copyrights

Most of the contracts ask for only first time US rights across the platforms they use and maybe a short exclusivity period. However, some—no most—publications archive online (even if they are in print). I think that works to your advantage and builds your credibility as you build a body of work.

Instead of reselling, I focus on writing new, fresh material ... I just think it's easier to sell.

A few months back, a writer posted in the 100 Credits Club about reselling articles from earlier in her career where the publications had gone under. They were no longer archived anywhere and fully available. She did rather well with the sales, but I think reworked the articles first.

Best of luck,

Lucie

melindamusil said:

I didn't expect it but I am really proud of and in love with the listicle I wrote and it suddenly seems "not right" to sell it for only $100.

Click to expand...

Then don't. Though most writers who feel as you do and react similarly end up unpaid.

Pretty much, you sell at their terms, propose your own terms or find a different market. Get used to it, it's the way the whole world works.

By the way, selling all rights only sells the rights to that article. You can always write a different article on the same research and sell that as well. If you don't learn to do that, you'll never earn a living.

Who the heck ever started calling them "listicles" anyway? I wrote a ton of these years ago, called "articles."

Jeff

When I was writing articles regularly I routinely found new markets for them, and did well out of it. I would hesitate to sell all rights to anything I wrote now, because of that.

I agree with the above post, definitely a worry

Never, under any circumstances but two, would I sell all rights. I make far, far more money from subsequent rights than from first rights. So will whoever you sell all rights to.

I've had nothing articles written in under half an hour, and that sold first time out for as little as ten bucks, earn several thousand dollars over the next three or four years. There's a reason places want to buy all rights, and the reason is they know how profitable those rights can be.

The circumstances where I have sold all rights are: 1. When a piece has sold and sold and sold and sold until I think most of the profit is gone, and a market then offers me a lot of money for all rights. 2. I had one market offer me so damned much money for all rights to a piece that I couldn't make myself say no. I have no idea whether they made a lot of money later on using the piece, and I don't care. They offered me three times as much as similar pieces usually earn in they lifetime of the piece, so I said yes.

As long as a major motion picture that's a box office smash hit isn't made off the thing, I'm a happy writer.

When I ghostwrite it's work for hire, and I sell all rights.

But I expect serious pay for those rights.

When I sell an article or a Web piece, it's usually just first time rights, and I can do what I want with the piece after a contracted time period.