ARTICLE
CONTRACTS
Although
we typically think of publishing contracts in conjunction with book
publishing, some periodicals also offer contracts. Such contracts are
usually short—about a page—and simply identify the article by
name, indicate what rights are being purchased, the amount of
payment, scheduled date of publication, etc. I’m only aware of a
few Christian publications that use them, but there is no reason to
feel nervous about such a contract as long as it spells out the terms
exactly as you expected them to be. If they differ from your
understanding of the agreement, ask for an explanation and/or
necessary changes in the contract. Do not sign it unless you agree
with the terms.
Realize,
too that you are not obligated to sign such a contract because they
offer it. You always have the option of not selling the manuscript if
you would be giving up too many rights or not being paid a fair
payment. You need to be as careful about signing a publishing
contract as you would be about signing a contract in any other area
of business.
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