Publication Rights & Contract Information for The AutoEthnographer
By submitting work to The AutoEthnographer, contributors affirm that they have read, understood, and agreed to the publication rights and contract information herein. Additionally, contributors warrant that their work is original and has not been published elsewhere. This applies to print and electronic venues (author websites, social sites such as FaceBook and Fictionaut, and personal blogs, etc.). Moreover, contributors warrant that no one else has reserved the rights of first publication that we’re asking for.
Contributors also warrant to the best of their knowledge that submitted works do not infringe on anyone else’s copyrights, and that they do not include libelous content.

Revisions
Note that as we are a digital magazine, our main goal is to see your article rank highly in searches. To do this, we may edit titles as well as your actual text; we will always do our best to preserve the integrity of your work. Here are some strategies for future articles and likely revisions we will make:
- Avoid passive tense in your writing.
- Keep sentences short rather than complex.
- Avoid starting 3 or more consecutive sentences with the same first word.
- Use headings as often as possible.
- Use transition words as often as possible.
- Paragraph lengths should be less than 300 words.
- Use a title checker or headline analyzer: https://www.monsterinsights.com/headline-analyzer/. Your title should score 70 or higher to be effective in a digital context.
- Identify your keyword or phrase for the article and use it in the following ways.
- The title (preferably towards the beginning of the title)
- Section headers
- 1st paragraph 1st sentence of your memo.
Scope of Contract
The AutoEthnographer contract for original, previously unpublished works covers the following rights:
Exclusive First Worldwide Electronic Rights
…for 24 hours from date of digital publication for new works. We ask that accepted work(s) not be published in any other medium, print or electronic (including blogs, Facebook, and author websites), during that initial 24 hour period. In some cases, we may re-print or re-post existing content from elsewhere. In this case the creator or original holder retains copyright.
Rights to reprint works revert to the author/artist 24 hours from the initial date of publication in The AutoEthnographer. When reprinting works first published in The AutoEthnographer, publishers are asked to obtain permission from the author/artist and to credit this journal for first publication. In addition, we ask that citations include the full title of the work as it appears in The AutoEthnographer.
Non-Exclusive Internet Archival Rights
…for an indefinite time, in order to include published works in our online archives.
Our publisher agrees to “stand by the works.” This means that works in general will not be removed from our Archives. Works will remain there as elements of Authors’ and Artists’ publication portfolios. Publisher agrees not to “un-publish” works. This is invalid should they later determined to be libelous, plagiarized, or otherwise in breach of this agreement.
Non-Exclusive World Anthology Rights
…to reprint, in electronic and hardcopy forms, any original works first published here. Rights are retained for an indefinite time for potential ebook and hardcopy anthologies and promotional materials. This also includes the right to feature in future issues of The AutoEthnographer any works first published therein which also win awards such as the Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction. Although The AutoEthnographer does not guarantee to nominate works for such prizes and awards, authors grant permission for such nominations at our publisher’s discretion.
Non-exclusive anthology rights mean that authors and artists may publish the works in other anthology markets beginning 24 hours after the initial date of publication in The AutoEthnographer.
Rights to nominate works for awards and prizes
We ask for non-exclusive rights to feature in future issues of The AutoEthnographer any works first published therein which also win awards such as IAANI, the Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction. Although The AutoEthnographer does not guarantee to nominate works for such prizes and awards, authors grant permission for such nominations at our publisher’s discretion. This also includes permission for works selected for the afore-mentioned awards to be reprinted in those anthologies.
Credits
Text adapted from KYSO Flash;
Featured image of spools of colorful thread Hector J Rivas for Unsplash
Learn More
New to autoethnography? Visit What Is Autoethnography? How Can I Learn More? Interested in contributing? View our editorial board’s What Do Editors Look for When Reviewing Evocative Autoethnography? And check out our Submissions page. View Our Team to learn about our editorial board. Please see our Work with Us page to learn about volunteering at The AutoEthnographer. Visit Scholarships to learn about our annual student scholarship competition.