Quote:
Originally Posted by neilmarr
The old landmail, hard copy submissions process on an individual exclusive offer basis could, indeed take years. It was soul destroying ... and darned exensive.
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Indeed, and I'm glad it's changing. But I completely agree that both parties should act in good faith -- with the author doing research, letting the publisher know the situation, and alerting them immediately if an agreement is reached elsewhere.
I remember a magazine story from years ago that reported that no two journalists agreed on what "off the record" really meant -- and everyone was too cool to make their ground rules explicit with their sources. Same thing here. As models change, writers and publishers need to go out of their way to spell out for one another what is expected as far as time frames, exclusivity, etc.