Serial rights allow publishers to publish your work serially in various publications such as magazines or anthologies. They differ from first publication rights in that you can sell these multiple times while maintaining ownership of the copyright for each work written by its author.
Your work could be sold serially to a magazine for publication over four issues. After this happens, the rights “revert” back to you; at that point, you could either sell first publication rights to book publishers or keep them and self-publish your book.
Some writers use serial rights sales as a source of income while they write their books. Although you’ll likely receive less payment for serial rights sales than with first publication rights deals, selling serial rights can help get your work out to readers while building buzz about your book.
To sell serial rights, you will need to contact publications with which you’re interested and inquire about their rates. Be sure to ask what other rights they might purchase – for instance, some publications also buy the rights to print excerpts from your book or republish your work in anthologies.
Serial rights for books and publishing are an invaluable way for authors to earn revenue over an extended period, supporting their writing careers while building an audience with anticipation for each installment of a serialized work. Furthermore, selling serial rights enables authors to negotiate higher advances and royalties from publishers due to an extended relationship.
