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Tracy had been keeping a secret. On Christmas morning, she shared her news--and her joy--with her husband...
Before, when it was my story, I showed the story in its original form, the way I submitted it, but with the edits that Johnene did. Personally, I always found it interesting to see the changes. However, it was pointed out to me that the new contract prohibits publication, except by Bauer Publishing.
My apologies.
Photo credit: By User:hmbascom (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
27 comments:
Kate, I understand why she kept your story for publication this year. It really is a sweet story. The editing is interesting, though. Some of your adjectives were more descriptive of the couple's feelings. They had more depth. Still, the overall feel of the story remained. Congrats! Really enjoyed this story.
When I got this issue of the magazine, I was halfway through the romance before I realized you were the author, Kate. Nice idea and good story.
Excellent, Kate. Really a lovely story, and I must congratulate Johnene on her editing job. None of us enjoys having our stories messed with, but I honestly feel that she improved this one by tightening it up. Good of WW to hang onto this one until they had a spot for it.
Wonderful story, Kate. I loved it and loved the twin idea. So nice to see what Johnene does to a story. Congratulations on another sale.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Kate - it's so useful to see the changes that were made. Some edits I felt improved things, while others seemed not to. But the story was novel and sweetly done and that's what shone through for me.
Just one thing... doesn't reproducing this so soon after its publication in the mag break their exclusivity rule? Or does the fact that it's your original version, plus edits, make it okay?
Oh, now there's a thought. And what is the answer?
Good edits. Johnene eliminated a lot of words but kept the spirit of the story. This is similar to what I do myself before I submit a story (after letting it sit for 12-24 hours). Thanks for sharing!
Kate, I loved this story. It's different. I don't recall ever seeing anything like it in past issues. Perfect holiday story.
I find it so helpful when you show the edits Johnene does to your stories. I think she did a good job with this one. Her cuts and revisions do not change the story line, and the characters remain true.
I "write tight." When I sub to WW, I wonder just what can be cut and changed. Do some of you others do the same, or are you certain revisions can be made without changing your story too much?
What is the average new word count after edits? Does anyone know? If you sub an 800 word story, I wonder what the actual word count is when the story is published.
The word count is much smaller. Any time I have counted the words, there have been much fewer than 800. The current story (January 12 issue) is 706 words.
Yes, the editing removes from 100 to 150 words. I tried doing that to a ww romance myself one time and the editor (Johnene) told me specifically that she did her own editing. Then there are other editors who are careful of every word and will not change or add anything without conferring with the author. It takes all kinds. In any case, most work benefits from being tightened.
My one thought is, take out that ugly crossword puzzle solution and give us space for more story.
I agree about the crossword puzzle solution. Surely there is another place to put it. It would free up some space, and that's a plus when every word is important.
Thanks for posting Kate, a lovely story. Chris has brought up a good point. I would have thought with the new contract taking All Rights that an author can no longer reproduce it anywhere, so would be good to know for sure.
Has anyone thought to negotiate to retain any rights that might be important to them? Some publishers opt to buy ALL RIGHTS just to cover all their bases, whether they ever have any intention of using them or not. That does not seem exactly writer friendly.
Mary Jo, I don't think that taking the chance the folks at WW will find me "difficult" to work with (by trying to negotiate my rights) would be worth the pennies I might make self-publishing a collection of WW stories. For me, the chance to make $800 and be published in WW is the only reason these stories exist. If I want to submit something to another market, I'll write a different story.
I agree with Betsi. When you submit work to a big payer like WW, you do so in the knowledge that if you are lucky enough to get a contract out of it, you will be signing away any right to try it elsewhere. When they pay $800, that's fair enough, surely?
I agree with Betsi and Chris. When I submit to WW, I figure the story was written specifically for them, and I am looking to sell it for $800, what I know they pay. That's it. Or $500 for the mysteries.
