When it comes to marketing your stories and articles, think big, break boundaries, market globally. Thought all you had left to offer were reprint rights? Check again. If you’ve sold First North American rights, that covers the U.S. and Canada, but still allows you to sell first rights to other regions. You can submit to foreign markets buying first British serial rights, First European rights, First Asian rights, etc. Even when all of your “firsts” have been sold, you still have reprint rights to offer.

Don’t be intimidated by submitting to foreign markets. Remember, people are people. No matter where we’re located, we share points of commonality. Separated by land and sea but connected by shared beliefs? Many religious publications address issues of the heart that are universal. By checking out the statement of faith on a publication’s website you can see whether your beliefs mesh and whether you should submit or keep searching.

All over the world, children want to be entertained and educated. Tweak your children’s story for broad appeal, eliminating holiday references that aren’t common to the country of your chosen market. Cut regional slang. Then target your audience specifically by changing character names. While Derek and Donna make for familiar names in the U.S., they may not sound realistic to an audience in Australia or Korea. Google “Australian girls’ names” or “Korean boys’ names.” Similarly, instead of characters who watch football or play baseball you may appeal to New Zealanders by referencing rugby instead.

Editors want to see that you’ve done your homework. One Australian publisher makes that clear in their guidelines: “If you are submitting from overseas, make sure that the content and language of your submission has relevance to, and is likely to interest, children living in Australia. Remember, our seasons are those of the southern hemisphere, our flora and fauna are different.” If your effort is apparent, a publisher will likely meet you half way. I sold a personal experience piece to a teen magazine in Ireland. After all attempts to make the piece “universal” the contract still included a note that said, “We may need to change some language slightly to account for cultural differences.”

Electronic media is accessible to an international audience. One way to maintain saleable rights while selling to online markets is by specifying language restrictions. Say you sell to a U.S. e-zine that purchases unlimited electronic rights, by adding an “English-Language” restriction, you’ll retain the right to sell the same piece electronically in other languages. Many online markets purchase the right to archive electronically for a specified period of time, which leaves you free to resell once that timeframe has expired. As soon as you sell to such a market, make note of when you will be free to start marketing that piece again, so as not to let it slip off your radar altogether.

Make sure you’ll be paid. If you don’t have a PayPal account, set one up. It’s quick and easy and cuts out the hassle of making conversions at the bank or receiving a foreign check that you have no idea how to cash. PayPal makes the conversions automatically and the money lands in your account as U.S. currency. Be sure to use an email account that you check often for your PayPal payments. Sometimes payments made in foreign currencies can require that you accept the money within a set number of days before the payment is deposited into your account. You’d hate for a payment to fall through the cracks because you missed a notification.

Before you retire your stories to the land of reprints, set your sights on a big world full of markets and give going global a try.

CHILDREN’S MARKETS

Playtimes
Hong Kong
http://www.ppp.com.hk/p3_html/products/children/playtimes.html

Comet, Explore, Challenge, Green Zone
Australia
http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/places/magazines_place/teachers_centre.aspx

TEEN MARKETS