Hey Writeblr, Some Advice…

elliewritesstories:

pen-and-sword-writing:

maxseidel:

brynprocrastinates:

seeingteacupsindragons:

I know y’all love talking about your books and your WIPs and stuff, but some things to keep in mind:

1. Tumblr is a public space. Your conversations and idea sharing is public.
2. If you want to be published, you can’t share too much of your WIP online. That’s called seizing your First Publishing Rights, which you’re allowed to do, but it’s what most publishers will pay for. Seriously.
3. People do steal ideas. It happens. If you don’t want yours taken, be
   circumspect with sharing. Just because someone says they want you to
   give them a summary of it so “they can remember” doesn’t mean that’s why
   they want it.
4. All those “snippet” shares are ripe for keeping you from publishing that book traditionally, and also for plagiarism.

1. Tumblr is a public space with so many people talking about so many stories that its hard enough as it is to get anyone to notice.

2. Traditional publishing and self publishing are equally lucritic and traditional publishers will happily take stories previously published online if they know they’ll sell. (I don’t promote doing this because its rare. But a writer who’s talked about their writing online and gained fans is much more promising than one who’s a shot in the dark.)

3. Your ideas have been done before. They’re not as unique or special as you think, and if they are, then they’re not marketable and no business minded publisher will take them.

4. This is just bogus now a days, and shouldnt stop you from building your platform or just plain enjoying yourself. Half those lines are going to be rewritten during the editing stage anyways.

HI I’M A PUBLISHER LET ME TELL YOU THIS IS COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT.

“First Rights” refers to original publication rights. This means, typically, that you are selling your books for profit, with an ISBN, registered with the library of congress. Publishing on Tumblr, Wattpad, or any other blog, or personal space does not interfere with this. Besides the fact that many publishers will still pick up books with followings (especially if you’re looking into small presses! If your book has done well in the self-publishing sphere, consider publishing with a small house, since that benefits everyone.)  For example, I’ve seen a dozen books on wattpad that gained a following, or… The Martian? May have heard of that one? Yeah that was published IN FULL on his blog.

People do “steal” ideas. You may have heard of something called Eragon, or Fifty Shades of Gray. Or a dozen other things that have sold well. The people who quote unquote steal your ideas still have to write the damn book which is HARD. If they are directly taking your words, you are protected by intellectual copyright laws. If you have published them in a public sphere, that makes you even safer, because there is proof that these words were yours.

Finally, as a marketing person for my house, let me tell you: KEEP PUBLISHING YOUR SNIPPETS OH MY GOD. There are authors who have twitter accounts solely dedicated to this, fans who follow you for that and who will love your work enough to buy it later. In publishing, we don’t refer to this a roadblock, we refer to it as building your audience. If a publisher is between you and an equally good story, and in your query you’ve thrown in “Oh yeah, and I have a writing blog with 5000 followers,” they’re going to choose you.

So seriously OP, I don’t know if you’re trolling or just severely misinformed, but honestly, the only reason I could think of not to publish your work online is the anxiety of criticism! (Which I have, and is perfectly valid)

Thank you so much for the additions guys. OP had me in a panic for a bit-happy to know that’s not the whole story.

I gotta admit, I was worried when I saw this post too, but the addition is SO SO IMPORTANT, please follow this version instead!!