Whisper House Press

Here’s the old language.

91 1. In the event that the above-mentioned anthology has not been published by Sept. 30 2026, rights

91 revert to the Author, and the Author has the right to sell or arrange for publication of the above-named

92 Work in any manner, with the reservation that the Publisher will have the non-exclusive, one-time right

93 to include the above-named Work in an anthology of stories fitting the theme of this anthology at any

94 time in the future without paying any additional monies beyond those already paid to Author under this

95 agreement, and without prejudice to all other rights of the Author in this agreement.

Can you spot the trouble?

The author’s concern here was that, given the unlikely scenario in which I not only do not publish on time by Sept. 2025 but also do not publish by a year afterward, the right to publish the story first is supposed to revert to the author… however, the way it’s written in the original contract, I’d retain the right to include the story in a thematically appropriate future anthology. In the event the author wants to sell first rights to another publisher, the story would contractually be in a tricky spot. Imagine: I don’t publish by late 2026. I come up with a brilliant new plan and intend to publish in late 2028. In very late 2026 or in 2027, the author wishes to sell that story’s first publication rights to another publisher, but I intend to publish it in a future anthology. That puts their story in limbo and limits the author’s options de facto. We don’t want that. So I revised the contract to improve and clarify the circumstances.

Here’s the new language:

90 I. Reversion of Rights.

91 1. In the event that the above-mentioned anthology has not been published by Sept. 30 2026, rights

91 revert to the Author, and the Author has the right to sell or arrange for publication of the above-named

92 Work in any manner, with the reservation that the Publisher will have the non-exclusive, one-time right

93 to include the above-named Work in an anthology of stories fitting the theme of this anthology at any

94 time in the future without paying any additional monies beyond those already paid to Author under this

95 agreement, and without prejudice to all other rights of the Author in this agreement. If the Publisher

96 intends to exercise this non-exclusive right, the Publisher must notify the author; it is then incumbent

97 upon the Author at that time to notify the Publisher of conflicting contractual obligations, and the non-

98 exclusive right described herein will not supersede that first-publication right the author has sold to

99 another publisher.

I think this deals with the trouble, and I’m grateful to the contributing author for pointing out the potential trouble. It’s a relief to catch these things before they become an actual problem. All new contracts offered by Whisper House Press will contain the new language.

Click here to view the current Whisper House Press contributing author contract.

– steve