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Young Writers Society


Publishing?



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Gender: Female
Points: 929
Reviews: 4
Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:11 am
crmcgill says...



I am in the process of trying to find an agent for the start of a hopefully four part series. I posted the whole of it on a different writing site, excluding the prologue and changes that I have made since then. I recently heard from somebody that you can't sell a novel once it has been posted online. I immediatly deleted the book and I only had three people who regularly read it. Should I abondon all hope of finding an agent now that it has been up? Or would it still be possible to find somebody to represent it? If there is even the slightest of chances to find an agent, I'll keep at it until I find one.
Open the gates and seize the day! Don't be afraid and don't delay.

To die would be an awfully big adventure.

I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Just call me Gill!
  





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Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:39 am
Rosendorn says...



It depends on the country.

What publishers are after is "first publishing rights", which means they're the first to print your novel. These rights no longer become purchasable once a work is "printed"/published.

In the US and Canada, posting online on a forum you can remove the work does not count as "publishing" and you still retain the rights, therefore it can still be published.

HOWEVER, if you post the work on Facebook, it is considered published. Everything you upload to Facebook it owns. This means by uploading, you've given away your first publishing rights.

In the UK, a work posted online generally is considered "published" if it shows up in Google. If you've removed it, you should be alright. However, if you're really worried, look at the novel again (or get somebody on YWS to read/review it, which lets you retain full copyright) and see if you can edit it again so it's different.

Does that help? If you're unsure if something "counts" or not, look up the first publishing rights for your country and what counts.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Gender: Female
Points: 929
Reviews: 4
Thu Dec 29, 2011 5:12 am
crmcgill says...



Thank you! This helps a ton! I never posted it on Facebook and the website always had a copyrite at the bottom of the page in my name. I'm in the U.S. so I think that I should still retain the publishing rights. But better safe than sorry, you know? No more posting things that I want published online for me
Open the gates and seize the day! Don't be afraid and don't delay.

To die would be an awfully big adventure.

I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Just call me Gill!
  








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