A friend asked me if she owned the short story she had contributed to an anthology or if it was now owned by the publisher? She hadn't been paid for her submission nor had she signed a contract?
Here is my reply...
Authors always retain ownership of their work. The only time they lose ownership is when they sign a contract. And this loss is temporary. The reason you agree to lose ownership is two-fold 1) so that a publishing house can publish your work. 2) so you can get paid.
As she did not sign a contract, she did not lose ownership of her story--even temporarily.
On this blog, neurodivergent (dyslexic) author Leanne (Willetts) Dyck ("dihck") publishes her short stories for adults and children. She is writing (picture books and middle grade fiction) for children, (memoirs and upmarket fiction) for adults and knitting books. Thank you for visiting and sharing this blog. Your support is greatly appreciated.
