Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Reprint?

The debate is over.

My head won, convincing me that it was my heart, too. The stories started talking to me, and they want to be read. (Nods to Katey for the Konrath link yesterday). I'll still take a high-profile print mag any day, but the truth is, most print mags aren't as high profile as they once were.

I have a few (maybe a dozen) published stories that I'm pretty happy with and for which the rights have reverted to me. What to do, what to do. The reprint options are woeful. (Nods to K.C.) Don't worry...I have something in mind. Stay tuned, dear readers.

The Great Electronic Debate greatly influenced the future of the little mag I helped start (Sand). Check out Ed's blog (if you can call his lousy, once every-other-month postings a blog) for details.

9 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

reprints are a funny topic. I have noticed that many of the magazines that I have stories coming up in have decided to print in multiple formats (print and .pdf) Others have a free content online and then put out a subscription as well. I like the ones that have online content and then put out a yearly antho. It gives me a chance to sample and say,'yes, I would put money on that.' But as a business model I don't know how profitable it is.

Cate Gardner said...

I need to sort out what stories I can query as reprints - those I like that is.

Unknown said...

what is this? what do u have in mind? i'm intrigued.

Sophie Playle said...

Hi Aaron. This is unrelated to your post, but just wanted to drop you a comment. I found your blog through Catherine J Gardner's blog The Poisoned Apple (she commented on my old blog a while back - isn't it wonderful how people connect?)

I just read your online story 'The Logic of Monsters' and really enjoyed it. I'll be checking out some more of your work soon.

Aaron Polson said...

Jamie - how profitable is any magazine right now?

Cate - I'm planning on hiding those stories I don't like. In a dark bin somewhere. No one will ever find them.

Samantha - In due time. (laughs maniacally)

Sophie - Glad you stopped by. I'm convinced Cate is the glue of the internet.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Very true, I believe most of them to be a labor of love, or tradition at this point.

Katey said...

I'm surprised by how often, when it comes to writing, the head and heart are truly in agreement. I shouldn't be though; no one chooses to write if their head is diametrically opposed to their heart with any regularity.

I think the new direction for Sand is exciting, and very cool of y'all, for what it's worth. They do want to be read! Speaking for myself, I'm very likely to drop a few bucks on an e-book edition, then go for the print when it's good.

K.C. Shaw said...

I like AnthologyBuilder as a way to park old stories when I don't feel like trying to find markets that take reprints. I'm thinking of just dumping all my stories there.

Now I want to know what you have in mind. :)

BT said...

I'm guessing something like TLODS will come into being for reprints...am I close?

I need to have a good look at Sand at some point. I enjoyed the Tainted antho so I'd not be surprised to enjoy the mag as well. Great, more to read...