1. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    Advance publishing

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by Azurisy, Jan 21, 2018.

    How legitimate is it to advance publish on one's personal website whilst their novels are work in progress?

    The point is not only to provide sneak-peeks but also to engage friends and critics before finishing it.

    What are the risks with it, like someone stealing one's ideas?

    What is the goodness with it, like self-expression even if the chapters are still in a nascent stage?
     
  2. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Are you in any way considering traditional publishing, or is this in the context of an absolute, unshakable plan to self-publish?
     
  3. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    I've no idea how to answer this question because I sincerely have no clue what 'traditional publishing' is...

    When I said 'self-publishing', I mean publishing simply on one's personal website.
     
  4. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Ah! OK.

    Traditional publishing is the process by which the vast, vast majority of the books that you see on bookstore shelves were published. It most often involves writing your book in relative privacy--you may show it to friends and beta readers and maybe workshops, but you don't make it publicly available--and then submitting a polished manuscript (just the text--things like covers and fonts and illustrations and so on are not your problem) to agents. If one of the agents likes it and you like the agent and you sign up with the agent, the agent then submits the manuscript to publishers. If one of the publishers likes it, it gets published. The publisher takes on all publishing expenses and pays you a percentage of sales.

    (I said "most often" above because there are publishers that will look at un-agented submittals, etc., etc.)

    In self publishing you do the whole thing. You as the publisher take on all publishing expenses and you usually get a larger percentage of each sale, though a larger percentage of a much smaller number of sales is usually not a great deal. Most self published books sell only a very, very small number of copies. Yes, there are exceptions. No, I am not an advocate of self publishing.

    But what this all adds up to is: Traditional publishers want first publication rights. That means that if you have already published the novel, or an early version of the novel, or a big chunk of the novel, somewhere publicly available, you have already given away one of the main things that a traditional publisher wants to buy and your novel is much less (traditionally) publishable.

    So if you want to keep the option of traditional publishing open, don't put the stuff on your blog.
     
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  5. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    What if I want traditional publishing and will get my novels published after writing all but meanwhile publishing work in progress on my website - how legitimate is it?
     
  6. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    If the work in progress is the novel that you hope to be published, you have effectively published it already by putting it on your website, and thus drastically reduced your chances of traditional publication.

    People will say, "Oh, no, X and Y and Z were published after being self-published." Yes, I'm sure they were. But that doesn't change the fact that the odds are very much reduced, so why risk it?
     
  7. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    I publish on personal website purely for exhibition at this stage. And I publish updates to the same file so the same hyperlink remains the same with ongoing revisions. I don't understand what is your argument that Z will be published after being Y was self-published and blah - how does that point out the risks and consequences of what I do?

    Would you care to enlighten me on your argument, thanks?
     
  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Publishers want first publication rights. They might, on occasion, take on a work when those rights are used up, but it reduces the value of the work.

    If your work, or something that fairly closely resembles your work, has been publicly available, first publication rights are used up. The publisher doesn't care about "purely for exhibition." They don't care if you don't make money, they don't care if you don't market it. It's published.

    I'm unclear on your later question.
     
  9. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    Thanks for clarifying. Well, as initially thought, I'd rather be self-published. My audience targets are pretty narrow - I intend to appeal to select few, recondite ones but also 'imperialistically' minded humans.
     
  10. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I think you're writing WoW fanfiction? Is that accurate?

    If so, you're probably best to just publish on your website or or other fanfiction sites. Trying to sell fanfiction is generally a no-no.
     
  11. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    If you're in america it would be worth checking if there's a kindle world for WoW (kindle worlds are essentially approved fan fiction where the original author (or rights holder) gets a cut of the royalty when works in their world are sold .... its not currently available outside the US

    kindle world publication is in essence self publishing via amazon so you don't need to worry too much about first rights etc
     
  12. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    What makes you think I'm writing fanfiction? I am not! I'm writing from my pure imagination.
     
