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Finding The Bacon Bigger Bucks Last issue, I gave you all a chance to make a pittance. (Please throw your tomatoes at the pot on my left; the spaghetti sauce could use another Roma or two.) I also promised to find you better paying markets this issue and, being Daddy's little girl, I was raised to keep my promises. So I shall. Below are six vastly differing markets. Hopefully there is something in all of them for each of you. COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE 430 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Il. 60611-4092 Ph: 313-321-4460 Fx: 313-321-4530 E-Queries: Yes. Also by fax and snail mail. Send #10 SASE for guidelines or check webpage. Contact: Feature articles ideas and outlines to: Jennifer Norbut: jnorbut@cciminstitute.com Send regional information to Gretchen Barta: gbarta@cciminstitute.com General E-mail: magazine@ccim.com Writer's guidelines online: http://www.ccim.com/magazine/editorial.html OF SPECIAL NOTE: The web guidelines also publish an editorial calendar. Pays: Pays on acceptance. $1,000-2,000 for articles for 2,000 to 3,000 words. Rights: All rights. Byline given. Let them know if you've submitted elsewhere. Reprints considered, but provide full information of where and when. Seasonal material should be submitted at least four months in advance. Description: Published six times a year. Commercial investment real estate information. Circulation: Over 10,000 Readers: Commercial investment real estate professionals. Needs: From the website: " CIRE readers are interested in how-to, trend, and forecast articles on a variety of topics, including development, brokerage, leasing, financing, property management, technology, and investment." SPECIAL ADVICE: Be sure you know your way around the commercial real estate business to submit to these folks.
(Okay, so it's a winter thing. I'm an ex-Wisconsonite, it's only natural I'd think of the following magazine at this time of year. Imagine my delight to find out how much they pay!) MILWAUKEE MAGAZINE 417 E. Chicago St. Milwaukee, WI 53202 Ph: 414-273-1101 Fx: 414-273-0016 http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com E-Queries: Yes. Also by snail mail. Send #10 SASE for guidelines. Contact: John Fennell Email: jfennell@qgraph.com Writer's guidelines online: Unable to find them. Pays: Pays on publication. Publication is usually two months after acceptance. Response to queries is within six weeks. Pay is $400-$1,000 for feature length articles of 2,500-6,000 words and $150-$400 for "breaker" features, i.e., 1,800 words with lots of visuals. Columns and departments (500 word max) is $25-$125. Photos: Negotiable. Rights: FNASR. Byline given. 20% kill fee. Seasonal material should be submitted six months in advance. Description: Published monthly. Covers information about Milwauke/Wisconsin, past, present and future. Circulation: 42,000 Readers: People interested in the area, including a few of us ex-pats. Needs: This should be obvious: Articles have to have a strong Milwaukee connection. In other words, a story about how I moved away from Milwaukee to live the past XX years in Seattle is NOT going to be something Milwaukee Magazine would be interested in. Oh, you can forget the staid Midwestern stereotype. The Milwaukeans I know and remember are lively, outgoing, artistic folk with a healthy sense of humor.
(As I currently live in Seattle I have to give equal time to this fine city and a popular weekly magazine that garners enough advertising to be a freebee.) THE SEATTLE WEEKLY 1008 Western Ave. Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98104 Ph: 206-623-0500 Fx: 206-467-4338 E-Queries: This is Bill Gates' country, of course! Send query or manuscript to Submissions c/o Seattle Weekly, or fax or e-mail. Contact: Jenn Wynne Email: info@seattleweekly.com Writer's guidelines online: http://www.seattleweekly.com/about/copy.php3 Pays: Pays on publication. Negotiable payment. Photos: No. Rights: FNASR. Byline given. Kill fee provided. Description: Published weekly. Circulation: Non-subscription, freebee handout that covers a great deal of information about the local area. Readers: Just about everyone in Seattle! Needs: I talked with Jenn Wynne and she told me that right now The Weekly is only accepting articles on local politics from freelancers. Writing style is upbeat and upscale. The Weekly is part of the Village Voice Media Group. They offer an alternative way of looking at local goings on.
