1. Sam R. Geraghty

    Sam R. Geraghty New Member

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    poems on the internet

    Discussion in 'Traditional Publishing' started by Sam R. Geraghty, Nov 1, 2009.

    Hi there

    I'm new to this forum and have a question that will probably come across as quite naive. For the past year I've been working on my first novel and in this novel I have some poems that I decided to include retrospectively. These poems were originally written for a competition on a forum that deals with the subject matter. There are two of them.

    The problem is, I hear that some publishers may not accept these because they have been published on a forum before. Is this true? There is also a short story that has been massively changed and revamped to form another chapter of the story that also appears in its original format on the same forum. Is that out of the window too?

    Now, is there anyway I can get around this or am I worrying about nothing? They form such a small part of the story but I'd really like to keep them included....any ideas?
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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  3. Sam R. Geraghty

    Sam R. Geraghty New Member

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    Thanks Cogito, can only hope that a potential publisher will see them as a small excerpt from the overall work, despite being individual works themselves?
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Publishing poetry is difficult, other than single poem submissions to poetry periodicals. There really isn't a huge market for poetry collections.
     
  5. Sam R. Geraghty

    Sam R. Geraghty New Member

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    Thanks, it's a novel and three of the 35 or so chapters have small poems at the beginning of them. One of the characters is a poet. These two small poems are the only part that have been 'publsihed' on a forum.
     
  6. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Now, see, that's an entirely different context. The poetry isn't even a major part of the novel, it isn't even in the same genre. It should have noi impact whatsoever on being able to sell the novel.
     
  7. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    it definitely won't!

    they're not being published as poems in a magazine, or a poetry collection, which is the only way having been posted on the internet would be a problem...

    neither will the inclusion of a short story as a novel chapter, since you're not trying to get it published on its own, as a short story...
     

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