Yes, both buyers and sellers need to register to get full use of the site, but you can have a look around and get a good idea of how it works before you register. Sellers need to be registered and logged in to submit stories and illustrations for sale. Buyers need to be approved and logged in to buy and download stories.
Registration is free.
Yes, all new registrations go through a moderation process during which we’ll check we’ve got your details right and that your content or publication meets industry quality standards.
Your access to the site may be restricted during moderation. Sellers may not see their stories posted right away, and buyers won’t be able to buy stories until their registration has been approved.
You can speed up the process by going to Your Dashboard and filling out your Profile in full, and if you’re in a hurry to buy a story you can call Julie Starr on +64 21 828 568 to expedite things or email her at Julie AT allaboutthestory DOT com.
We charge sellers 20% of the transaction price for each sale, which is deducted at time of payment.
We do not charge buyers to use this service.
Does allaboutthestory.com make any changes to stories?
No, we don’t make changes to stories although we may correct obvious typos, tighten headlines and summaries and move stories to a new category.
We encourage sellers to check facts, quotes and spelling before posting stories, and we encourage buyers to exercise their usual level of care in selecting and editing stories. Buyers can also look at sellers’ profiles to get a measure of their work.
We offer a limited editing service and you may use the Contact Us form if you would like your content edited.
Yes, if we feel that content doesn’t meet the need of our buyers or has become stale we will put the story on hold and consider offering editing or other guidance. Sometimes we ‘rest’ stories as part of story rotation on the site.
We will remove content we think is in bad taste, defamatory, plagiarised, in breach of copyright or similar.
Great! We are in beta and we love feedback because it will help us make the site better. You can drop us a line in the Contact Us form or talk to Julie on +64 21 828 568 or by email at julie AT allaboutthestory DOT com.
You need to Register as a Buyer and be logged in to see the stories in full, and you need to be an Approved Buyer to buy and download stories and illustrations. The process is usually quick but if you are in a hurry to buy something you can call Julie Starr on +64 21 828 568 or email her at Julie AT allaboutthestory DOT com.
Select the categories and keywords you are interested in under Get Updates in Your Dashboard. You can then subscribe to an RSS feed of new content posted in those topics. You’ll see the RSS button at the top right of Your Dashboard. We will be offering email updates shortly.
Once you confirm the purchase, you will be able to download an RTF document or a JPG in the case of a cartoon.
At the same time, you will receive an email containing a sale summary, the RTF document or JPG, and an invoice which is payable on the 20th of the following month. The email will list the title of the story, the applicable licence and licence period, and the price. It will also contain contact details for the author of the story should you have any editing queries.
If the story you have purchased is offered under an Exclusive licence, it will be removed from public display until the end of the exclusivity period. If it is offered under a Syndication licence, it will remain listed for sale on the site.
You can keep track of the stories and illustrations you have bought in Your Dashboard.
The confirmation email we send when you buy a story contains the contact details the author has given us.
We will email you shortly before the exclusivity runs out on any story your have bought under an Exclusive licence.
You can make reasonable editing and sub-editing changes, but if you are going to change the story substantially you should discuss those with the author and check whether they want their byline to remain on the story.
You should also abide by any agreement you have made with the author prior to purchase with regard to editing changes and sign-offs.
Select the categories, authors and keywords you are interested in under Get Updates in Your Dashboard. You can then subscribe to an email alert or RSS feed of new content posted in those topics.
When a buyer confirms the purchase of your story, we will send you an email telling you who bought the story and when.
If the story is offered under a Syndication Licence, it will remain listed for sale on the site. It’s up to you if you then want to edit the story’s price or other details, or withdraw it from sale. To do so, go to Your Dashboard, click on your story, and click on Edit to make changes to the story or price. To withdraw it from sale, make it Draft. Choose Delete to permanently delete it from the site.
If the story is offered under an Exclusive Licence, it will be removed from the site for the duration of the licence period and we will notify you when the story is available to be re-listed under a Syndication Licence. You cannot offer the story for sale on allaboutthestory.com or anywhere else during that exclusivity period.
Once payment for a story is received and cleared (around the 20th of the following month), the balance after the deduction of our 20% fee is deposited in your nominated bank account. You can nominate your bank account in the Edit Payment Details tab of Your Dashboard.
No, it doesn’t cost anything to post content.
All stories posted to allaboutthestory.com should be well researched, written to a publishable standard of journalism and include verifiable attribution of sources.
You must own all rights to the stories and images/cartoons/illustrations you post. If you initially wrote the story at the suggestion of a commissioning editor, you might want to give them a courtesy call before posting the story for sale.
You can type or paste text directly into the Submit Story page and attach files (including jpg, png, pdf) using the Add Image or Add File buttons.
You should write a headline and summary for every story or file that you post, regardless of whether it’s a cartoon or an image or text, so buyers can see what the content is and decide whether to read more.
If you are uploading a story, select ‘story’ under the Kind of Article heading on the Submit Story page.
If you are uploading a cartoon or single image, select ‘image’ under the Kind of Article heading on the Submit Story page.
If you have any questions while submitting stories or illustrations, you can call Julie on +64 21 828 568 or email her at Julie AT allaboutthestory DOT com.
