quick publishing question

[bunny bondage]

if i've already got a story up on lit, am i still free to get it published elsewhere? like, in a book?

 

[Guest]

Probabaly not, most print publications ask that they have first publishing rights, i.e. it hasn't been published anywhere else before, including on the 'net.

Look in their submission guidelines and/or terms and conditions, it should state this somewhere.

Lou

 

[SummerMorning]

Don't tell them and change the title.

You think they'll check?

 

[bunny bondage]

Don't tell them and change the title.

You think they'll check?

lol! i wouldn't want to get in any trouble! Tatelou, i think you're probably right about publishers wanting original work, but i checked the submission guidelines and the FAQ and it wasn't too helpful. i was one step away from bothering laurel! thanks for your input!! ^_^

bunny

 

[Alex De Kok]

if i've already got a story up on lit, am i still free to get it published elsewhere? like, in a book?

Yep, absolutely. Quoting from Lit's FAQs -

# 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.

Lou does make the very valid point that a publisher might want first publishing rights . . . Mind, some of us have been ripped off by other sites without a mention of that!

Alex

 

[CharleyH]

Look in their submission guidelines and/or terms and conditions, it should state this somewhere.

Lou

As already articulated, Lou does make a valid point. However, increasingly more publishers are publishing stories that have appeared on the net. What publisher? Maybe I can help.

 

[bunny bondage]

Re: Re: quick publishing question

Yep, absolutely. Quoting from Lit's FAQs -


Lou does make the very valid point that a publisher might want first publishing rights . . . Mind, some of us have been ripped off by other sites without a mention of that!

Alex

oh, thanx!! (don't know how i missed that faq!)

and alex, other sites rip off lit's stories? that's lame! what sites?

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: quick publishing question

Yep, absolutely. Quoting from Lit's FAQs -


Lou does make the very valid point that a publisher might want first publishing rights . . . Mind, some of us have been ripped off by other sites without a mention of that!

Alex

Yes, Alex, you are completely right. The author does retain copyright, but that, to me, isn't really the issue/question at hand (or problem?).

As Charley has stated, more and more publishers are accepting stories already published on the 'net, but there are an awful lot which still don't. Once it's been out there, in the public domain, as many of us know, there is the risk of it having been stolen and reproduced elsewhere. Also, the readership at Lit is huge. The majority of publishers want the stuff in their mags/anthologies and so on, to be fresh, new and never seen before.

Bunny, if you've looked long and hard at the submissions guidelines and FAQs and you can't see anything pertaining to them wanting first publishing rights, then just take it that they don't. If publishers do want that, it's something they usually stipulate very clearly.

If you think you've done enough research, but still aren't clear and want to do the right thing, drop an email to the publishers themselves.

Personally, if they haven't clearly stated it as part of their requirements, I wouldn't bother with the email, and would just go ahead and submit the story.

Lou

 

[Seattle Zack]

Posting a story on Lit isn't really the same as publishing it. When publishers talk about first rights, that usually refers to a site or magazine where you got paid for it.

Often I use the stories I submit to Lit as rough drafts. When I pull them from Lit and send them to a publisher I may change certain elements, depending on the feedback I got.

So, is that the same story? Technically not but, legally, probably so.

I just sold a story to a spanking site, and pulled the story down off Lit when it was accepted. My advice, just send it in. If they take it, then pull it off of Lit.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Re: Re: Re: quick publishing question

oh, thanx!! (don't know how i missed that faq!)

and alex, other sites rip off lit's stories? that's lame! what sites?

There is a long-running battle between Laurel and some of these pirates. Try typing 'Alex de Kok' into Google. Ignore the Literotica hits, which are genuine (as I do have almost forty pieces posted here) and ignore the Dutch ones - de Kok is not a rare surname. You'll find quite a few of my stories and part-stories being used as teasers by sites. What really pisses me off is seeing them used in links to rape and bestiality sites. I have a zero-tolerance approach to rape. However, Laurel is on the case. Whether it will change anything is moot. The fact that the little bit quoted is frequently from my dialect piece (written in broad Geordie) or my How-To (on inserting bold and italic tags in your Lit submission) might be funny under other circumstances.

Alex

PS: I have some work on Lou's site, too.

 

[LLs Man]

I can just imagine someone from the US or mainland Europe trying to make sense of something written in broad Geordie! Come to think of it, a lot of people in the UK would have trouble with it!!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I've got three novellas being published that were first posted on Literotica. The publisher is Ghede Books, a subsidiary of Ellora's Cave, and they seem to know their business.

My editor only stipulated that the novels be taken off Lit before Ghede will publish them. They don't want someone buying a book and then complaining that they could have gotten the story for free, so I had Laurel remove them.

---dr.M.

 

[Sabledrake]

I've sold one story from Lit to an anthology, but in general I would query first because the way I've always understood it, once a story is posted on the Internet, be it on a site like this or in a 'zine or even on a personal website, it'd be considered a reprint. Even if the author removes it, there's no way of ensuring it's been removed from everywhere, as we all bitterly know from the stolen-stories threads.

Sabledrake

 

[logophile]

So then the next logical question seems to be: How do you get your story taken down? I'm fairly new here and just wondering what the process is for that?

And are you waiting until the story has sold? Or are you taking them down when you submit it for publication somewhere else?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

So then the next logical question seems to be: How do you get your story taken down? I'm fairly new here and just wondering what the process is for that?

And are you waiting until the story has sold? Or are you taking them down when you submit it for publication somewhere else?

To have a story removed, act like you're submitting it, and append "(REMOVE)" to the title. You don't have to resubmit the whole story; just the title will do with (REMOVE) after it. (I also write "please remove this story" in the cut&paste box, but it's not strictly necessary.) The story will be taken down in 3-5 days.

I didn't take mine down until they were sold and the publisher asked me to remove them.

---dr.M.

 

[logophile]

Thanks Dr. M!

Easy and painless. Just like me!