Short Story, then Novel

As far as I know, you can do what you want with your own works. F Paul Wilson wrote a short about vampires taking over the world (can't remember the name), later, he expanded it into a novel called Midnight Mass. That is the only story I can remember, but I'm sure there are others..............Good Luck

Larry Niven's novel "A World Out of Time" originally began as the short story "Rammer." Then the short became the beginning of the novel.

Ender's Game was a short story before it was a novel.

phantasy said:

Thanks all. But I'm also wondering if you lose any rights when you publish a short story.

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It depends on where you're submitting to. At the very least they'll ask for first publishing rights, from what I imagine.

phantasy said:

Question. Sorry if this had already been asked.

If you publish a short story, can you use it as a basis for a novel or even publish it as the first chapter of your novel? Or does it depend on who publishes it for you?

Thanks.

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It depends on the contract. Read it carefully before signing. Watch out for terms like you're selling "all rights" or "copyright."

If you're planning to use the short story as a part of your novel (i.e. first chapter), you're probably going to have to wait until the exclusive period has passed for the short story. So if the publisher has an exclusive on your short story for one year, you cannot publish a novel with that same short story in it until that year is up.

phantasy said:

Thanks all. But I'm also wondering if you lose any rights when you publish a short story.

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Do you mean self-publish? First rights, for one. Also, exclusive rights to any other publisher as long as the story is avaliable.

As everyone said, it depends on your contract. That said, all the markets where I've sold short stories simply asked for a period of exclusivity. They never asked for all rights, copyright, or derivative rights. In fact, asking for such things would be cause for alarm about the market.

Signed,
Someone who sold a novel based on three previously published short stories

If the contract includes "no reprint" rights I imagine you would need to change it significantly in order to include it in a novel, but I'm not 100% sure as to what that would entail.

ManInBlack said:

If the contract includes "no reprint" rights I imagine you would need to change it significantly in order to include it in a novel, but I'm not 100% sure as to what that would entail.

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There should be a time limit attached to the "no reprint." I haven't had anyone ask for an indefinite exclusive, but if a publisher did, I would expect to be paid a significant amount for those rights.