Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) yesterday raised their pro pay rate for short fiction from 5c/word to 6c/word. Part of their reasoning was that many mags already pay higher than 5c/word.

What they did not note was that many of those mags that pay over 5c/word are buying extra rights bundled in that same payment, in addition to text publication rights. Like audio podcast rights, and reprint rights.

Comparing those mags’ rates against the pay rates of magazines that buy only the text rights for 5c/word and pay separately for audio rights, and again for reprints, is not an equivalent comparison.