I've heard that posting too much of a story online can cause problems when looking to get it published - issues with copyrights and that kind of thing - but what about posting things related to that story, rather than the story itself? I've seen folks make blogs for their unfinished works, with posts that go into great detail about different aspects of their stories, and sometimes with short scenes written out that take place outside of the main plotline, or even in an alternate universe using the same characters. Could posting those kinds of things online hurt a person's chances of getting their work published? Thanks in advance!
If your work is posted for free reading on the internet, for basically the whole world to view, who is going to buy it?
Look in the General Writing sub-forum. There is a sticky with 327 posts on the subject of posting work for review on this forum and how it might affect your chances for publication. You'll probably find some applicable information there.
It has nothing to do with copyright. It has to do with magazines, etc. wanting first and/or exclusive publication rights. If you publish a story somewhere, in its entirety, it's already available for the world to read, so a magazine or anthology might not want to republish it, particularly if they brand themselves as something that contains new, fresh, stuff. There are some publications, however, that don't care. You'd want to check the particular submission guidelines of whatever publication you're submitting to. As far as novels -- it's not as clear. Yes, if the whole novel or almost the whole novel is available somewhere for free, why would a publisher want to publish it? It's already been published. But excerpts or small parts of a novel aren't usually a problem. They can serve to whet the appetites of potential readers. Some people worry about this issue more than others and don't want anything they've written out there for fear of a publisher claiming too much is already out there. I don't worry about this so much, based on what I've heard from agents. Others, however, do feel differently, so you'll have to decide on your own. There is, however, no hard and fast rule.
It looks like I wasn't too clear on my question, sorry. Still, thanks for the helpful information. I'll be sure to check out that sticky thread. That I understand, but what I'm asking about is when you write something using the same characters/setting as something you intend to publish. Like, say, if someone wanted to publish a novel about Sally and Bobby on a spaceship saving an alien planet, and wrote a quick little story about Sally and Bobby on a spaceship going on an adventure just for funsies. The adventure has nothing to do with the alien planet and wouldn't be brought up in the novel, but it's still unmistakably the same Sally and Bobby on the same spaceship. If the writer wanted to post this before they found a publisher for their actual novel, would it cause issues?
i can see your actual question wasn't addressed yet... here's my opinion: it shouldn't... on the other side, it might not help much [or at all], either...
