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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FraserRonald" data-source="post: 1471322" data-attributes="member: 7892">Hi all.I'm not going to wade very far in to this except to point out the difference between writing for Paizo (or for most RPG publishers) and writing for TOR.I've had three assignments for gaming companies. Most RPG publisher contracts are what's usually called "work-for-hire." It means they pay you and then they own it. It's theirs to do with as they wish. I may not like what they do to my work--and they may do anything they wish to it--but I sold it to them, completely.The contract for a novel is quite different--unless you are doing work-for-hire, which is how new authors working on licensed properties often work. When Glen Cook sells a novel to TOR, they get certain rights to it. Usually those are simply publishing rights within a specified geographic area. It’s the same with most fiction magazines. For example, Realms of Fantasy might buy "First North American Serial Rights," which means--though IANAL--that they buy the rights to publish/present the piece for the first time in North America. All TOR or Realms of Fantasy buy are the rights to reproduce and sell. For novels, that is usually limited to while the book is in print. If TOR publishes my novel about a daring mercenary with a flowery name, but it doesn't take off and goes out of print, the rights come back to me. TOR can't publish it again without entering into a new contract with me.So, basically, comparing the editorial policy of Paizo to that of TOR or even Realms of Fantasy isn't correct. Better to compare their editorial policy to that of Green Ronin or Mongoose (or WotC for that matter).Thanks all. Take care.</blockquote>

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