Many people looking to sell a story for money imagine the only way ahead is to sell their story directly to a newspaper or magazine.
And certainly, if you have a great story that every magazine and newspaper is fighting over, you can choose the highest bidder and sell your story to them.
But in my experience as a journalist selling stories to the press for over twenty years, sadly many interviewees are unaware of the pitfalls. Like anything in life selling a story to a national publication isn't as easy as it might seem and in fact what initially can be seen as a good deal, might be anything but.
Every so often someone will email me for advice after being let down. Common problems are to do with syndication. For example, they didn't realise when they spoke to the newspaper or magazine that their story could be sold all over the world without their consent. Other issues are being paid the agreed amount and the time it takes for their payment to be processed.
Worse - and this was something I saw very recently - a couple had come to me after selling a story and signing a deal with a national publication for thousands of pounds. The problem was although they'd signed a contract the story hadn't been published (payments are always made on publication) so they were left not knowing what to do next.
Unravelling issues like this can be impossible to sort out after the event, even by an expert agent in selling stories.
So what are the options to selling your story directly to a national publication? Well, you could use an agent who will sell your story. Inputting search terms such as 'sell my story to a magazine' or ' sell my story ' will bring up a huge variety of companies all claiming to get you the best deal for your story.
For the average person going through an agent to sell their story will make them more money in the long term. This is because an experienced press agent will be able to contact a variety of publications to ensure the best deal. If your story is very sought-after, they will ask everyone to put in their highest bids.
An agent will also be able to sell your story to other publications and will not let you sign away your rights so your story can be sold without you knowing about it.
In most cases they give you a free service and are either paid retainers by publications to supply them with stories or are paid the lineage rate for writing the story.
Just be sure to choose a good agent. Choose one that writes for newspapers and not just magazines. Look for press agents who have sold interviewees' stories more than once (this shows an interviewee was happy for their story to be sold again) and look for writers who sell stories under their own name.
It's like anything in life - if you do your research, you will minimise the risks to yourself - and end up not only selling your story for the most money but being proud of the finished article.
Alison Smith-Squire is a journalist, writer and media agent specialising in selling people's real life stories to UK national newspapers, magazines and TV. She runs the sell my story website http://www.featureworld.co.uk
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