To writers: a magazine can't just publish your 'on spec' article without your permission or without paying ?

Question

I was just invited to submit an article I have written to a magazine 'on spec'. There seems to be some discrepancy on this site as to what 'on spec' actually means and what it entails.
Is the usual procedure to: submit the article, if they like it they pay you for it and perhaps publish it. They cannot take the article on spec and publish it without your knowing or your being paid for it, right?
Her reasoning for submitting on spec was that they haven't dealt with me before, and the article is written in first person.

Just to clarify; I haven't submitted the article yet. I just want to make sure I am fairly compensated for it.

In addition, this magazine is one of the top 3 fashion magazines in Canada.

Answer 1

This probably just means that they want to read the article before deciding to whether or not to publish it. If it's a major magazine, like you say, they won't publish your article without a contract and some kind of compensation.

Save your correspondence with them, just in case, but I would go ahead and submit the article. If it would make you feel better, you can put the copyright symbol and the year on the article somewhere (It usually comes at the end).

Answer 2

You are right, they are wrong, they should have let you know they wanted to publish it. At that point you could have talked terms. Some small mags don't pay, but they should have told you that up front.
I would talk to them and try to get them to pay you at least an honorarium - $25 or $50.

Next time, discuss the terms before you submit any writing.
Always put the copyright symbol and "copyright 2007 [or whatever year] by [your full name]" at the bottom. If the piece became a big hit and was made into a movie, that would strengthen your legal standing!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

That doesn't sound right to me. I would contact Angela Hoy at Writers Weekly.com. She has a column called Whispers and Warnings. She will contact the magazine and look into this for you. Pax - C