After a manuscript has been accepted, a writer usually has no further responsibility concerning it.  Some magazines submit galley proofs to the author for correction and for any changes that he cares to make.  It is desirable to make as few alterations as possible to avoid the delay and expense of resetting the type.  Corrected proofs should be returned promptly.

Unless specific stipulations are made to the contrary by the author, an article on being accepted by a periodical becomes its property and cannot be republished without its consent.  Usually an editor will grant an author permission to reprint an article in book or pamphlet form.  By copyrighting each issue, as most magazines and some newspapers do, the publishers establish fully their rights to an author’s work.

SYNDICATING ARTICLES.  By sending copies of his articles to a number of newspapers for simultaneous publication, a writer of special feature stories for newspapers may add to his earnings.  This method is known as syndicating.  It is made possible by the fact that the circulation of newspapers is largely local.  Since, for example, Chicago papers are not read in New York, or Minneapolis papers in St. Louis, these papers may well publish the same articles on the same day.  Organized newspaper syndicates furnish many papers with reading matter of all kinds.

The same article must not, however, be sent to more than one magazine, but a single subject may be used for two entirely different articles intended for two magazines.  If two articles are written on the same subject, different pictures should be secured, so that it will not be necessary to send copies of the same illustrations to two magazines.  Agricultural journals with a distinctly sectional circulation do not object to using syndicated articles, provided that the journals to which the article is sent do not circulate in the same territory.

If a writer desires to syndicate his work, he must conform to several requirements.  First, he must make as many good copies as he intends to send out and must secure separate sets of photographs to accompany each one.  Second, he must indicate clearly on each copy the fact that he is syndicating the article and that he is sending it to only one paper in a city.  A special feature story, for instance, sent to the Kansas City Star for publication in its Sunday edition, he would mark, “Exclusive for Kansas City.  Release for Publication, Sunday, January 19.”  Third, he must send out the copies sufficiently far in advance of the release date to enable all of the papers to arrange for the publication of the article on that day.  For papers with magazine sections that are made up a week or more before the day of publication, articles should be in the office of the editor at least two weeks before the release date.  For papers that make up their Sunday issues only a few days in advance, articles need be submitted only a week before the publication day.