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Topic: Nonexclusive reprint fee -- alt weekly?
| Author | Message |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/24/2008 11:12:19 PM | show profile I wrote an in-depth 3,000 word investigative news feature for a small alternative weekly (20,000 circulation) in upstate NY. It is a highly original and controversial piece that took me four months to complete. It was published a few weeks ago, and now another alt weekly wants to buy nonexclusive reprint rights. This paper, the Syracuse New Times, has a circulation of 46,000 and is owned by a corporate chain. The editor asked me what my fee would be. What's a reasonable price to ask? Thanks in advance to whomever answers me. I've never sold a reprint before and I don't want to low ball myself. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:00:52 AM | show profile $300 to$500 for a nonexlusive second serial, or, say 20% of your fee for the original story (first rights) sold would be a reasonable ballpark. |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:33:00 AM | show profile Thanks. That seems super high for a newspaper to pay, but I'm giving it a shot. I asked what their range is for fees, then suggested $400 and said I'm open to negotiating. |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:33:48 AM | show profile If you read the story you would probably die of an outrage-induced heart attack, but I only got $200 for the piece...it was worth a couple grand. |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:34:39 AM | show profile The $200 was the first rights. I am a bit inexperienced with freelancing and I, idiotically, waited to negotiate the exact fee until after the story ran, when I had no bargaining power. |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:36:25 AM | show profile What's second serial, btw? Does that mean the other papers in their chain can publish it? |
| westsidestory | Posted – 4/25/2008 12:58:33 PM | show profile Second serial refers to reprints that occur after the first publication. If you own the copyright to your story (and if you only sold first rights to the first publication, you do) you can sell the second serial rights it to as many other publications as might like it. I would not worry that you got a low fee the first time out. Or the second time - if they offer like $125-150 you should probably take it, but it never hurts to ask for more. I've sold reprints for 2-3 times the original article fee, depending on the market. A few more suggestions for you: make sure you have the rights to resell (some publications require all rights contracts); bone up on copyright with info from a recent book or web source on the subject; consider registering your articles over the course of a year with the Form TX, which is the copyright form used to register works that appear in serial form (mag, papapers, web etc.) |
| westsidestory | Posted – 4/25/2008 1:02:22 PM | show profile Re other newspapers in their chain Sorry forgot to answer that one. If the New Times says they'd like to make it available to the rest of their chain, then asking a higher fee makes sense. If they only want it for Syracuse (perhaps it is a regional story) then the fee would be lower. What you have to watch for is chain publications saying they only plan to publish in one paper, and then you see it showing up in their other editions, when you've been paid the low end. hope this helps! |
| PrivateI | Posted – 4/25/2008 2:32:35 PM | show profile Super helpful! Thank you!!! |
