PUblished or Posted.

[rainyguy]

well here's my take on this.

If you write something and have it here at Literotica, it is NOT "published" work. Literotica is a great place to get feedback and practice writing but it is not a publisher. (as for posting stories and the like)

To be a published author is simple.
Your writing has been published and you have received compensation. Whether this is pay or some form of a contributor's copy, or what have you.


but no, having your work at Literotica does not make you a published author.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I think we're talking about different definitions of "published".

One sense is the dictionary sense that malachite noted - publishing in the sense of being made availabe to the public. In that sense any story posted to Lit (or to your own blog) has been "published".

The second sense of "published" means you're been paid for your work. That's the buisiness sense.

If a legitimate paying publisher is looking for "unplublished" stories, I personally have no qualms about giving them something that's appeared on Literotica. I've never had a problem with that. Since they're in business, I assume that the second definition applies, and that they want to make sure no one else has bought the piece they're going to pay me for. Publishers consider that to be fraud.

Just lately one publisher I know of has started putting disclaimers on stories listing just when and where the story has previously appeared, whether on a pay site or a blog or a site like Lit, so there migt be some legal changes afoot. Of course, if a publisher does buy something you have on Lit, they want you to take it down.

I personally don't think you can call yourself a published author just by posting some bit of writing to some website, whether you win an award or not. You're published when someone has invested money in something you've written.

 

[Weird Harold]

I feel very strongly that posted work on literotica is NOT published. (unless it is a contest winner, and then we are in a grey area) The story belongs to me and only me, I have put it up in a 'public place' to share it. I can remove it at any time. I have not been paid or compensated (although that is not the standard).

As Colly pointed out, the US Copyright office disagrees with you. I believe most conventional "publishers" don't make a distinction between "published" or "Posted" -- as in posted on a site belonging to someone else or posted on a site you control. If your story has ever been available to the general public in any form whether you were paid for it or not, it's NOT an "unpublished work."

Lit's FAQ page says:
If I submit a story to Literotica, do I still own the copyright?

Absolutely. You are simply granting us a non-exclusive right to post your story on Literotica.com. All rights to the story still belong to you, the author.

Except for the word "Post" instead of "publish" that's the same wording as in the contract for incusion in the first Literotica Anthology. The contract for the book also includes a requirement to include a "As prevously published" notice in my Copyright claim if I post or publish "Two Bag For The Bride" anywhere else -- the "As originally published at Literotica.com" is implicit in the copyright notices in the Literotica Anthology except for the one story clearly identified as original to that volume.

I'm sure that most print publishers consider "posted" and "published" as synonyms for practical purposes -- although the purpose of a story being online creates a grey area. Many authors post drafts or prortions of a story on discussion groups for editorial comment or help with the story, and most publishers don't seem to count tht as "prior publication."

Submitting a story to Literotica for posting wouldn't fit that exception, although posting the same thing in the Story Discussion forum or here probably would.

FWIW, Literotica is owned by: "Client: ******* Media LLC. Industry: Online Media Publisher." so I'm sure that Literotica considered stories posted by them to be stories "Published online."