Hmm... Is it me, or is their contract a bit convoluted? The parts about rights and payments, in particular, seem open to all sorts of interpretation.
First, note that in their writer's guidelines the very first sentence is: "This is a weekly subscription-based ezine." Nothing about print at all. In fact, there is nothing about print anywhere in the guidelines.
"2. Rights Granted. You grant to Publisher the following intellectual property rights in the Work:
A. Worldwide First Serial Rights (exclusive first publication of the Work ina [sic] print periodical). If, however, Publisher does not publish the Work within twelve (12) months of acceptance, this right shall revert to you.
B. For a period of three (3) years from the date of' [sic] this Agreement, the nonexclusive right to publish the Work on Publisher's World Wide Web site and sell the Work throughout the world in digital format (digital format includes Internet, disk, electronic download, CD, or any other digital format known or unknown at this time). Publisher shall publish the Work only in secure and/or
password-enabled electronic formats that protect the Author's copyright as far as is reasonable and possible using current encryption methods, except with the prior
written agreement of the Contributor.
[...]
4. Compensation.
(a) First Serial Rights. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Work, Publisher shall notify you whether it accepts or rejects the Work for publication. If the Work is accepted for publication, Publisher shall pay you the sum of $ (the "Payment") in compensation for the rights granted Publisher under Section 2A above. Such payment will be made to you within thirty (30) days of acceptance. If Publisher finds the Work is not acceptable for publication, Publisher shall pay you a "kill fee" equal to 25% of the Payment within thirty (30) days of notice of such rejection. In such event, all rights shall revert to you.
(b) Electronic and Digital Rights. If Publisher publishes the Work in digital or electronic form in a product of the Publisher for which the customer is charged a fee,
Publisher shall pay you 10% of the Payment within thirty (30) days of such publication."
So, it seems like a possible interpretation of this is...
- They accept your story.
- They run it on their fee-charging website and send you 10% (half a cent a word) within 30 days.
- They never do a print publication. And then... What? You get a 25% kill fee at some point in time, bringing you up to almost two cents a word (not bad, but not pro rate)? Or, since the piece was "published", a kill fee isn't applicable and your half cent a word is all you get.
Now, let me be clear. I don't think that the most likely explanation is that these people are out to screw over writers. I think the most likely explanation is that the sample contract doesn't sync up with the current reality of what they plan to do ("This is a weekly subscription-based ezine.") and that everything will be hunky-dory in the end.
But...
With the ambitious (to say the least) publication schedule and the afore-mentioned need for deep pockets.
And the also afore-mentioned questionable quality of the cover art.
I would be very leery of publishing with these people until I saw a revised/clarified contract.
Feel free to tell me I'm nuts, ya'll. It's what I'm good at.