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JavaScript Kit | Can I Sell a Previously Published Article?
by Moira AllenReturn to The Business of Writing · Print/Mobile-Friendly VersionI want to resell an article that has already been published by one magazine. I don't want to change the article. It's my understanding that the original manuscript belongs to me, and that only the magazine version belongs to the original publication. So I should be able to resell my original article to other publications, right? Not necessarily. There is no such thing as a "magazine version" of your article vs. "your version." Granted, a magazine may significantly edit your work; however, as long as you have licensed them to use that work (and most contracts include a clause that licenses a magazine to edit such work), it is the "same" work -- not two separate works. Therefore, you can't treat "your manuscript" as something separate from "their article."What you "own" after you sell an article depends entirely on the rights you have sold. If, for example, you have sold first publication rights (e.g., First North American Serial Rights), then you do, in fact, have the right to resell exactly the same article to another publication, without any changes, as long as you do not allow another publication to actually publish the piece "first." (Some magazines now include a contract clause that specifies how soon after publication you can resell a piece.) In this case, subsequent sales are defined as "second" serial rights (regardless of how often you sell them). The distinction here is that any subsequent sale can no longer be considered a "first sale" or "first use" within that medium. You can, however, sell "first" rights to another medium -- e.g., if you sold your article to a print publication, you could (theoretically) sell "first electronic rights" to the same piece to a purely electronic publication. You can also sell various forms of first international rights, such as "First European Rights" or "First UK Rights." If, however, you sell a larger selection of rights to an article, such as all rights, you do not retain the right to resell that material anywhere else (including to another medium or another country) in its current form. Keep in mind that you are not selling just a piece of paper with printing on it (your manuscript), but your words, no matter the format in which those words appear (paper, electronic, etc.). When you sign an all-rights contract, or a work-for-hire contract, you are guaranteeing that this particular publication will be the only publication allowed to use those particular words. If you then sell reprints of the exact same article to other publications, you would be in violation of your contract (and could be sued). That is why it's so important to understand the contract terms you're signing. Otherwise, you can easily lose more rights than you want to lose. For example, many magazines (incorrectly) attempt to claim that "First North American Serial Rights" includes the right to use the same material electronically (e.g., on a web site). This is not actually "legal," as based on the Tasini decision, which ruled that "first" does not mean "first in all media," but only "first" in the media specified in the contract. Technically, if you sell first print rights to a piece, you could also sell first electronic rights to the same piece somewhere else. In reality, a great many magazines are writing "electronic rights" into FNASR, and a great many writers are living with it. The bottom line is that if you sell first rights, or one-time rights, you can resell that article to someone else, as often as you like -- as a reprint. But if you've sold all rights, you can't. You must significantly rewrite the article, effectively creating a different article, before you can sell it again. Find Out More...
- The 20% Solution: How Much Do You Need to Change an Article to Make it Original?, by Moira Allen
- https://www.writing-world.com/business/change.shtml
- Making the Most of Your Inventory, by Dana Cassell
- https://www.writing-world.com/business/cassell.shtml
- One Article, Many Checks: Selling Reprints, by Kelly James-Enger
- https://www.writing-world.com/business/enger.shtml
- Selling Reprints, by Moira Allen
- https://www.writing-world.com/business/reprints.shtml
Copyright © 2001 Moira Allen This article may be reprinted provided that the author's byline, bio, and copyright notice are retained in their entirety. For complete details on reprinting articles by Moira Allen, please click HERE. Moira Allen is the editor of Writing-World.com, and has written nearly 400 articles, serving as a columnist and regular contributor for such publications as The Writer, Entrepreneur, Writer's Digest, and Byline. An award-winning writer, Allen is the author of numerous books, including Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer, The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals, and Coping with Sorrow on the Loss of Your Pet. In addition to Writing-World.com, Allen hosts VictorianVoices.net, a growing archive of articles from Victorian periodicals, and The Pet Loss Support Page, a resource for grieving pet owners. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and the obligatory writer's cat. She can be contacted at editors "at" writing-world.com.Copyright © 2023 by Moira Allen. All rights reserved.
All materials on this site are the property of their authors and may not be reprinted
without the author's written permission, unless otherwise indicated.
