Writing Tips by Hank Nuwer


Buying Permissions Can Detonate Your Checkbook:

Learn the "Permissions" Game:

Even though I have long been in the business of editing and writing, something new always comes up. I have a collection of essays
on hazing called "The Hazing Reader"published by Indiana University Press. To be fair, the majority of scholarly publishers responded promptly, charged fair rates, and were a dream to work with. But let's talk about the others. From this experience, I learned a few lessons:

1) One reputable journal's rights and permissions person simply refused to respond to a request for permission. This was done even though the
article writer and I had formally requested permission. As a result, I thought my book would be without the single best essay on military hazing I could locate. (Update: at the last second, the writer pushed the editor into granting permission for me to buy his piece for the book. The writer had no idea her publisher was so obdurate about refusing to answer correspondence and calls).

2) Scholarly book publishers give very little money for permissions, making the job of editing such a book entirely a labor of love. A few scholarly publishers refuse to give permissions without charging large fees. This fee has to come out of the book editor's pocket and NONE of the money goes to the writer. In the future, I plan to commission new articles for the next anthology. It is far less a headache than scrounding for permissions.

Lesson learned: I try to learn from my mistakes and bad experiences. The next time I place an essay in a journal, I will demand a letter in writing from the journal article stating that I alone hold reprint copyright. One of the contributors to this book has such a letter. I did not have such a permission even for my own writings and had to get permission to reprint my own stuff (which I received without any problem because my publishers gave permission freely). I will boycott all journals that refuse permission.

Tip for authors: Get it in writing that you hold rights for book reprints or expect to be contacted if another editor wants to reprint your work. Don't expect a journal's rights and permissions person to care if you can't get your work to more readers in a second market.

Rights: Whenever possible, offer First North American rights only.  Try to negotiate this.
 
Hank Nuwer is an Indiana-based author who speaks at writer conferences. Contact him here.
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