposed to reprinting.
Dennis McGeehan
Dennis P. McGeehan is a husband, homeschooling Dad of eight, a Martial Artist, Freelance Writer, Author and Speaker. He is a member of the Catholic Writers Guild. His latest book is titled The Diaries of Joseph and Mary.