When you sell content on allaboutthestory.com you are actually selling a licence to use the content, rather than selling the content itself. We offer two licences and you can see a full definition of each in our Terms and Conditions. Our two licences are:
Exclusive publication rights for 75 days
For stories/illustrations that have never been published
The Buyer is granted an exclusive, worldwide, non-transferable licence to publish the content in print and/or online for a period of 75 days and non-exclusively thereafter. The Seller confirms the content has not previously been published. The Seller retains ownership of the content and may, at the end of the rights period, choose to re-sell the content under a Syndication licence
An exclusive licence suits stories and illustrations that have never been published before and have appeal for newspaper or magazine publishers who want to be the only publisher in their region carrying the story.
You cannot offer the content for sale anywhere else during the 75-day period.
At the end of the 75 days you are free to offer the content for sale again on allaboutthestory.com under a Syndication licence. We will send you an email when the 75 days are up so you can consider updating and re-listing your story, or retiring it.
Non-exclusive publication rights
For stories/illustrations that have been published before or may at some time be published elsewhere
The Buyer is granted a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable licence to publish the content in print and/or online. The Buyer acknowledges that the content has already been published or may at some time appear in other publications. The Seller retains ownership of the content and may choose to re-sell the content at any time under a Syndication licence.
The syndication licence suits stories and illustrations that have already been published in one region but may have value to a publisher in another region, and stories that have previously run on small websites or blogs but have been re-worked to provide value for print publishers or other web publishers. A lower price is recommended.
You should include information on where and when the content has previously been published so buyers can determine whether the content is useful for them.
Rates vary hugely according to the size and location of publication, reputation of the author, kind of content and story length.
There are three main price bands:
You can change the price on your story at any time using the Edit function at the top of the story, which means you can experiment with price until you think you’ve got it right.
Yes, really! Because it’s going to help raise your profile and help buyers find out more about you and get a measure of your work.
You can use your Bio to link to any online profiles you have that will help buyers find out more about you – LinkedIn, for example, or Twitter or Facebook or your blog. Just include the url in your Bio, it will be turned into a link automatically.
You can also use your Bio to tell buyers what kind of work you do, what subjects and regions you cover, and what makes you tick. If you’re a journalism graduate looking for a break – say so. Likewise if you’re a blogger looking for a paid gig, a columnist looking for a home, or an innovator testing the market for data visualisations.
In other words, use your Profile to tell buyers who you are, what you’re good at, what you have to offer and why they should trust your work.
Your profile has a unique url that includes your user name, which you can use to link from your website, email signature or blog to your profile and stories here on allaboutthestory.com. Go to your Profile (in Your Dashboard) and in the address bar you will see the url. It will look like this: http://allaboutthestory.com/users/7-your-name. Copy and paste it into your email or website.
It’s not compulsory but we highly recommend it. Buyers may find it easier to trust someone who’s face they can see.
No, you don’t have to but your story may stand out more on the site if there’s at least one image to go with it. Some publishers will expect images to accompany features and travel stories they are interested in. If you have multiple images, you can upload one or two with the story and make a note in the Notes to Publishers field that you have more available.
You must own the copyright to or have permission to use any images you post on allaboutthestory.com.
You should write a headline and summary for any kind of content you post – stories, images, slide shows, graphics – so that it looks its best and grabs buyers’ attention. The headline and summary are all that potential Buyers first see of your content when they browse on the homepage or look at their RSS feed of new content.
We will deposit the money you have earned from sales on allaboutthestory.com – less our 20% fee – into your nominated bank account. Visit Your Dashboard and click on Edit Payment Details to nominate a bank account and give us the details. You should also tell us if you are registered for GST and if so give us your GST number.
When your story sells the buyer receives an invoice straightaway which is payable on the 20th of the following month. Once payment is received and cleared, we will deposit the balance after the deduction of our fee into your nominated bank account. You can nominate your bank account in the Edit Payment Details tab of Your Dashboard.
Yes. Go to Your Dashboard, select and open the story you want to edit, and in the Mode bar at the top of the story click on Edit. The story will open in edit mode and you can edit any part of it, including headline, summary, text, associated files, licence and price. At the bottom of the form, click Update to save the changes or ‘Cancel’ to discard them.
Sure you can. Go to Your Dashboard, select and open the story you want to hide, and in the Mode bar at the top click on ’Draft’ then Update. That will remove the story from public view.
Yes. Go to Your Dashboard, select and open the story you want to remove and in the Mode bar at the top click on Delete. The article will be permanently deleted from the site. You might want to check you have a copy of the story on your own computer before you delete it from the site.
Our editors select a range of well-written stories to feature on our front page. The best way to make the front page is to impress the editors with well-researched, original, well-written stories!
Use the Contact Us form to notify us and we’ll take a look straightaway.
Not so far. But we do reserve the right to revoke registration and use of this site at any time at our discretion. We would consider doing so if, say, content or behaviour failed to meet industry quality standards, if an author’s content was found to be plagiarised, objectionable or fraudulently offered for sale, if a publisher gave false details or consistently failed to pay on time.