You never know where a lead might pop up and smack you one in the face. For instance, I was at my favorite café the other day and a fellow patron was reading The Smithsonian…. THE SMITHSONIAN Ms. Marlane A. Liddell Smithsonian Magazine MRC #951 Washington, DC 205600-0951 Ph: Fx: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu E-Queries: Yes. Do not send a regular query; instead, send a proposal consisting of 250 to 300 words. If you forward it by snail mail, enclose SASE. For "The Last Page" column, submit the full manuscript, not a proposal. Contact: Ms. Marlane A. Liddell Email: articles@simag.si.edu Writer's guidelines online: For general submissions go to: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/writers.html For "The Last Page" humor column go to: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/writers.html#backpage Pays: Pays on acceptance. Payment (as of 11-15-01 online guidelines) for The Last Page column is $2,000, offers no kill fee and should be between 500-650 words. The Last Page is also included on the website and there is a one time payment of $50. Check the website, The Last Page is reproduced elsewhere. Online guidelines did not mention pay scale for general articles, but research at this time indicates around $1,500 for short features (500-650 words). General features are up to 5,000 words. Photos: They don't consider photos or illustrations the responsibility of the author, but do submit them. Rights: FNASR. Byline given. 33% kill fee on general articles. Description: Published twelve times a year. Circulation: Over two million. Readers: Associate members of the Smithsonian, which means anyone of us with an active interest in the world around us, from the flora and fauna to politics. Needs: From the website: "We consider focused subjects that fall within the general range of Smithsonian Institution interests, such as: cultural history, physical science, art and natural history. We are always looking for offbeat subjects and profiles. We do not consider fiction, poetry, travel features, political and news events, or previously published articles." The guidelines also state that all proposals are considered. If you've never picked up a copy of the Smithsonian, please do so, not just from the standpoint of "checking it out" for a possible market, but for the sheer pleasure of reading about an incredible diversity of subjects.
I would like, very much, for one of you reading the next listing to fulfill my dream and get this magazine. If you do, you have my undying envy: THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY 77 N. Washington St. Boston, MA 02114 Fx: 617-854-7877 E-Queries: No. Snail mail only! Make sure you include SASE or you won't get an answer to your query. The Atlantic does look at unsolicited manuscripts. HOWEVER, "Atlantic Unbound," the web-only journal does not accept unsolicited submissions. Query with published clips. If sending fiction, send the complete manuscript. Contact: C. Michael Curtis, senior editor. For poetry contact: Peter Davison, poetry editor. Writer's guidelines online: Yes, but not very complete. http://www.theatlantic.com/letters/edlet.htm#submissions Pays: Pays on acceptance. Non-fiction payment varies with work. Length is 1,000 to 6,000 words. Fiction should be 2,000 to 6,000 words and pays $3,000. Poetry payment varies. Rights: FNASR. Byline given. No simultaneous submissions. Description: Published twelve times a year. Circulation: 500,000 Readers: People interested in arts and culture. Needs: Essays, humor, interviews, travel articles. Fiction needs are strong characters and tight writing with a strong sense of story. For poets from the online guidelines: "The editors of The Atlantic Monthly read with interest and attention every poem submitted to the magazine and, quite simply, we publish those that seem to us to be the best. Our interest is in the broadest possible range of work: traditional forms and free verse, the meditative lyric and the 'light' or comic poem, the work of the famous and the work of the unknown. We have long been committed to the discovery of new poets. Our one limitation is length; we are unable to publish very long poems, and authors should consult back issues of the magazine for precedents."
