Hi everybody, If this topic has been covered recently, I apologize in advance. I have not been on here very often lately. Well, I decided to give Authonomy.com another try. My first attempt to showcase my work and garner advice turned into a social media frenzy with most folks there not very interested in writing but in gaining votes for their respective projects. I pulled the ejection handle and got out of there. Try #2 ended pretty much the same way. Little has changed over there. Big surprise, eh? So, I am wondering where some of my fellow members here turn online to showcase their fiction. I know some people like to create their own pages and/or blogs for the purpose, but are there any sites similar to Authonomy out there....that actually work. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Mike
first of all, what is it that you want to accomplish by 'showcasing' your fiction? is it only to get advice about your writing skills and/or the story? are you aware that if you post a complete piece of work, or even a significant portion of it anywhere on the internet, you'll be narrowing [or killing] its chances of being published?
You need to clarify what kind of "work" you're looking to showcase. Just a few paragraphs or pages, a short story, something longer? Are you looking for reviews and comments or just exposure? If you just throw it out there, people are going to tear it apart just for the fun of doing so.
If you just want to 'showcase' you can do it on facebook or deviantArt, who also have a thriving literature community. If you are looking to get some kind of following, then the blog or fiction writer's sites are the best. But this is always the networking and popularity game, you have to promote it, and there's a real art to that.
WorthyofPublishing.com allows you to post anything you want on their site. Other's can review your work with stars and comments. And the site even offers a publishing options in someone becomes interested in your work.
It's an interesting situation. A publisher isn't panting to give you money to bring it to market, which is the case for the vast majority of submissions (they view 75% as unreadable and all but 3% as amateur. What that says is that of the stuff people would post on such a site only a small percentage would attractreaders looking for a well written story. And that one wouldn't have professional editing, and shaping by an editor experienced in the norms of the genre. Assume that 10% are something a reader might like. That means a prospective reader would have to look at ten stories, on average, to find one that's written well enough to actually read. But, that's just readable and doesn't take into account taste. The books in your local bookstore are all in professionally written category but you find only a few that fit your personal taste. So, if you say no to nine for every book you like (1 in 10), and have to look at nine books on that site you're seeking to find one that's even part of that ten you would look at in the bookstore, you would have to sift through, on average, 100 books to find one you'll find acceptable. So the question is: who in their right mind is going to go to a site where they would have to read excerpts for 100 books to find one worth reading. Free would still be too expensive. So here's the solution. Stop screwing around. Write a best seller and your work will be posted in the bookstore. Given that there are many "no talent hacks" selling their work, find out how they do it and you're golden.
I'm not sure I'd recommend WoP - I read through their FAQ page and they seem a little less than knowledgeable about some things, plus their whole "small percent in royalty fees" charged to publishers. But if you just want to stick your work up on the 'net somewhere...
I have't put anything up myself but I've read a few good stories on SparkaTale.com. Seems like a fairly active community in terms of critiquing work.
While the previous statistical approach may be of some consequence (as much as any statistics, even made up, is valid), this last bit about writing a best-seller makes little sense to me. First of all, a "best-seller" is a book that sells good, as the name suggests. However, the job of the writer is to write a book. Then, to get a publisher to accept it (or to make his agent get a publisher to accept it). The publisher then publishes the book, promotes it, the readers have to like it, even critics have to like it (a good critic can help the sales, right?), and then the sales have to go up, up, and beyond expectation. THEN we can call a book a "best-seller". So, a writer writes. That's his job. Write well. Then, have a good agent, a great publisher, and luck, and good timing - that's alot of non-writing prerequisites that come into the "making a best-seller" equation. Showcasing your prose for the sake of gaining an audience, learn from their feedback, build a reputation - I don't see a problem with that at all. Publishing your work in magazines and journals is another good thing. What do you have to loose by submitting a story here and there? You may get a few people out there to enjoy your writing (which is good for karma), you can build up your curriculum (which is always good), and you can even earn a few bucks (if you're lucky). Of course, most of your work-time should go on developing your writing skills, reading, practicing, reading and planning. And of course you shouldn't post on-line prose you one day mean to sell to a publisher. But even @JayG has some fiction on-line!
