Newspapers are the worst. There have been many occasions when our online course students submit a story for publication, hear nothing – and then see their work rewritten, and with someone else’s byline, published a few days later.
The paper will then argue: ‘We were working on the story already – we didn’t use your version.’ And it’s difficult to prove otherwise.
To be fair, most publications don’t stoop this low. But newspapers often try it on.
The biggest risk comes when you offer a complete version of the article. So instead, offer the editor a bid sheet – an email, that provides:
- a one-sentence description of the article
- the intro
- a skeleton of the remainder
- two good quotes
- a list of sources that you intend to refer to
This gives the editor a good idea of what you are offering, but not enough for them to rip you off!
See our online courses