First off, I am not an attorney, so this is not legal advice but rather my understanding of what “First Serial Rights” generally means with regard to writing.

If you are like me, I care a lot less about what rights I am giving up and more about just getting my stories out there. I do realize that isn’t the best attitude. It may not matter to me as much when most of my short stories fetch less than $100, but if Netflix ever stumbles onto something I’ve written and wants to serialize it a la Love, Death & Robots style, I’d be very concerned about what rights I’ve given up.

My understanding of first rights make me mentally fall back into my days as a landlord:

I own the property, but the lease agreement (contract) gives someone the right to use it for a given amount of time.

The “first” part is like saying “This property is newly created and you will be the first to live in it.”

For authors, once a story is published, the “first” part is used up so you can no longer sell “first rights.” When selling it again later, you need to market the story as a reprint.

Note: for a story to be considered unpublished, that usually means it has not been previously publicly available anywhere. This includes blogs and social media.

The term “serial” comes from the nature of periodicals being published repeatedly on a schedule. It may not come into play on something like an anthology, but I suppose it’s also possible you would still see that language.

Location:

If you just see “First Serial Rights,” you should probably assume that covers publication anywhere in the world, unless territorial language calls out an area specifically. This, as opposed to, something like “First North American Serial Rights ” where you could potentially sell the story to a non – North American market simultaneously.

Exclusivity period:

Watch for this term in the contract. It calls out how long the story is “locked up” before you can sell it as a reprint elsewhere.

Words to watch out for:

Look for language that could lock up the story indefinitely. Terms such as: “All Rights”, “perpetual exclusivity”, and transfer of copyright or transfer of ownership language.

First Serial Rights vs. First Publication Rights:

This can imply broader control of your work and may include publication in other forms outside of online or print, such as audio rights, translation rights, and inclusions in anthologies. This doesn’t necessarily make it something you should reject outright, but is something you need to be aware of. Personally I would be thrilled if a story I sold for online publication also made it into a print anthology, but this language could mean you might not get paid any more for it to be in the anthology.

Common Add-ons:

Depending on the publication, you might see some of the following terms and language.

Electronic rights – Now typical for online publication

Archival Rights – They are able to keep the story live on-site indefinitely. Often seen in sites that allow people to see back issues. I have this in my contract as I continue to host the stories I publish on my site.

Audio Rights – There are some online site that publish audio only or, as in the case of Tall Tale TV, audio within YouTube’s video platform. This is normal if it’s their native format, but if it’s normally an online “print” format and they are asking for audio rights, just be aware you are giving away something more.

Translation Rights – Can be common for some markets that have a worldwide presence.

Excerpt rights – This allows the publication to use small bits of your story for promotion.

First Serial Rights means you’re selling a publication the right to be the first to publish your work, but not to own it forever

As long as you are OK with the exclusivity window, and avoid any tricky language that lets a market hold onto your story indefinitely, first serial rights is typically a standard, author-friendly deal.

– James