And there you have it. The author wrote a best seller. And that's my point. Don't diddle with self publishing, or posting your work online. The sites that promise that agents will read the work are blowing smoke. Agents have enough crap coming through the door. So sit down and write a book that a publisher will take one look at and hurry a six figure advance to you. Saves time an makes money. - Build your reputation? What will you do, tell the agent you submit to that lots of people like your free version? No publisher cares that you had a dozen people read your story. They look at as it will appeal to their readership. Simple fact is that doesn't work. The number of people who write crap and post it in the same venue will bury you, even assuming that you're writing publishable stories (which you're not because if you were publishers would be paying you for the rights). And the success rate, as a percentage of the whole, is so small it's statistically meaningless. So take the time to learn both the business and writing side of the profession. Educate yourself in the techniques and craft the publishers feel you need, and then write that best seller. You stand a better chance of doing that than saying, "Well they rejected my submissions, so instead of trying to figure out why, I'll post it on line and get rich."
@JayG soooooo, why do you yourself still have that wordpress blog where you occasionally share your prose (and even poetry! "naked bitch"-cool!) with the online community? Point is - and I really thought this was universaly understood - many of the greatest written books never reach best-seller lists, and many of the best-selling books are just crap. And a casual glance at any bookstore shelf (digital or analog) is all that takes to prove this claim right or wrong. I agree that "building your reputation" is not likely to be of any consequence for your publishing deal (although, there are a lot of succesful bloggers, for example, who made publishing deals based on their on-line popularity - but I digress). However, I still believe that there is no harm done by building a following of readers, and that it should take away very little of your actual writing time and thus won't interfere with your actual work...
Mostly so people can see what the result of following the suggestions I might make. I am not posting with the delusion that I am in some way "putting my words out there," or "developing a following." Nor do I think people will read them and say, "Oh my God, I have to buy this guys novels." As for Naked Bitch it's my favorite, because I didn't know what it was about till I found myself writing the last line. It's the most read of my postings, but I suspect that's because of the title. But they did sell to a publisher. Their writers took the time to learn their craft so as to make the work readable. They didn't go looking for shortcuts. Most of the people posting on such sites are, I'm afraid. Forgetting that a given individual's opinion isn't binding on others, if they're crap and still sold to a publisher who was willing to invest the money to bring it to market, what does that make the work of people who can't manage that? If it's crap and we can't do even that well... ). If the percentage who do has two zeros in front of the meaningful digits they're statistically meaningless. . Okay, everyone who has acquired a significant following of readers by posting their fiction on a free site raise your hand.
@JayG I still don't get it - why are you AGAINST it? What is so essentially wrong in on-line showcasing? I always feel good to know my story made ONE person happy or sad or reached him or her on any level - it's the beauty of writing fiction. Hell, I'd say that is the only meaningful purpose of spending any amount of time engaging in any art form: with enough practice and some talent, you produce something that can move and engage another person on emotional and intellectual level. Making money? "Digits"? Yeah, that's cool too - but seeing comments of your readers on goodreads, for example, makes one wonder are you happy with great big money you made... Being published and writing a bestseller (the word you used originally) are two different things... That many books that make money are crap, I don't think many people would not agree with it. They are crap from the craftsmanship point-of-view. Readers may not agree with that, or may not think about it, or may not be reading enough to recognize the crappiness of writing. Publishers may be and usually are driven by marketability of the product, rather than its quality - there, I said it myself: product that can be marketed, that is what books are for most publishers. Like toothpaste, instant coffee, condoms or computer components. And the same capitalistic logic moves them: the one main reason book-producing monopolies are bad for books. etc, etc.
Although I'm not totally in accordance with Jay, I do feel that before you showcase your writing, you should focus on making sure your writing is good enough to showcase. The Internet is virtually forever. If you are serious about writing and have publication in your plans for the future, you may regret having your early efforts in circulation.
If the OP's objective is merely to gift the world with his writing, then by all means showcase it as much as possible. But since he is also seeking advice, presumable to improve his writing, everyone is assuming that he ultimately wishes to be published, and therefore warning him of premature exposure.
If you want readers and wish to give them a taste of your work, publish it with Amazon. On their site, viewers can read the first sixty pages or so by clicking on the "Look Inside" arrow.
