Professional Writing

Lesson 1: Basics of Writing Professionally

Learn the "Rights" Facts

Another necessary, preliminary step for becoming a professional writer is to know your rights as a writer and how you can make them work for you.

The term "copyright" refers to the right to claim ownership of a particular, personal writing piece. This means publishers (or anyone else) need your permission in order to copy, sell, or distribute it.

The common myth concerning copyrighting is that you need to register your unpublished gems with the Copyright Office. This is not true. Today, there is little need to protect homeless treasures as it is explicitly understood a writer's material is their own. If you still insist on feeling protected all you must do is type or write "Copyright 2003 by (your name)" - minus quotations - in the upper right corner of your document. Be forewarned: nowadays the symbol is considered the mark of an amateur.

You can grant copyright permission through "use rights" - which is where publishers' guidelines for writers come into play. They are usually found on a publication's website. When investigating a publisher’s writers' guidelines, you will notice what rights it typically acquires from you, the contributor.

Each print and electronic publisher typically offers writers one or two of the following rights:

1) First North American Serial Rights. These rights mean you will be giving the publication the right to reproduce your work in a serial (example: newspaper, magazine), for the first time in North America.

2) First Rights. This means the publication has "first use" of your material. This term does not indicate how material may be published. Electronic markets tend to use this loose term.

3) One-Time Rights. This means a publication may use your writing piece once (for one issue). The work might have been previously published elsewhere, which is fine. It may also be resubmitted elsewhere.

4) Second, or Reprint Rights. Both terms are often used but they are one and the same critter. In this case, you are agreeing with the publication that your work has been previously published. The terms are more liberal than they sound. You may offer "second rights" to more than one publication!

5) Electronic Rights. This is a vague and general term for whatever electronic rights a publication decides it wants to use (e-zine or CD-ROM, for examples). If a magazine aims at displaying your work on its website, you might consider stating to its editors you are granting "one-time non-exclusive Internet use." In other words, the piece will be seen online for one issue, then you may submit it to other publications.

6) All Rights. The publication claims all rights, including electronic, over your material.

The most known, beneficial way to make the most of an article, essay, or other piece, is initially to offer First North American Serial Rights, so you can then proceed to offer One-Time and Reprint rights. This way, you can sell to as many non-competing markets as possible.

Selling "All Rights" does have its occasional reward. An article that has a very limited market, for instance, might fit comfortably within the pages of an offbeat publication. For example, a sophisticated scientific theory might be accepted by a publication specializing in scientific theories. It would then be wise to say "yes" to, say, $10,000.

You might at this point be asking, "How am I going to break into professional markets? Don't I need to be 'already published' to do so?"

This is not true. You have two "basics" under your belt already. Now, you need to study the third and last, which is coming up. Then, you'll be one-quarter of the way down your exciting new career path!

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