Posting and Publishing

[dr_mabeuse]

I noticed some people talking about getting a story published here as if it were a significant accomplishment. I don't mean to denigrate that achievement, but I was under the impression that all stories that were submitted here and met minimal standards of literacy were published. Are many stories rejected on the basis of literary merit?

---dr.M.

 

[KillerMuffin]

It's better than nothing, however, Lit isn't really a "publisher." Laurel doesn't reject subjectively. She doesn't pick the "better" stories to publish here. She chooses on objective things like age of character, paragraph length, ease of reading it. She's a very firm believer in giving everyone who submits a place where they can get their work posted for the public. She believes in letting the readers decide for themselves what's good and what's bad.

While it is a publishing credit--your work has been selected by an "editor" to be posted for public consumption--the credit is only worth as much as the worst story published on the site. If you have a story posted here you are published.

Success at Lit doesn't mean you're good enough to get paid for writing. It doesn't mean you aren't good enough, either. There are a plethora of really bad stories here. Everyone defines bad their own way, but a print publisher's idea of bad is all over the place.

I love Lit and I adore Laurel, but Lit didn't hit my resume until I won the big prize in August. Even though, in all reality, 100ish votes out of 200ish total in an entire month means pretty much absolutely nothing against the 70,000 unique hits the site gets every day.

Um. I meant the "you" generically. Not you specifically, dr. m. You don't seem to have a problem with the notion of Lit as pretty much vanity publishing.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I noticed some people talking about getting a story published here as if it were a significant accomplishment. I don't mean to denigrate that achievement, but I was under the impression that all stories that were submitted here and met minimal standards of literacy were published. Are many stories rejected on the basis of literary merit?

---dr.M.

Here's the thing M...

For some people, the act of writing a story is a very difficult task and the pleasure of seeing it on lit as a "published" work is an accomplishment worth being proud of. For me, while not on my resume, I'm pleased with my work on lit and watching my hits and votes rack up gives me a smile. We all have our own standards of what constitutes a significant achievement.

 

[BigTexan]

I have one story submitted here and I have submitted stories to paying publishers.

The story I submitted here did well, but I got a LOT of constructive comments from the writers here on lit.

That is my biggest reason for posting here. It's not my only reason though.

Would I put on my resume "Published at Literotica?" No way! Rather than helping me, I suspect it would hurt my chances of being published elsewhere. The world is still a very hypocritical place.

BigTexan

 

[TheEarl]

I regard my publishing on Lit as a highlight. I don't care how low the crossbar is; something I wrote got in. People want what I've done. And it doesn't matter how many other people can do that as well.

The Earl

 

[wildsweetone]

you are right in your assessment dr., well, partially right.

true enough anyone can publish a story on Lit... it's a fairly open site and talent or skill or even lack of both can still get a look in.

the reason i mentioned Lit and being published here as an achievement, is because for me, it is a significant personal achievement.

to actually see my stories published on a website is one hell of an achievement for someone like me. you may class it as a small achievement against your own standards, or indeed against the standards of others, but i have no need to do that. my work is my work and it matters to me and to me alone whether i have improved.

i don't rate myself against others, i rate against myself. i look at my first story here and i search for improvements within my own work.

each of us is different, each of us is our own person, and each of us has our own goals and aims in life.

perhaps my goals are a little more simplified than yours dr. i don't know, but my goals are still as important to me as yours are to you.

no offense is intended with this posting, i simply cannot explain it another way in the time that i have at the moment. i am glad though that you opened a thread to comment on this topic, you've helped me define my thoughts, thank you.

ps. the only story i have had rejected here was Lifeless and the reason was because i had requested it be published under the 'non-erotic' category. the sex scene was too explicit to warrant non-erotic, so i requested erotic couplings and the story was duly accepted.

 

[BigTexan]

ps. the only story i have had rejected here was Lifeless and the reason was because i had requested it be published under the 'non-erotic' category. the sex scene was too explicit to warrant non-erotic, so i requested erotic couplings and the story was duly accepted.

"Lifeless" in "erotic couplings"? Somehow it just doesn't fit there. It was an excellent story, but anything but erotic. Neurotic, yes. Maybe that is where they should have put it eh? A new category called "Neurotic Decoupling"

Yes, I think that would have been the category for it. Still I'm glad they accepted it. It is powerful and wonderfully written. You did a great job with it.

BigTexan

 

[wildsweetone]

"Lifeless" in "erotic couplings"? Somehow it just doesn't fit there. It was an excellent story, but anything but erotic. Neurotic, yes. Maybe that is where they should have put it eh? A new category called "Neurotic Decoupling"

Yes, I think that would have been the category for it. Still I'm glad they accepted it. It is powerful and wonderfully written. You did a great job with it.

BigTexan

thank you BigTexan, i appreciate your thoughts.

the trouble with Lifeless is that it doesn't fit anywhere, which has me doubting my decision to not write to specific boundaries. oh well, such is Life(less)

...neurotic decoupling... darn it, you've got me doing a double take... i feel the spark, the flicker, the flame... oh well, so much for work, when one gets the urge, one should write!

 

[takingchances42]

Real World

Having a story posted here is NOT being "published" -- not in the sense that working writers and editors use that word. This site fulfills a valuable purpose for writers, and I am glad it is here. If you want see yourself as being a published writer because of it, and tell your friends and family that you are a "published writer", then more power to you. As wildsweetone put it, it is a meaningful personal accomplishment.

But if you ever go for "real" publication, and assert to an agent or editor that you are already a "published" writer because you have a story up on a website that pretty much accepts all submissions -- you will lose major credibility.

