by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For years, I thought I had a good system. Whenever one of my short stories was published—in a magazine, or an anthology—I would celebrate. Then, as soon as the rights reverted, and because I’m an indie author, I’d self-publish the story on the major retail platforms.
I was making the same mistake with my short fiction that many people make with old furniture: I was putting it in the attic and forgetting about it.
A short story often has far more life in it than we give it credit for.
You may have stories sitting on Amazon that haven’t sold in months…or years. Or perhaps your story appeared in an anthology years ago and hasn’t seen daylight since.
Publication of any sort isn’t the end of a story’s journey. This realization completely changed how I think about my backlist. Instead of asking, “When can I self-publish this story?” I started asking, “Where can this story go next?”
There Are More Markets for Short Stories Than You Think
Recently, I removed several of my short stories from retail sale. They weren’t “bad.” One of them finaled in a major award. I took them out of circulation because they weren’t selling anymore. Instead of letting them gather digital dust, I sent them back out into the world.
Today, those stories are circulating in translation markets in France, Italy, Germany, and Norway. Others have gone to audio magazines. Some are being submitted as English language reprints. Eventually, several will find a home in my own collections.
One story.
Multiple lives.
Copyright Is a Bundle of Rights
There are many different publishing rights still available after a story’s first appearance. It wasn’t until I looked closely at contracts, and the opportunities listed in submission calls, that I realized a story can be licensed many times over, provided you’re selling different rights or rights that have reverted to you.
Copyright isn’t one indivisible thing.
Think of it as a deck of cards rather than a single card. When you license one right, you’re playing one card. The delightful thing is, the rights come back to you if you haven’t given them away forever by signing a badly worded contract.
Rights You May Encounter
First Serial Rights
Serial rights are generally associated with magazine and print periodicals (hence “serial” –they publish serial issues).
A print publication will ask for some type of First Serial Rights. Once they’ve published your story and any exclusivity period has expired, the First Serial Rights have been used.
However, geography plays a role here. You can license First World Serial Rights. Or if the magazine only distributes around your neighbourhood, you could narrow the rights down to just First Albertan Serial Rights, or First Texas Serial Rights. This is unusual, though. Most publications have a digital format, and can’t limit their distribution to geographical areas. Most often, you will be licensing the First World Serial Rights.
Just keep in mind that geography, language and format allow you to chop up your rights into smaller and more specific pieces, as much as you want, and the publisher will agree to.
World Digital Rights
Most publications with a digital edition will ask for World Digital Rights. But this term can also include audio rights, so you will sometimes see it broken down into World Digital Text Rights, and World Digital Audio Rights.
If the magazine doesn’t produce audio versions, it’s also okay to ask them to narrow down their digital rights in this way, so that you keep the First World Audio Rights and can sell them elsewhere.
“First” rights usually pay better than any reprint rights.
Once your story has sold first rights for any format, region, or language, you can now sell “second rights.” There are no “third” rights. All reprint rights are “second” rights, no matter how often you’ve sold the story in the past.
Reprint (Second) Rights
After publication, your story becomes a reprint. Many magazines and anthologies actively seek quality reprints, paying for the opportunity to introduce the story to a new readership.
Translation Rights
A story that’s been published many times in English may still be completely unpublished in French, Italian, Norwegian—or any other language. Each language represents its own set of publication rights. E.g. “First French Rights.”
Short stories can have a long publishing life, reaching entirely new audiences without you having to write a single new word.
Before you sell reprint rights to your short stories.
Right after you sell first rights of any type, and the story has been published, is the time to submit the story to awards and competitions. Many contests only allow stories published that year, so don’t waste this opportunity.
Now is also the time to ask the editor who bought your story to submit it to Best Of anthologies, particularly those who collect yearly volumes.
Best-Of anthologies pay reprint rights, while contests sometimes offer cash prizes. Winning a major contest (like the Hugos, or the Bram Stoker Award) can make your story more attractive to the reprint markets and anthology editors.
Once you have exhausted post-First-Right opportunities, now you can sell the reprint rights.
Reprint rights are a steady trickle of income.
You may be surprised by just how healthy the reprint market is.
Many literary magazines and anthologies are happy to buy reprint rights. They pay less for those rights, but they’re paying you for work already completed.
That’s a good return. Apocryphal stories exist about authors reselling stories forty or fifty times, earning thousands of dollars for one story. While the numbers are the stuff of fantasy, the fact is: This is absolutely possible.
I’ve sold the same story three times; the first time to a pro online magazine, then to a French market (they translated it), then to an anthology. Then, finally, I self-published it. That was a few years ago. Now I’m considering unpublishing it and tackling foreign language and reprint markets.
You can also unpublish.
Indie authors sometimes feel that once they’ve self-published a story, it should stay on the retail sites forever. I was certainly guilty of this erroneous thinking.
If a story has stopped selling, it may be time to unpublish. Then you can:
- Sell reprint rights.
- Include it in a themed collection.
- License translation or audio rights.
- Republish it later as part of a new project.
- Or all of the above…and more.
A story hasn’t “failed” because one market has run its course.
The Time Factor
Authors overlook time in their search for new markets. If you can’t find a suitable market right now…just wait a while.
New markets are constantly opening. Foreign language markets may start looking for English language fiction. About ten years ago, for example, Chinese-language science fiction suddenly became hot, and speculative fiction magazines were scrambling to acquire it. The reverse happens in other countries, too.
Stay on top of market news. Eventually the perfect market for your well-sold story will come along.
Keep Good Records
None of this works well if you can’t remember who bought which rights, or when, or (more critically) when those rights revert to you.
A simple spreadsheet can save a tremendous amount of frustration.
I keep my submission tracking inside a Notion database. Mine tracks each story’s word count, genre, publication history, rights sold, submission dates, acceptances, and when rights revert. I add reminders to my task manager, so I can get the story out to the next potential market.
I also recommend The Submission Grinder, a free resource that tracks submissions and has an excellent database of markets. It’s one of my first stops when I’m looking for a new home for a story.
An alternative to the Grinder is Duotrope, which I used for many years. However, it has a subscription cost.
Whatever tool you use, Future You will be grateful that Present You kept good records.
Think Like a Publisher
One of the biggest shifts in my thinking was the realization that publishers don’t ask whether a story has already been used. They ask whether there are still rights available.
As authors of short fiction, we can adopt that same mindset.
Every year, new magazines launch. Anthologies issue fresh calls for submissions. Audio publications appear. Translation opportunities open up. Rights revert. Readers discover new genres. The opportunities keep changing. Which means your story doesn’t have to live in just one place.
Before you write off that story you published five, ten or even more years ago, pull it out and read it. It may need a polish. It may need a better title. It may not fit today’s market without a bit of work.
Or it may simply be waiting for its next adventure.
You’ve already done the hard part (writing the story). Why not let it keep working for you?
by Tracy Cooper-Posey August 23, 2026
What about you, scriveners? Do you have short stories gathering dust? Have you tried to find markets for them?
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About Tracy Cooper-Posey
Award-winning author Tracy Cooper-Posey writes science fiction, fantasy, romance, suspense, and historical fiction, and has published more than 200 works of fiction under three pen names. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually researching better ways for authors to finish more books and make the most of the short stories they’ve already written. She blogs at The Productive Indie Fiction Writer.
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Featured Image: by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
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