When you open a market reference, you will encounter a slew of cryptic terms and acronyms. If you don’t know what they mean, you could risk failing to follow an editor’s guidelines. Before you open your first market book, be sure to review these key terms:
SASE—A self-addressed, stamped envelope. If you want only a reply to your submission, use a no. 10 envelope with a first-class stamp. If you want your material returned, use an envelope that is large enough and that contains enough postage. If you mail a submission and do not enclose an SASE, you may never receive a response.
SAE—A self-addressed envelope. Editors may request an SAE for international submissions, but they will likely request that you also include cash or an IRC to cover return postage.
IRC—An international reply coupon. When submitting work to a foreign market, you cannot use domestic postage. But you can purchase an international reply coupon from your local post office, which the editor can then exchange for return postage in his or her own country.
Simultaneous Submissions—If you submit a poem to more than one literary magazine at the same time, you have made a simultaneous submission. Some magazines accept simultaneous submissions; others want an exclusive right to consider your work.
Previously Published Poems—Some magazines want to be the first to print a poem, and so they will not consider previously published poems. What makes a poem published? Most editors consider a poem printed in any publication, whether online or in hard copy, to be published. Editors may be willing to make an exception for your personal website. Be sure to clarify before submitting a previously publishing work.
First-Rights—If a magazine purchases first-rights, that means your work has never before been published; that is, the magazine has been granted the right to publish it for the first time. Rights generally revert to the author upon publication.
One-Time Rights—Publishers who secure one time, or simultaneous, rights agree to publish your work one time, and then the rights revert to you. The work may be published simultaneously in other, generally non-overlapping, markets.
Reprint Rights—If a magazine purchases reprint rights, that means the editor will consider work that has been previously published. Make sure you retain all rights to your work before submitting it for reprinting.
All Rights—Be cautious of publishers that purchase all rights. This means you will not be able to reprint your work anywhere without the permission of the original publisher. If you are going to surrender all rights to your work, ensure that you are appropriately compensated.
Electronic Rights—This usually means that you are granting permission to have your work published on a website, in an e-mail newsletter, or on a CD-ROM. Be sure to note any terms regarding the length of publication. Some magazine will request both print and electronic rights because they wish to maintain online archives of past issues.