Dear Geist,


Is it ethical to publish writings more than once, without saying so? A short-story writer I know has had 15 or 20 stories published in print and online periodicals. Now her agent has her putting together a book's worth of stories—the same ones that have already been published! What do you think?


Dear Louis,


We think that's one smart agent! This tried-and-true practice is well established, because it works. For a new writer, an agent may even require most or all of the stories to be published in journals and anthologies before a book of them is compiled. Readers are happy to buy collections of stories by writers whose work they love, as gifts to others and to themselves; and most collections contains a few stories that are new even to any given reader. And a broad variety of periodical credits helps lay the groundwork for marketing the book.