Question about first publishing rights |
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vanwijk88
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 16 Jul 2017 Location: Auckland, NZ Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Posted: 12 Sep 2017 at 10:38pm |
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Not sure if this is a good or bad time to field a question. :P My thought are that it'll hopefully distract a little from the tense results wait but regardless of timing I have been a little curious about something for a while. I understand that the reason to post our competition pieces for peer review in the locked forum as opposed to the public one is related to first publishing rights. I'm wondering what the semantics of such online postings are. Say I write a competition piece and share a password protected link or file to a social media platform but only give the password directly to people who ask, would that count as online publication? Where is the line drawn? Is there a strict definition for publicly accessible that would define something as a publication?
Thanks in advance for any clarification :D
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nixie
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 01 Aug 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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You'll find a lot of this covered in some of the other posts, but the short answer to your inquiry is:
1. There is no universal rule. Each venue has there own definition of what 'previously published' means. 2. In most cases, if you have put something on the web, freely accessible, it is considered published. 2a. In many cases, if it has been password protected and otherwise limited so that it cannot be viewed by 'anyone on the web' and is hidden from search engine results, publishers consider that "not published' since it is not publicly available. Since all publishers make their own rules and definitions, there are plenty of exceptions - but this covers the broadest number of cases, and is a reasonable "rule of thumb" to start from.
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vanwijk88
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 16 Jul 2017 Location: Auckland, NZ Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Thanks Nixie :D
I guess a further clarification/question I have as well is would an expanded flash fiction piece count as a second edition or a separate publication. Although, I already feel like there is no defined rule for this and it'll be a case by case thing? Edit: And I suppose another thought, what about things that would be shared temporarily then removed and be no longer publicly accessible. (Just trying to figure out some do's and don't's of social media promotion for potential future endeavors :P)
Edited by vanwijk88 - 12 Sep 2017 at 11:37pm |
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sootfoot5
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Location: outer space man Status: Offline Points: 6638 |
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In my opinion, the reason you post your story "protected" here is not only because of first publication rights, it is also because some cretins (lazy writers, disreputable Hollywood types, and just go on and list every kind of creep you can think of pertaining to print and film who could benefit from your story and not pay you - you heard me -NOT PAY YOU - yes, some of these creepos would slither in here if they could and try to steal your work away. Sure, your story is copyrighted just by virtue of you writing it and you putting your name on it (no, you don't have to mail a copy to yourself or anything like that), but do you want to take to court the fella who has just made mega bucks, maybe gotten himself famous, over your story? It is better to make it difficult for him to get to.
RE your second question, play it safe and don't put your stuff on a blog. Period. Not one where people can go read the stories. And you can't just put it on your blog for a while and then take them off. Publishers are like Santa - they have ways of knowing when you're lying. Be good, not bad. You don't want to be blacklisted. Besides, it would behoove you more to spend your time submitting your stories out to publications requesting submissions rather than spending time putting your stories on your blog, then taking them off the blog, then wondering if anyone knows that they really have been published as the publisher you're submitting to defines the words. Also, if you're new to writing, spending time going to classes and rewriting your stories would be a great idea! Tell people about your stories rather than post the actual stories on a blog. If one gets published, post the link, if the story has one. on your blog. In between pubs, dazzle them with some two and three sentence "stories" you can come up with. You'll get the idea by the time you need to really understand it. Just play it safe and don't go putting your stuff on an open forum. Good Luck! |
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vanwijk88
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 16 Jul 2017 Location: Auckland, NZ Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Thanks for your advice sootfoot :D
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nixie
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 01 Aug 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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What about a thing that was published and is no longer in print? It was still published at some point. :)
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vanwijk88
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 16 Jul 2017 Location: Auckland, NZ Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Fair enough :D
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Andrea
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 27 Jul 2016 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 1631 |
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So, Nixie, when you submit one of your pieces that you've put up on the forums here, do you mention it upfront? When I've looked at some of the publications who are accepting submissions, they aren't asking for specifics when they say no pieces previously published. I do realize most of us are stumbling in the dark figuring this out as we go, but I believe you've done some submitting, so I wondered what your experience has been?
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Zblugg
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The idea about thses here forums is that you're using a private part to show off your wordbabies. The link in your signature should link to that private forum post, NOT directly to the text itself. This ensures that the story has actually never been published... errr... publicly. Only a couple handfuls of peoples have had access to it, so I think you're safe on the publishing front. I wouldn't even think it's worth mentionning it to an actual publisher, at that point, as it could sow doubt in their mind as opposed to reassure them. I think.
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Andrea
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 27 Jul 2016 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 1631 |
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Thanks. That's kind of what I figured. I'd read past posts about publishing right in the the forums. Thanks, @nixie for helping us get our stories up correctly so they're available but not "published."
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