 

[kristydoll]

Re: Real World

Having a story posted here is NOT being "published" -- not in the sense that working writers and editors use that word. This site fulfills a valuable purpose for writers, and I am glad it is here. If you want see yourself as being a published writer because of it, and tell your friends and family that you are a "published writer", then more power to you. As wildsweetone put it, it is a meaningful personal accomplishment.

But if you ever go for "real" publication, and assert to an agent or editor that you are already a "published" writer because you have a story up on a website that pretty much accepts all submissions -- you will lose major credibility.

Maybe this is getting into an issue of semantics. Perhaps the difference should be 'published' vs 'paid'.

kristy

 

[takingchances42]

There are some semantics involved obviously, but it is not a matter of being paid. Getting a short story published in a literary magazine that pays you only by giving you a couple of copies of the magazine _is_ considered to be a genuine publication credit.

If your story here is one of the ones collected into a book of Lit stories that is then actually published, then you do have a publication credit -- even if you never get paid. You have gone through a screening process at that point, with most stories being rejected, and an editor has made the critical and commercial judgment that your story is good enough that people will want to read it. Whether you would want to mention that credit in a cover letter to an editor or an agent is a judgment call.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I'm published on a few 'ezines that have no method of payment. Payment isn't what qualifies "real" publication. Anything put up for public consumption is "real" publication. Many people write books and publish themselves--so called POD or vanity publishing. I use those 'ezines as publication credit when I list my credentials on my query letter. I don't list Lit because it would hurt me, not help me.

What distinguishes a good publishing credit from a bad one, say posting at Clean Sheets versus posting at Literotica, is the editorial staff and publication standards. Lit has no standards, doesn't care to, about quality of writing. Laurel isn't here for writers to get publishing credits, she's here for people like WSO who want to be published, period, and for people like NM who want to put up their sexual stories for others to get off to.

Your work, no matter how well you write, is only as good as the worst work in the publication--as far as publishing credit goes. As far as person definitions of accomplishment goes, you define it on your own. For some, sharing sexual fantasies is all they want to use Lit for and that is a very good thing.

 

[BigTexan]

Payment isn't what qualifies "real" publication.

KM, you are right, but here is what the Science Fiction Writers Association says:


SFWA Membership Information

Qualifying for Membership
The minimum requirement for active membership is the professional publication (acceptance and payment) of three short stories or one full-length fiction book or a dramatic script. Collaborations with a single co-author may be used as a half-credential.
...
Naturally, all credentials used toward membership must be in the science fiction or fantasy genre. For purposes of membership eligibility, a "professional" periodical must meet four criteria: 1) It must be published on a regular basis, i.e. no fewer than three issues within one year of the publication of the qualifying story; 2) it must have a minimum paid circulation of 2,000 copies per issue; 3) it must be in the English language; and 4) it must pay at least $.03 per word. Book publishers must appear in Literary Market Place.


So they feel like getting paid is important to being called "professional"

Basically being "Published" is no big thing. Being "Professionally Published" is really pretty impressive. Lit gives you no claim to the "Professionally Published" title. But it is a wonderful place to grow and learn as a writer and even after you are a successful author, you can always stand to learn something, eh?

BigTexan

 

[Sabledrake]

KM -- good post, but I must protest one point: POD does not necessarily equal vanity publishing.

Print-On-Demand is a _technology_, used by many small and medium presses who do not require the author to kick in the money, and who pay in actual royalties. It's a growing trend, battling valiantly against that misconception. Trouble is, POD is also used by most vanity and subsidy publishers, so it gets tarred with the same, and often erroneous, brush.

For instance, many booksellers will resist ordering POD books because they believe that the books, if they do not sell, cannot be returned and they'll be stuck with them. This isn't the case. Many POD books are carried through Ingram, or Baker & Taylor, or other legit distributors, and thus the books are indeed fully returnable.

Sorry to harp on the issue, but it's a bit of a peeve of mine because my publisher uses POD and I've run into this stigma before.

Sabledrake

 

[Diane Marie]

I do believe that most stories submitted here are published, I use the term lightly. I’m not even sure there is a minimum requirement, but I suppose if a story is totally unreadable it would be rejected. Of course any story involving sex where one or both parties are under 18 are rejected.

Now that I’ve said what sounded for the most part derogatory, I want to express my feeling that I like the way even the worst grammatically written story is accepted. I may not read them but I’m sure to that person, just the idea that their story is here makes them feel good.

Dr_mabeuse, in some of my other responses I have mentioned publishing of stories, I surely did not mean here. If you took that to mean here or any other forum where a person is not paid you’ve taken what I’ve said erroneously. In my humble opinion the use of the word published, at least to a creative writer, means to get paid.

As far as what I write and post here. I write stories I don’t suspect anyone would pay me for, stories that I hope others read, but stories I would never think of submitting to an agent or editor. I take little time in editing them, in most cases they are not revised, something I do in earnest for my other stories. I don’t think I feel they’re less important, just more instinctive then other works I’ve written, maybe that’s why I tend not to edit or revise. One thing I do know, I’m very happy that literotica has given me a forum to post stories I may not have otherwise written.

The truth is, I really get off on thinking one of my stories may have sexually aroused one of my readers. This is just so awful, but I can just see some guy reading one of my stories with his hand wrapped around his little dickie! Maybe that says loads about me.

 

[BigTexan]

My opinion:

Publishing is just making a story available to the public. As such Literotica is certainly publishing our stories. Just try to sell "first publishing" rights to a publisher and tell them that it has been posted on Literotica for six months. They will almost positively tell you that you have already given away "First Publishing" rights and will most likely decline to accept your story. After all it has already been published!

Anyways, that's the way I see it. But then, I still think encyclopedias are a good source of information, so what do I know

BigTexan