Posting Work

Hi all,

Now that so many writers self-publish their work, publishers are very used to receiving submissions where some, if not all, of the work has been available elsewhere first.

In most cases, this causes very few problems as the 'reach' that these earlier versions had is very small compared to the size of the market that the publisher will be selling the work to. You always retain the rights to your own work, regardless of whether it is posted on a forum or self-published and by signing a contract with a publisher you are licensing these rights to them.

Before submitting your work to a publisher or literary agent, you need to ensure it is the very best it can be and the process of getting feedback, reading your work through new eyes, revising and redrafting is very important. How you choose to do this is entirely up to you (writers are a very mixed bunch!) Some writers go to writing groups, retreats or classes and some choose to make use of an online community such as ours.

Finally, both literary agents and editors regularly access this website when reading submissions and writing reports for the services available from stage 1 to 4. They may choose to look at the work submitted in the shared work section, but they are all aware that the work posted is in draft form and will likely be revised further before an official submission, so don't be shy!

Best wishes,

WAYB team

I'll happily post short stories on here because I'm not intending to publish them., I wouldn't post a novel though. Partly through similar concerns to you (idea being poached, although ytou could probably prove you'd posted it before they had submitted) but also partly because you only post a bit at a time no one will read subsequent chapters; they'd lose track between postings. A reader would have to be really dedicated to read it.

You're 100% right, Louise!!!!!!! I guess my intention wasn't well placed (my fault). "Keep them in your mind til registrate and publish your project!"