Does posting work here harm our chances of being published?

There's a chance.

 

Getting published is an exception, not a rule.

It was an example, and I could find a bunch more examples but I couldn't be bothered. My point stands. Take it or leave it.

 

My point isn't that it will always happen, but that it is more likely to happen. Most people still have almost no chance no matter what they do and regardless of how good it might be.

And if you don't show your work to anyone, you can guarantee it will never happen. If your work is worth publishing in the first place, posting here will not harm your chances unless you've been stupid enough to paste up the whole thing.

Publishers are people you know. They do go on the internet. They do read books. Hell, some even like reading books. You really think if they find something of interest they won't chase after it because it didn't go through the proper channels? Because this happens, in the real world; just like it does in the film, TV and music industries. And, just like those industries, the channels are there to protect them from inwards directed product; not outwards foraging. And trust me, they do that.

The point is just to get read.

 

I hate to stretch this debate out even longer but this question I have is relevant to this topic and does not deserve a new topic I feel.
One of the writing exercises I do is to take a character from the novel I am writing and give them a situation in the of the novel is set it and write a short story about how that character acts in that situation. I find this helps me understand the characters personality better and make them more three dimensional characters when I come to writing the actual novel. so my question is would posting those short stories that use the characters and the world setting of my novel but are not actually part of my novel to be critiqued affect chances of the novel getting published?.

 

I doubt it. If they think the book will sell, it won't matter much, if at all.

 

I have no experience what so ever with publishing but I would agree and surmise that it is like selling anything, you need to have a quality product, you need to know the right people to present it to and you need to have an element of luck. Having just one of these elements sometimes gets you through (I tip a head to Fifty Shades of Grey and leave it to you to decide which one of the three it had) but for the majority you need to have the trilogy.

 

I am glad you made this thread. Although at the current time I have limited posting privileges, I was toying with the notion of posting some of my better work. I guess this thread solves my conundrum... Only B-list stuffs for you guys.

 

If you're shooting for publication you should work toward producing only A-list stuff.

 

this site is not for showcasing your work any way it is for getting your work critiqued and getting advice that will help improve your writing. well that's what I'm here for any way

 

I agree. Posting my good stuff here is pointless for me.

 

A slight correction: The site is for getting your writing critiued. Not just the opus posted, but your writing in general, as represented by the excerpt posted.

And, in fact, the first objective is for you to learn to give effective critique. You apply it against other people's writing first, because it's easier to be objective that way, but then you learn to self-critique.

When you submit for critique, it should be an example of your writing at its best, but not something you ever plan to submit for publication. Failing that, your excerpt should be only a miniscule percentage of anything you do intend to publish.

 

putting it another way:

1. don't post complete pieces of writing that you want to have published

2. post only brief excerpts, if you want help, or a critique of your writing's quality

3. post only writing that you have edited for typos and goofs/glitches... posting rough drafts/unedited stuff wastes both your time and ours

and don't use color or fancy/italicized font... stick to the site's black, plain font default, if you want to be considered a serious writer and be kind enough save our eyesight... ;-)

 

That is a good idea but I am so leery of someone stealing my work. I lost a good amount of stories and now have to try and rewrite then. I even have one from another friend that he just left with me and I have no idea what to do with it. It does get around the already published issue tough.

 

I have several ideas for true novels and I'm not posting them here or on a blog. On the other hand I've created a story line specificly to work on my skills first, then to develop an audiance afterward. Being self-publish may lesson that individual work's value but having several thousand followers could improve the value of your next work.

 

Ok I understand posting my entire work online will count as a self published action and no one will want to publish me after that but what about excerpts? Does posting excerpts of a story you want published for critique count as self publishing or doesn't it?

 

First off, the question is whether it is considered published. Not self-published, just published. For the purposes of first publishing rights, "published" doesn't mean exactly the same thing as it does in other contexts.

As far as a potential publisher is concerned, the entire piece need not be publicly available for the publisher to consider it previously published. There is no formal criterion. They may feel that if the significant plot point is out there for free, and the marketability of the piece is destroyed. Or worst case, the publication process is further along, and it's not working out well for them. So they "discover" your online excerpts, or archived copies of them, and use it as the basis for voiding your contract, demanding return of all payments sent to you.

The more you have posted, the better their argument. They can assume there is more ou there they didn't find.

So there's not an exact percentage. The best bet is not to post any of a piece of writing you plan to publish. Instead, [ost writing you have no plan to publish. Next best is to post only small excerpts.

 

I belive that posting here is a good option of practising. Here you can receive some useful advice, even critique.

 

ok... I wanted to post a draft of the novel I'm working on but this has discouraged me a bit, though of course, its very helpful. I want to get it published but this is the first time I'm actually trying to finish something (spur of the moment decision 4 days ago) and I'm only in chapter 2, plus there are a lot of other unencouraging factors involved. Wouldn't it better to post what I've written and see if anyone even likes it first before going through the stress of actually trying to finish it? I would have tried giving it to a friend but writing here isn't really people's thing, even if it was, I don't write the kind of stuff they'd be interested in...

 

In my honest opinion, no. Finish your novel. Edit it. Get it to a place where you feel it's the best you can do, and then show it people who will give you constructive feedback.
Writing 2 chapters is a good start, but the finish line is so far away. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

this is really interesting! i had no idea :O

 

that is very thoughtful of question you. say. i know that if you don't write, this may also harm one's chancesas well. keep us updated though.

 

For one thing, it's assumed that publishers know the market. This is true to an extent but many self-publishers have re-defined that market, forcing publishers to follow suit. Lots of factors influence that market, including the gumption, the 'dare-you' of self-publishers.

I intend to post lots of my work for critique and have already begun. Then I intend to "self-publish" it. I don't have the funds to publish, but I do have gumption to pursue it on my own and not be dictated to by publishers. Meanwhile, what will happen is that groups of writers will form who have shared and critique their writing online. They will work together to build new audiences for work they have prepared publicly online and readied for self-publishing. They will establish more publishing collectives that will help with marketing and distribution over the confines of regular trade publishers. In other words, those rules put out about publishers restricting publishing to their own control will have to change. And in view of the way the Internet is challenging and changing the concept of copyright - indeed, the concept of art - expect the rules to change. The more good stuff that gets posted, publishers will have no alternative but to change their rules and buy the work if they want to stay ahead. They will change them.

 

But this is mainly for short stories and other pieces of work which are short enough to post entirely right?
Novels on the other hand would not be so bad to get away with one or two chapters?

 

I have lost respect and belief in most things. I work for a living, and find it a complete waste to give away anything of value, including my time. Considering that students openly crib entire papers to submit for college projects, I doubt stealing my written work would register any modicum of remorse.

You like my stuff? Buy the book...

 

Able Muse has a current contest deadline February 15 2013. I asked them:

"Can poetry and short stories that have been workshoped in online writing forums be submitted to the contests?"

They answered -

"Yes, you can submit work that has been workshopped in online forums. However, note that the online forum has to periodically remove old workshopped material to maintain the status of a true workshop (as opposed to an archive). If the workshop does not prune out old material, then should your work win or make the finals, you will need to have it removed from the forum to proceed any further."

All the best," /////

I do hope the publishing industry accepts the fact that storing great globs of information is the new thing for websites and that if your work is archived somewhere and you can win $1,000 in prizes, it will be called "Let's make a deal" time. I hope not, but $$$ does dictate over beauty. I appreciate that the publishers responded.