# 1st time rights



## dale (Oct 6, 2014)

i have a question about this. a couple years ago, i had a story accepted by Motley Press and placed in an issue. 
i found the story on my computer, fixed a couple flaws with it, and now think it's a perfectly good story.
now, motley press doesn't exist anymore, and you can't google the story and find it on the internet anywhere,
can i get away with resubmitting the story as it not being a reprint?


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## Schrody (Oct 6, 2014)

Well, if it's published in a regular, paper magazine, then you still have the first e-rights, and that's something  Not sure about others, though :scratch:

EDIT: read here


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## Kyle R (Oct 6, 2014)

First publication rights have already been used. It's like your story's virginity—even if the your first sexual partner dies, that doesn't make you a virgin again. (What a morbid analogy, I know! lol)

The question, though, is, "Can you get away with pretending it never happened?", seeing as there is no paper trail leading to the source, and the publication is now defunct.

I'd say yes, you probably _could_ get away with it. 

Except, now you've made this thread, which can show up in Google. Which means, you've now created a paper trail where one might previously have not existed. :grief:

The "right" thing to do would be to mention it to any publication that wants to buy your work, seeing as they would be shelling out cash under the assumption that no one has ever seen this story before. But, you have to be okay with the possibility that they might retract their offer once they learn an earlier version of your story was already published.


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## Schrody (Oct 6, 2014)

Actually Kyle, there are more kind of first right: first publication, first publication in e- format, first publication on certain language.... that link was pretty useful to me


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## dale (Oct 6, 2014)

Kyle R said:


> First publication rights have already been used. It's like your story's virginity—even if the your first sexual partner dies, that doesn't make you a virgin again. (What a morbid analogy, I know! lol)
> 
> The question, though, is, "Can you get away with pretending it never happened?", seeing as there is no paper trail leading to the source, and the publication is now defunct.
> 
> ...


 lol. well, as you surely already know, motley press accepted uncontracted stories. you just sent it and they placed it, so technically no "1st rights" were contracted. some publishers though will consider even placing the story on facebook or something as being "previously published". so i wasn't sure how it worked legally.


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## Kyle R (Oct 6, 2014)

That's a good point! Motley may have worded it along the lines of, "The author retains all rights to their work," (or something). I don't recall.

But the publication you're thinking of selling to? Their expectations matter more.

If you were to sell the story to Daily Science Fiction, for example, they would likely consider your story already published.



			
				Daily Science Fiction said:
			
		

> We do not accept reprints. Unfortunately, if you have placed a story on your website, where it is open and available to the multiple billion people who have access to the internet, that constitutes publication. We're sorry.



If I were in your position, I'd probably email the editor and ask them about this specific case. Some editors might say, "We won't accept that." Others might say, "That's not a problem for us."

It'd be good to know where they stand on it. From there you could decide how to play it. :encouragement:

Edit: Maybe even email them from an alias account to avoid giving your name a red flag? :cower:


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## dale (Oct 6, 2014)

ha ha. i hit "lol" before you edited that last line.


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## Kyle R (Oct 6, 2014)

Lol


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