  13. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Sorry, I guess I got mixed up. Did you used to write WoW fanfiction? (I looked at some of your earlier posts, and it seemed like you were in the WoW world, with Azeroth and everything).
     
  14. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    That was a long time ago since I liked those names even whilst writing completely different stories and contexts. I knew that it is illicit to use patented names so I decided to come up with all my original names and continue writing unrelated stories. Does that answer?

    Now I am far more self-satisfied with original names than those patented. You can check out my thread on first two chapters in progress at Writer's Workshop > Novels - no one else seems interested to even critique!
     
  15. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Having just had a look that's probably because its barely comprehensible ... am I right in assuming English isn't your first language ? Whether that's so or not you need a lot of practice writing English before you worry about publishing.

    In regard of this thread I'd suggest you not put that writing out in public on a website or whatever because it won't help you build a credible author image.
     
  16. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    To be honest, English is my first language and I don't speak any other language. Well, what you wrote is quite discouraging and I do not appreciate that. Would you care to explain why my passages are incomprehensible and be specific please on what needs fixing?
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2018
  17. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Basically your word choice is all over the place.

    I'm sorry to be harsh - but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, and you really need to focus on your writing before you worry about publishing. The reason I asked if you were a native speaker is that the stilted word choice often results from translation.

    ETA I've just noticed further down the workshop thread you are referring to its as an idiosyncratic style and distinctive voice.... that is of course your choice, but it is very very hard to read and isn't likely to attract readers or agents
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2018
  18. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    Maybe an experiment would help. Set aside your 'idiosyncratic' style and add your next post in this thread using proper English. I don't think you can do it, and I doubt if you're a native English speaker. Certainly nothing wrong with that, but I have to wonder why you insist otherwise.
     
  19. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    So back then, you posted "Let me declare upfront: I will NEVER EVER change Azeroth name to suit my deepest personal affinity in the last 2 decades."

    But you changed it, and I think you made the right decision.

    Now you're saying you'll never, ever change your writing style. But you don't have to stick to that. You can work on writing in language that is clear and understandable to your readers, and it'd be just as good of a change as dropping the Azeroth stuff was.
     
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  20. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    If you really doubt that I am a native English speaker, what other languages would you presume I speak? I'm faced with a dilemma, to be absolutely honest - 'admitting that I speak other languages and that English is not my first language' only just to satisfy skeptics would be my irresponsible act of lying; or that I tell the truth that English is my first language and I don't speak any other language. I hate lying for no good reason and hate deception so this is getting very frustrating for me.

    I once made a proverb 'Always speak the truth so one stands in good stead.' Please let me know if this proverb is unique and original on my part or has it been around already in the past - have people made this exact proverb before I made up myself?

    If you still cannot believe me, maybe the following background will explain a bit. Please bear in mind that I HATE disclosing my handicap of any sort but because you leave me no room to speak the truth, let alone making it feel like a badass harassment to me - I'll have to give in at last...

    When I was 2 years, I was diagnosed with congenital bilateral profound hearing loss. Faced with the dilemma whether to be sent to Auslan sign language society or be part of the mainstream society, I undertook psychometric/cognitive/intelligence test and was declared intelligent enough to grow up as a verbal person instead. Since then, at four years age, I was sent to pre school. It was advised that while family speak Indian languages at home, I should learn English first and stick to that only for first several years just to be able to fit in with school classes. This is how it began - I learnt English first and when the time was opportune much later, I still refused to learn another language. Now I know only very few words of other languages including ones family speak.

    [redacted by admin]
     
  21. Azurisy

    Azurisy Banned

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    Earp, I hope that you can understand and realise where I'm coming from. Thanks for understanding in advance.
     
  22. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    I do, and I was able to read all of your last post before part of it was removed. I'm sorry if I offended you. @ChickenFreak has, I think, answered your original question pretty well. Personally, I don't show unfinished work to anyone, so putting a work-in-progress online wouldn't even occur to me. I
     

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