Hello all,
I know I've been out of the loop and off the grid for some time (well, with occasional visits), but I hope to visit and interact more often.
I am happy to say that I've been working on my novel in progress, and I've even written a few poems and stories too. The question that I've pondered though (that you might have pondered too perhaps) is this:
How do you decide which stories/poems you will post onto Stories Space?
The reason I ask is that there are quite a few competitions and literary submission sites that require a submission of an "unpublished" work. As much as I love Stories Space and the interaction it offers, I realize that I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I just took all of my favorite stories and poems and put them up on this site for review. Suddenly they are deemed "published" and thus ineligible for prize/payment/publication. (Perhaps the Critique's Corner counts as a "writing group" and thus allows for submission elsewhere?)
Has anyone else wrestled with this quandry? Or am I perhaps being naive and/or greedy to assume my work should be earning me something. Maybe instead I should just be happy to share it...
“Play the sunset."
― Mr. Holland (played by Richard Dreyfuss) on "Mr. Holland's Opus"
Find my fan page on Facebook "Diana Shallard" and follow me on Twitter too! https://twitter.com/DianaShallard Not that I'd encourage anyone to engage in subterfuge, but wouldn't hiding the stories help in that situation? I've not pursued publication (yet) but it seems like a simple and elegant solution to me.
From my limited understanding tells me, sites like this one aren't considered to be published work, but rather more a self help site. We come here with questions about our work, the quality of our work and to see if there is a readership for it.
Personally I would say if you are afraid that publishing what you have wrote here will qualify as published work, then rewrite what you want to sell and post it.
On this site, you are ideally trying to get people to review the quality of your work, not the actual work. If you want editors, I would suggest finding someone who is qualified to be a editor and have them edit your book. It likely will cost you some money or you would have to return the favor by editing their work.
Take for example in my profile, I have a story dealing with a version of Kane and Abel. In this version, I have the story play out as an interview of the events of the book, while the actual book I am writing are a straight story, currently seated at 80,000 words @ 3/4 of the book written. During my editing process I intend to push the book over the 120,000 work goal I set for myself.
I do not consider this book published, even if some of the events play out as they do in the actual book. It is all about having someone check my quality and growth as a writer, then returning to my writings and applying any suggestions which may make it stronger.
Wow, Robert - I never thought of it that way, but yes, if the work changes thanks to edits and feedback, it would be deemed an "unpublished work."
I definitely plan to hire an editor for my novel by the way. I'll be looking for contenders for that job very soon I hope.
Thanks for your insight!
“Play the sunset."
― Mr. Holland (played by Richard Dreyfuss) on "Mr. Holland's Opus"
Find my fan page on Facebook "Diana Shallard" and follow me on Twitter too! https://twitter.com/DianaShallard Dirty
If this is true, then no one wanting to be published (by a actual company) ought post stories anymore and I might as well forget selling my current book to any publisher. :-(
