When you sell a short story to a magazine, website, or anthology, you will be required to sign a contract. A contract is a legally binding, written agreement between you, the author, and the publisher which outlines the rights and responsibilities of both parties.

Contracts are often written to the publisher's advantage, not the writer's. It's in your best interest to have a contract with the publisher. Do not allow your work to be published anywhere without a contract. It's up to you, the author, to carefully read the contract and make sure you understand what it means, and, if needed, make changes to protect your rights.

A contract can be simple (for this column, the web mistress and I had an email conversation in which she offered me the space to write a 10 month/year column on issues around writing lesbian erotica, gave me a payment agreement, and a deadline for each month and I emailed back my agreement to those terms.) or complex (contracts can involve reams of papers and detailed instructions) depending on what is for sale and how payment will be made.

Here are some basic terms and concepts you should look for in your short story contracts:

When you sign a contract, you are selling the rights to do certain things with your manuscript. Normally this is for a one time use in an anthology or magazine (including online publications). If it is the first time the story appears in print, it is normally the First North American Rights or First English-language Serial Rights that you are selling.

The Grant of Rights clause transfers ownership rights, and, therefore, control over, your manuscript to the publisher. It's necessary and appropriate to grant some rights such as the right to print, publish, and sell printed book editions including your story.

Never assign or transfer your copyright or "all rights" to a publisher. (In case you missed it that sentence got its very own paragraph.)

Use discretion when granting rights in languages other than English and territories other than the United States (its territories) and Canada. Also, limit the publication formats.

Subsidiary rights are uses that a publisher may make of your manuscript other than issuing it as part of the print book edition. Print-related subsidiary rights include book club and paperback reprint editions, publication of selections, condensations or abridgments in anthologies and textbooks, and first and second serial rights in newspapers or magazines. Non-print-related subsidiary rights include motion picture, television, stage, audio, animation, merchandising, and electronic rights. In the case of a short story, you will most likely not be asked to transfer these rights to the publisher. I mention them here as a precaution. If the short story contract includes these rights, you should not sign it. There really isn’t a reason for you to give these rights to a publisher of your short story. In short, if Disney wants to make your short story into a movie, you want to own that right.

Flat fee. In most cases you will receive a flat fee for the use of your short story. This can range from $25 upwards and is normally in the $75 to $150 range. It is a one time payment for use of your story in the anthology, web site, or magazine, usually paid on publication. It can be paid on acceptance or the first quarter after publication. The amount and when you will be paid should appear in the contract. Please note that many web sites archive their issues and readers can access past issues at any time and this is included in your flat fee payment.

Advances. It is unlikely you will receive an advance for a short story. An advance is money given to you by the publisher before publication and is normally given against potential revenue to be earned. That means, the advance will be subtracted from the profits generated by the book before you receive any additional payments and if enough money is not earned, you may end up owing the publisher money.

Royalties. It is unlikely you will be offered royalties for a short story, but it is not completely unheard of. The Best of The Best Lesbian Erotica anthology which pulls stories from the previous five years of BLE anthologies into an "Best of" anthology, offers authors a choice of a flat fee or a percent of the royalties. Royalties are an agreed portion of the income from a work paid to the author. This is usually a percentage of the retail price of each copy sold. As such the total amount paid is based on the number of copies sold.

Merchandise. It is normal that each author will receive one to four copies (two being average) of the publication their work appears in as part of their compensation. The number of copies is often higher when no monetary compensation is being given. It is highly unusual for no copies to be included. The number of copies is normally included in the contract along with the monetary payment.

Author Price copies. Some publishers offer authors copies of the anthology their work appears in at a reduced price. If you are getting royalties, please note you will not receive royalties for copes sold at author prices. You may resell your author copies at any price you like. Many authors sell copies of their books at a reduced price at readings that aren’t in book stores.

No competing use. You agree not to publish the story elsewhere in any form until a period of time (usually a few months to two years) after it is published by the house that purchased it. The amount of time should be listed in the contract if this clause appears in the contract. Be careful that this clause doesn’t list where you can resell your story, just how long you have to wait.

Warranty. It's completely appropriate for you to warrant that the story is original, has not been previously published (if it hasn't), that you maintain control of the copyright, and that you have the right to sell it.

Indemnity. What this clause basically says is that if a lawsuit arises from the printing of your story, that you hold harmless the publisher of the story. In other words, if someone decides to sue the publisher alleging that your story is plagiarism or libel, you are agreeing to pay for any and all expenses incurred in a lawsuit. Get this clause removed from your contract or I’d suggest passing on the publication.

Two Ps and Two Ts. A publication date, often listed as by month and year (July 2008), is normally included in the contract along with the title of your story and your name (or pen name) as it will appear in print, the amount you will be paid, when you will be paid, and, in the case of an anthology, the working title.

I have a personal rule that I don’t give away my work for free. By that I mean if someone publishes my work I expect to be paid with cash for it. As a good friend of mine is found of saying "Writing is a business." And he is correct. You wouldn’t go to the office or warehouse or hospital and work without clocking in and getting paid for the hours you were there. Why should your writing be any different? I strongly suggest, especially if you are a new writer, that you avoid giving away your work or posting it on your web site for the world to read for free.

That said, it is completely alright to occasionally give a story to an editor for free when you will be getting some kind of non-monetary payment. For example, exposure to a new audience that you wouldn’t be able to reach any other way or warm fuzzy feelings for donating your story to an anthology raising funds for a good cause.

• Articles on contracts: http://www.ivanhoffman.com/helpful.html 
• Authors Guild Web site: http://www.authorsguild.org 
• Kirsch's Guide to the Book Contract: For Authors, Publishers, Editors and Agents by Jonathan Kirsch

If there is an issue you would like me to address in Two Girls Kissing, please email it to me, Amie M. Evans, with the column title as the subject line. To be added to my confidential monthly email list, please email me with subscribe as the subject line.

Amie M. Evans
May/June 2007

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"Two Girls Kissing: Writing Lesbian Literary Erotica" © 2007 Amie M. Evans. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Amie M. Evans is a widely published creative nonfiction and literary erotica writer, experienced workshop provider, and a retired burlesque and high-femme drag performer. She is on the board of directors for Saints and Sinners GLBT literary festival and graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Literature and is currently working on her MLA at Harvard.
Read Amie M. Evans' bio at the Erotica Readers & Writers Association.

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