Okay, I lied. The following isn't a sixth market. It's a contest I think is just wild enough – and interesting enough – to pique any writer's curiosity. For those of you who've ever toyed with the idea of running a writer's retreat, here's your opportunity. I've taken all the information directly from the web site. And, yes, I did first hear about this on my Funds For Writers' newsletter; I just think it bears repeating. ESSAY CONTEST TO: WIN THE DRIFTWOOD VILLAGE MOTEL 1215 NE Lakewood Dr. Newport, OR 97365 http://www.driftwoodcontest.com Unique contest gives participants chance to win rare piece of Oregon coastline property and help fight breast cancer. Operating your own business, owning a piece of prime property with pristine ocean views - it's the stuff dreams are made of. And helping in the fight against breast cancer is the stuff lives are touched by. Now contest hopefuls have a chance at winning all three, plus an opportunity to support breast cancer research. Driftwood Village motel owners Bruce and Debi Durkee are holding a contest to give away their Newport ocean front motel, appraised at $1 million, to the winner of the Driftwood Village Motel Essay Contest. Driftwood Village is located north of Newport, right off of scenic Highway 101, on a forested bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. (Note: go to the site and check out the view. WOW!) It's a chance of a lifetime to win nearly three acres, overlooking four miles of pristine Oregon coastline, complete with a 12 unit motel – for a mere $150. Driftwood Village is situated along one of the most beautiful areas on the Oregon Coast. Complete with views of Yaquina Head Lighthouse (Note: view it at: http://www.aracnet.com/~jkandik/images/yaquina1.html) and direct beach access, the motel has panoramic views, large rooms and unbeatable scenery. It offers privacy, prime property and the chance to dream. "Unlike other contests, this really is a chance of a lifetime for some lucky winner," said Bruce Durkee. "For less than what many people spend playing lottery games over the course of a year, and with much better odds of winning, this contest not only offers a great prize, but an opportunity to live a dream." Okay, on that dreamy note I'll sign off from this edition of Finding the Bacon and start thinking about my next offerings. Until then, remember: Never eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while leaning over your keyboard. Sable Jak is a freelance writer with a special love for radio drama and screenwriting. She writes for Absolute Write www.absolutewrite.com and Script Magazine's ezine www.scriptmag.com, is a charter member of The Screenplayers www.screenplayers.net/screenplayersnet.html and has a mystery radio series, "A Phil Byrnes Mystery," on www.virtuallyamerican.com. She's also an avid crafter. Sable lives in Seattle with her actor-husband and their kitties. In the language of her ancestors her name "Sable" means "sword." She feels it's an appropriate name for a writer and her mighty pen.
Copyright In An Internet World Unless you’ve been asleep for the last decade, you know that the Internet has created a new set of legal issues for web content creators and publishers. Recently, two court cases have made it clear that American copyright law¾ last substantially revised in the 1970s¾ is barely adequate for a digital age. First, let’s review the basics. You already should know the author own the copyright of their content the instant it is "fixed" on paper, disk, video, photograph or other tangible medium (unless it was "work for hire," but that’s another subject). You, the author, own all rights ¾ print, electronic, digital, movie, and reproduction. When you "sell" the content to a web site or publisher, you are actually assigning some or all of these rights to the publisher, for a period of time. This grant of rights may be explicit (a written agreement) or implicit. In essence, you are giving the publisher a license to print, distribute, advertise and/or market your work. This license may be "one time only," for a period of years, or for the duration of your copyright; it may be for print only, for electronic only, or a combination. Ideally, all this should be specified in a publishing or contributor’s agreement. But what if you assign the rights to your work for print publication, but are silent about electronic rights? This was the issue confronted by the Supreme Court in New York Times v. Tasini, a case originally filed in 1993. Jonathan Tasini, President of the National Writer’s Union, and nine other freelance journalists sued the New York Times and other publications for copyright infringement when they discovered that articles they had written for the defendants had appeared on online databases and CD-ROMs. In most cases, the articles had been assigned by the authors without a written contract, but most of the authors thought they had an oral understanding that they were assigning the customary "first serial rights" ¾ first publication in a print medium. The lower court found in favor of the New York Times, holding that because the entire print edition had been placed online, such use was within the traditional rights of the owner in the collective work. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the Times only had the right to reproduce and distribute the authors’ work in the edition in which it first appeared, and subsequent print editions. The Times was not entitled to reproduce the work in on-line databases because these databases separated the work from its original context. Further, in Random House v. Rosetta Books, (July, 2001) a New York federal district court ruled that an electronic version of a book is not necessarily a "book," and therefore Rosetta Books could sell online electronic versions of books written by authors who had previously assigned "book" rights to Random House. The judge’s decision was primarily based on the specific language of the original publishing agreements. These agreements, written in the 60s, were naturally silent about electronic versions because they did not exist at the time. Although most publishing contracts already address digital and electronic rights, you can expect new efforts by publishers to present authors with broad contract language tying up electronic rights, often without additional compensation. As an author, you must think about exactly what rights you want to license, and for how long. The rights you transfer should directly affect the price¾ the more rights, the higher the price. Specifically, it is reasonable to ask for a time limit on the publisher’s right to publish in digital format, with the requirement that additional compensation be paid for a renewal. The best approach is to be direct and specific about all of the rights involved, and ¾ put it in writing! Above all, keep up with developments in this evolving area of law. Daniel Steven is a lawyer practicing publishing, media and information technology law in Rockville, MD (www.publishlawyer.com). He is the author of two novels published by HarperCollins, a non-fiction book, and a television sitcom pilot. He also has worked as an editor, counsel, and executive at a major publishing house. Dan can be reached at dsteven@publishlawyer.com. To see past issues of Absolute Markets, click here. |
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