The Great W1S1 Hey-Do-You-Know-About-This-Market Thread

[alexshvartsman]

Originally Posted by soapdish

Just saw this one: Membrane.

I like the pay and the description of what they're looking for. But I'm not particularly savvy on rights. Do they sound hinky or okay?

Nothing in the description sounded too offputting. They want non-exclusive publishing rights, it seems (and want stories that haven't been published *except* self-published pieces).

I sent them a query on Apr 20 and heard back on Apr 21, with them requesting to see the full story. I sent it on Apr 21. Haven't heard anything further yet.

[soapdish]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

Nothing in the description sounded too offputting. They want non-exclusive publishing rights, it seems (and want stories that haven't been published *except* self-published pieces).

I sent them a query on Apr 20 and heard back on Apr 21, with them requesting to see the full story. I sent it on Apr 21. Haven't heard anything further yet.

Okay good. Glad to have someone else weigh in with their impression. Thanks, Alex! They are going on my sub-to list.

[Eliza C]

I checked them out yesterday too, after your post. I'm not sure if these rights apply to all submissions, but here is what they say about the anthology:

Upon acceptance of your completed manuscript, Dreadful Cafe pays for non-exclusive, unlimited, 5-year publishing rights on the following schedule:
Short Stories (2,000-7,000 words) — $125
Novelettes (7,001-15,000 words) — $250
Novellas (15,001-30,000 words) — $500/Negotiable
It's your work.
We are simply paying for the rights to publish, market, and sell your completed manuscript as part of this or any other Dreadful Cafe anthology. You are encouraged to continue marketing on your own.
However, you will be unable to enter into any exclusive arrangement with other parties once you have sold rights to us.

(I bolded the bits that gave me some pause.) I'm not sure what it means that they want 5-year non-exclusive rights, but you can't enter into any exclusive arrangement with other parties once you sell to them. Usually there's at least a short period of exclusive print or e-rights even for a reprint.

[alexshvartsman]

It means that you won't be able to sell exclusive rights to somebody else because you're bound by this non-exclusive agreement. So if an anthology says they take reprints, but wants a year or two of exclusivity on them, you won't be able to submit to such a project. However, most places that take reprints do not have such requirements these days.

Of course, I'm basing all this on the text above and have not read the actual contract.

[Eliza C]

Thanks for clarifying. I haven't seen one that asked for 5-years, but the rest sounds normal now. They sound like a market worth checking out.