Publishing is an act of stewardship, not possession. When you offer a piece to The Archive or a manuscript to the press, you remain the author and the owner of your work for its whole life. We ask only for the narrow set of rights a particular act of publication actually requires — and we name exactly which ones, in writing, before anything goes out.
Two arrangements are described below. The first governs digital work published in The Archive and through The Submission Fetish. The second governs print books published under the press and its imprint, The Worst Words Worth the Work. This page is a faithful summary of the agreements we use; the operative terms are the signed agreement itself. Questions go to editor@themeansofproduction.press.
The Archive & The Submission Fetish
For work published online: a single, non-exclusive web license, plus the right to publish our own critical audit alongside it. You keep everything. You can leave at any time.
YOU KEEP ALL RIGHTS
The Author retains all copyright and all other rights in the Work. Nothing here transfers ownership.
WHAT YOU LICENSE TO US
The Author grants the Publisher a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license solely to:
- (a) Display the Work. Reproduce, format for web/HTML, display, and make the Work available on the Publisher's website(s) as a single online publication, with ongoing archival display thereafter.
- (b) Publish an audit alongside it. Create, reproduce, display, and make available an audit — a critical, linguistic, analytic, or interpretive engagement with the Work (close reading, etymological or structural analysis, mythic or reality-producing machinery mapping, commentary on language as infrastructure, and the like) — and publish that audit alongside or linked to the Work on the site.
THE AUDIT IS OURS
The Publisher is and remains the sole author and owner of the audit and all copyright in it. The license above governs only the Publisher's right to display the audit in connection with the Work on the site. It transfers no ownership of the audit to the Author, and nothing in this agreement — including the termination and reversion below — grants the Author any ownership of, or right to reproduce, display, or otherwise use, the audit.
THE LIMITS OF THE LICENSE
This license is limited exclusively to HTML/web display on the site, and to the creation and display of the audit in connection with this publication. It includes no rights to print, sell, license to third parties, create other derivative works, or exploit the Work or the audit in any other format or medium.
TERMINATION & REVERSION
The license runs for the initial online publication and ongoing archival display (including the paired audit) unless terminated. The Author may terminate at any time by written notice — email is sufficient — to editor@themeansofproduction.press. Notice is effective when sent to that address from the email address the Author has on file with the Publisher.
On termination, the Publisher removes the Work and any associated audit from public access on the site within thirty (30) days, and the license to display the Work and the audit ends. All rights in the Work then fully revert to the Author, who may republish, license, or otherwise use the Work freely.
For the avoidance of doubt: termination ends only the Publisher's right to display the audit. The Publisher retains ownership of the audit itself, and the Author obtains no rights in it.
Print Books
For books published in print under the press: a limited, time-bound license to produce and sell the agreed edition, an even split of net proceeds, and full reversion to the Author.
COPYRIGHT
The Author retains full copyright in the Work at all times. Nothing in this agreement transfers ownership of the Work to The Means of Production.
LICENSE TO PUBLISH
The Author grants The Means of Production a limited license to:
- Produce and sell print editions of the Work — paperback, hardcover, and print-on-demand.
- Distribute those editions through bookstores, distributors, and online retailers.
- Produce a digital edition only if both Author and Publisher agree in writing.
This license is limited solely to the rights necessary to publish and distribute the agreed edition. All rights not expressly licensed remain with the Author.
RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE AUTHOR
Unless separately agreed in writing, the Author retains all other rights in the Work, including but not limited to:
- Translation rights
- Audiobook rights
- Film, television, and dramatic rights
- Merchandising rights
- Adaptation rights
- Future editions published by other publishers
The Author remains free to pursue these opportunities independently.
ROYALTIES
Net revenue from each sale is first reduced only by the direct cost of printing and distribution. The remaining net proceeds are divided equally:
The Publisher provides regular royalty statements and transparent accounting upon request.
TERM & REVERSION
The publishing license remains in effect for seven (7) years from the date of first publication, unless it ends sooner under the agreement. The Author may request reversion of rights if the Work is no longer being meaningfully supported or sold by the Publisher.
Upon reversion:
- All rights granted under the agreement automatically return to the Author.
- The Means of Production ceases printing new copies of the Work.
- Any remaining inventory may be sold for a reasonable wind-down period, or purchased by the Author at production cost, by mutual agreement.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
Editing, design, and production are collaborative. No substantial editorial changes are made without the Author's approval, and the Publisher consults with the Author on the final cover and interior design whenever practicable.
The Means of Production exists to preserve, publish, and circulate literature — not to acquire ownership of it. We believe authors should remain the lifelong stewards of their own work. These agreements grant only the limited rights necessary for publication while ensuring that creative ownership remains exactly where it belongs: with the Author.
Publishing is an act of stewardship rather than possession. Our role is to help books find readers, sustain their presence in the world, and then return fully to the Author whatever rights were temporarily entrusted to us.