For more information please contact Moira Allen, Editor Please read our new Privacy Statement. |  | FAQs
You can republish it if the rights have reverted to you from the original publisher. This is automatic if the publisher goes out of business, otherwise they will send you a letter informing you. If neither has happened then they still own the rights and you can't.
Can you get picked up by a publisher after self-publishing? ›
It is possible to bring a self-published book into the traditional publishing industry as long as one important detail is taken care of: you've retained the rights to your book.
How much of an academic book can be previously published? ›
How much material can (or should) I pre-publish from my book without jeopardizing my book's chances with university presses? For many US-based university presses, up to 33% of the book's material can be pre-published.
Can you publish the same article twice? ›
Duplicate submission is a common form of academic misconduct. Each published article in a journal is expected to be completely original. Submitting the same or a very similar manuscript to two or more journals is unethical and can lead to rejection or even retraction.
Can I republish an article? ›
You can republish an article on your website as long as you have obtained permission from the copyright holder. Even if the article mentions you or your company, you still need permission to republish the full article.
Can I republish my article in another journal? ›
Unfortunately, once a paper is published, there is no way you can republish it in any other journal. Generally speaking, papers are retracted only if there is some major error in them or if the journal has detected some form of misconduct.
Is it better to self-publish or sell to publisher? ›
For 97% of authors, the answer is very clear: self-publishing is the right choice. For the other 1% of authors, the answer is very clear in the other direction: traditional publishing is the better choice.
What is the success rate of self-publishing? ›
If you mean “getting published and some consistent sales,” then your odds are about 1 in 100 if you factor in all the self-published books that only sell a few copies. If you mean “being able to make a living writing,” your odds are about 1 in 10000, but you will probably be doing other writing than just books.
Do you make more money with a publisher or self-publishing? ›
If you choose to self-publish, you receive 20% to 100% of the royalties. This royalty rate may or may not offset your publishing costs and offer more profit than a traditionally published book. Your profit is determined by the amount of copies sold and your ability to capture an audience in a competitive market.
How many books does the average published author sell? ›
For traditional publishing, the average book sells around 250-500 copies in its lifetime, with the majority of those sales happening within the first few months of publication. However, some books will sell significantly more than that, and others will sell much less.
If your poems, stories, or essays appeared in a book, journal, anthology, textbook, newsletter, newspaper, magazine, or any other publication, your work was considered published. If it didn't, it wasn't. Simple.
How many books does an author have to sell to be successful? ›
"A sensational sale would be about 25,000 copies," says literary agent Jane Dystel. "Even 15,000 would be a strong enough sale to get the publisher's attention for the author for a second book." But if that second book doesn't sell, says Dystel, odds are you won't get another chance.
What happens if you submit an article to two journals? ›
Next time, wait to receive a decision from the first journal before sending the manuscript to another journal. If you publish the same paper in two journals, it violates the COPE standards and the article should be retracted and can damage your research reputation.
What if two articles have the same author? ›
In the Works Cited (Per the MLA Handbook (9th edition), p. 221: To cite two or more works by the same author, give the name in the first entry only. Thereafter, in place of the name, type three hyphens, followed by a period and the title. The three hyphens stand for exactly the same name as in the preceding entry.
Can you repost an article? ›
Get Permission From the Rightsholder
Before reposting an article, getting permission from the rightsholder is critical. The rightsholder is the person or entity that owns the copyright to the article. The rightsholder may be the author, the publication or another entity.
Can an author republish a book? ›
Many will allow a “resub” or resubmission of your manuscript if only minor changes are needed, but there may be a fee. Traditionally published authors will need to check with their publisher to see if and when a reprint can occur with the changes.
Can you rebind an old book? ›
If you have a precious book that is simply falling apart because the spine or cover is in poor condition, don't toss it out! Rebinding your book at home is an easy way to fix your favorite books, and keep them from the burn pile.
Can a book be launched twice? ›
Yes, it is possible to publish the same book twice, but there are different scenarios to consider: Reprinting: If you reprint the book without making any changes to the content, it's essentially the same edition, and you may release it again with a new print run.
Can you relaunch a book? ›
Decide how much you want to change
A relaunch of a novel or book series could be as simple as slapping on new covers or changing the blurb on its listing on barnesandnoble.com. It could mean another editing pass of the manuscript, or it could be a total rewrite.
