When is on Online Story Considered Already Published
Or...The Dragon answers a common publishing question
I participate in a variety of online writing groups. Several times a month I see a variation of the question "Can I post my work on my blog and still ask a publisher to accept it later?" The answer depends on whether or not your blog is available to the public. Most publishers aren't interested in accepting work that has already been published and made available to the masses; therefore, publishing your masterpiece online is not a wise move.
If you have a short story to tease readers and build an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog. (Do not expect publishers or magazine editors to have an interest in it later.) If you have a single chapter or a single scene out of your WIP that you'd like to tease an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog with directions on how to order the rest of the novel that a publisher has made available on Amazon or B&N, etc. But if you have an entire work that you'd like to make available, I advise posting it in a manner that is password-protected. By limiting the audience to a fan group or password-protected section of a Web site, you make publishers feel better about buying the material later.
I have a fun-n-frisky paranormal romance novel set in Naples, Fla., that I'm posting in an invitation-only YahooGroup called Sandy's Vampire Sunrise Group. I have the serial novel "hidden" there so my fans can read and enjoy the story (for free), but the publisher can still publish the thing later in the year with no worries. Of course, the published version will have edits and fixes and improvements, but the raw story is doing its job of keeping fans entertained and laughing for the summer.
If you'd like to get in on the fun and read a free (and fun, spooky, tense, humorous) story, do the deed below.
Enjoy!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: vampire, publishing, online, blog, paranormal romance
Or...The Dragon answers a common publishing question
I participate in a variety of online writing groups. Several times a month I see a variation of the question "Can I post my work on my blog and still ask a publisher to accept it later?" The answer depends on whether or not your blog is available to the public. Most publishers aren't interested in accepting work that has already been published and made available to the masses; therefore, publishing your masterpiece online is not a wise move.
If you have a short story to tease readers and build an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog. (Do not expect publishers or magazine editors to have an interest in it later.) If you have a single chapter or a single scene out of your WIP that you'd like to tease an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog with directions on how to order the rest of the novel that a publisher has made available on Amazon or B&N, etc. But if you have an entire work that you'd like to make available, I advise posting it in a manner that is password-protected. By limiting the audience to a fan group or password-protected section of a Web site, you make publishers feel better about buying the material later.
I have a fun-n-frisky paranormal romance novel set in Naples, Fla., that I'm posting in an invitation-only YahooGroup called Sandy's Vampire Sunrise Group. I have the serial novel "hidden" there so my fans can read and enjoy the story (for free), but the publisher can still publish the thing later in the year with no worries. Of course, the published version will have edits and fixes and improvements, but the raw story is doing its job of keeping fans entertained and laughing for the summer.
If you'd like to get in on the fun and read a free (and fun, spooky, tense, humorous) story, do the deed below.
Enjoy!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: vampire, publishing, online, blog, paranormal romance
Labels: blog, paranormal romance, vampire
posted by Sandy Lender | 12:02 PM
2 Comments:
Good advice. :D
M Pax,
Posting schtuff in an online group is safe from those "future publishing" conversations, but you want to watch those big, huge online groups where folks you don't know might be interested in "mining ideas," if you catch my drift. Be sure your proof of ownership (you original e-mail, etc.) stays intact.
You can't tell I'm paranoid, can you?
;)
From Sandy Lender
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
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