@Kate, I loved this story! It was cute and sentimental and the couple was easy to picture. You captured a sweet moment in just the right way for a WW story. Congrats on another sale!
Will selling all rights become the norm in publishing? Even if it is a book or a series of books? I realize we are not concerned with that here, but it does raise the question.
I am wondering if the way Kate has posted the story in its original form with the edits would fall under "fair use?" She is basically offering a critique of the story, even though it is hers, to educate us about the editing process. I would think that would pass the fair use test, but I'm not a lawyer. Any thoughts on this?
Does the WW contract allow the author 'fair use' of their own story still then, Susan? I haven't been fortunate enough to receive a contract yet, but I thought the updated requirements were for all rights, with the author no longer having the freedom to resell it, reproduce it, or make any further use of it at all. That's why I asked the question... while it's generous of Kate to share this with us and let us see the sorts of changes that were made, it would be awful if it turned out that this was in contravention of the contract. A similar situation happened on Jody's website I seem to recall, when an author allowed her to upload the corrected version of her published story. After some similar debate it was felt safest to take it down again.
Chris, contracts don't "allow" fair use, it has to do with copyright infringement and doesn't just apply to the author of a work. This is the definition: a legal doctrine that portions of copyrighted materials may be used without permission of the copyright owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not substantially impair the value of the materials, and does not curtail the profits reasonably expected by the owner.
The main concern here, I think, is that Kate hasn't used a "portion," but the entire thing. But I think what makes this situation different, and something Bauer would never take action on, is the last part. THIS STORY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE. Printing it here won't curtail Bauer's profits in any way.
And really, I'm guessing our little band of writers are the only people who buy WW just to read the fiction!
Chris, I seem to recall that there was also a perceived problem with publishing our rejected mysteries on Jodi's blog. We were having fun with that exercise, I thought.
I enjoyed all the little twists and circling back in this story. Each character had a surprise to share - he had always wanted a twin, she had big news to share. Plus, of course, the whole game between them.
As it's meant to be a fun, escapist pastime, I didn't impose my one little question -- usually when a couple wants to have a child they talk about it ad nauseam and monitor every little sign. The woman must have suspected for a couple of months that she was pregnant. Can you imagine keeping that secret! But, it was all in good fun, so no problemo.
Very nice effort.
Edeltraud hit on the question that I had a problem with...not only in this story, but in so many fictional reveals of a pregnancy that is supposed to take the guy completely by surprise. Most men these days are totally involved in the whole process. Nevertheless, this is a sweet story.
Thank you all for the compliments on the story. This ranks up there as one of my very favorites.
Joyce, I honestly don’t think about what she’s going to do to the story. I’m not that invested in them. If they’re willing to pay me, they can do whatever they want to it. My name is there, but it’s only on the stands for a week, so even on the off chance that I hated the edits, the exposure was swift.
As for the contract…er, I seem to not have made a copy. Does anyone have a recent contract who can paste the pertinent paragraph so I can figure this out?
I agree with Betsi on the rights negotiation question. I write these stories for Woman’s World. If they don’t make it, they’re discarded.
No intelligent writer would sell all the rights to their books forever.
I don’t see why there would be any objection to publishing rejected mysteries on Jodi’s blog.
Edeltraud, that is an excellent point! LOL
Kate, the contract lists all the rights that Bauer is purchasing—the part that I think is pertinent here is: “Publication of the material shall be at the sole discretion of Heinrich Bauer North America, Inc.”
I’m no expert, but I think that means you needed their permission to “publish” it on your blog.
From memory, Kate, I think the story on Jody's blog was, like yours, a recently published one with the various edits shown. Helpful to us, but maybe unwise in the light of the new contract.
The story published on the blog may be the one Bauer bought, but it is obviously not the one they published. Do you suppose that makes a difference? Kate, since your blog offers Bauer some added publicity for the WW magazine, maybe you could make some arrangement with them when it comes to using your work as a teaching tool. Just a thought.
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