Hi,
 
I am not a lawyer & don't have the money to afford one, but here's some
hopefully helpful answers that reflect what we are doing.
 
Bear in mind that there are only two of us doing this entire business so
that means that we often get behind on various things.  So far, we have
always managed to eventually catch up.  We do also have some pretty bad
luck/timing with a lot of things.
 
>2)About two months ago I sent a ferret fakelore piece to *Modern Ferret.*
>(Hi Mary & Eric, how are you?) I was hoping they'd put it in the magazine in
>the readers' fiction section...but remember, they moved, and Eric was sick,
>and a magazine takes time...plus, of course, they have a whole passel of
>fuzzbeans to watch over...so I haven't heard from them yet, and... people
>are asking me for copies of the story.  I've been telling them no.  I
>haven't even sent it to the list 'cause I'm being so careful.... is this
>good, or am I being silly?
 
Your piece will be running in #17.  Ideally we would have had time to
contact you beforehand, but we have had a long run of problems lately (not
directly related to the magazine) that has left us very little time to
actually produce the magazine.  We apologize for any angst this has caused
you.
 
Publication in Modern Ferret is a strong testimony for your story.  We get
more stories submissions & photographs than we'd ever know what to do with.
One of the processes we have yet to streamline is some sort of form letter
acceptance/rejection.  We just haven't had time to figure that out properly.
 
>I thought if you have something under consideration for publication you are
>not allowed to distribute it in any way until you have adefinite
>rejection--otherwise it's considered a 'simultaneous submission' and you're
>not only disqualified, but you can be sued.  Is this correct?
 
Most publishers just don't like simultaneous submissions.  Very few
publishers want to be in the position of being the second to publish
something and certainly not if the first publisher is claiming legal rights
to the article.  Thus you try to head things off at the pass by telling
submittors not to do it.
 
The point of what we are doing at Modern Ferret is to try to present new
educational and entertaining ferret things.  We try to avoid reusing things
which were in club newsletters etc.  because we don't want people to feel
they should either join a club or get the magazine.  We strongly feel that
people should join local ferret groups so that they have a support network.
If we ran the same content that clubs did, there would be no incentive for
people to both join a club and subscribe.
 
We also try to utilize the medium to the best of our ability.  For example,
#17 will have an article about cataracts along with a color photograph of
what a cataract looks like.  That is something beyond the scope of what most
newsletters are capable of.  Clubs also have their strengths.  Most local
clubs can direct you to the best local vet, demonstrate in person how to
properly clean ears, and provide a support and advice network for when you
are in need.
 
>this is the piece which I'd love to see as a children's picture book, but I
>can't see trying to sell major publishers on it 'cause I anticipate (sniff)
>rejection from them...and because I envision it as a book, I don't want to
>put it in the same lighthearted everybody-use-it category as the filksongs.
 
We copyright the entire magazine and claim the rights to it to prevent
others from reusing the content.  However, we always have regard for the
author's point of view.  If you got a book deal, we would allow the rights
to revert to you since the story is your work.  Some magazines buy only
first serial rights, meaning they have the right to publish the story first
& any subsequent publication by anyone else is up to the author (just to
add another twist to already complicated regs).
 
I hope this clears things up a bit.
 
- Eric
 
Modern Ferret Magazine - The magazine for ferret lovers.
Mary & Eric Shefferman & the Slinky Seven:
Sabrina, Ralph, Marshmallow, Knuks, Trixie, Bosco da Gama, and Balthazar
http://www.modernferret.com
[Posted in FML issue 2311]