The R's of Writing

In conversations amongst the members of several writing groups I belong to, the topic of selling reprint rights are discussed at length. Though everyone agreed that it may be difficult to earn a living this way, it was unanimous that there is value in doing so. For me, the results of those discussions became the R's of writing.

(w)Rite the best piece you can! There are hundreds possibly thousands of markets out there. It goes without saying that writing your best is important whether it's an article, essay or novel.

Research. Once you sell your piece and the limits of your contract have expired, start looking for similar markets to submit to, including those outside the United States. Say you've written an essay for Working Mother, try iparenting.com, a Canadian market that has several publications on the subject. If you've published in print, try online markets and vise-versa.

Rework. Can you add or take away from your original piece and sell it to another publication? Perhaps you've written an essay for a secular magazine, can you add the faith factor and sell it to a Christian market or vise-versa?

Revise. Can you revise your article or essay to fit a whole new market altogether?

My essay Perfect Love was initially published in the Feb. 2001 issue of The Romantic Bower Ezine. One year later, a call for submissions came for a compilation called Crumbs in the Keyboard; Stories From Courageous Women who Juggle Life & Writing. By simply adding a commentary to the article that acclimated it to fit the purpose of the Crumbs project, the story was published in this anthology. I have since included Perfect Love in other essays and am currently submitting it to places like Guidepost and Chicken Soup. I've also expounded on the essay by adding elements such as character, time and place and turned it into a short story which I'm submitting.

Rewrite. Can you rewrite your piece with a different POV so that it'll work elsewhere? I did. My short story Angel of the Day was published in Nov. 2000 issue of The Romantic Bower Ezine. I revised the entire story from the hero's POV, changed the title, added a hint of sizzle and a splash of sensuality and created a whole new story. The new version, Cathy's Angel was published in the May 15, 2004 issue of Once Upon A Time Online and has since been accepted for publication in A Hint of Seduction Ezine. This one idea netted me a total of $175.00 and only took about an hour to do!

Revamp. Can you cut out the tips and advice of a long piece and submit those elsewhere? I have. My essay Beware & Be Smart was submitted for Firstwriter.com's free newsletter. Since there were some points in it that I felt uncomfortable deleting entirely, it was rejected. Afterward, I took just the viable "Be" points, added a quick introduction and it is now listed in the Writing Tips section of Firstwriters website. (http://www.firstwriters.com). The same has been done with several of my other articles, cutting them from 12-1800 word to 700-900 in order to resell them. I know one particular editor that this works extremely well for, and since I tell her upfront that the original has been "revamped" to fit the guidelines/needs of her publication she usually considers it a new article and pays accordingly.

Reorganize/Rename. I've heard that the minute you change an existing article, essay or story, it becomes a whole new piece of work. Can you reorganize, add to or update the current information, rename and resell it?

Now, all editors have a different perspective on this issue. Some say in order for it to be "new" you should totally rewrite it, incorporating your info from a whole different angle. Others say that as long as it has new or diverse aspects, it is considered a new piece. Others still, say that it must be at least 50% rewritten to be considered new. No matter the individual editor's opinion, most suggest that you allow a 'cooling off' period of at least 30 days from the original publication before you start submitting the "new" article. Again, be professional enough to tell the editor you're querying what you've done to make it different and/or better!

Record-keeping. If you have more than one article, short story or essay that you're trying to market, it is imperative that you keep records of your submissions so that you don't duplicate them. It looks unprofessional of you to send the same piece to the same place once it's been rejected. Now, if you've implemented one or more of the above steps to better fit a particular publication, then by all means query. A simple paper, notebook or document listing the submissions and indicating what's been accepted where, works well. There is also submission tracking software created for this purpose. Check out Sonar, a free program. http://www.spacejock.com/

Also, keep accurate records of your income and expenses for tax purposes. 

Renegotiate. Most newsletters and websites have a reprint rate so it's unprofessional and unnecessary to argue the point. For those that don't list a reprint rate, offer to take less than their normal payment since it is a reprint or perhaps trade articles for advertising.

Remember, in this business money isn't everything. Marketability is. Publishers want to know how marketable you are therefore, clips mean experience, experience means exposure and exposure means one step closer to publication!

So learn the R's of writing. Added together they equal Revenue.