I'm "published." Dang.

fivetoesten · May 21, 2013

Hey guys,

I was looking over some old flash fiction pieces I wrote a few years ago for a daily-prompt site, and I thought I might try to submit them somewhere. Here's what everyday fiction's Writing Guidelines have to say about it:

It ought to go without saying that any story submitted to Every Day Fiction must be your own unpublished original creation. If you publish a story on a blog, even your own personal blog, or any website accessible to the general public (i.e., if the story can be found and read online without a password or friend status or other limitation), it is considered published and therefore inappropriate for our market.

So, oh well. Who accepts previously "published" work?

JulianneQJohnson · May 21, 2013

Well, it does say "found and read." Can you delete it from where it's posted? Then it will no longer be able to be read by the general public.

You could also look for things like magazines that are looking for first print rights and are not concerned about digital rights.

MJNL · May 22, 2013

JulianneQJohnson said:
Can you delete it from where it's posted? Then it will no longer be able to be read by the general public.

While this is true, it doesn't make it unpublished. If the market is looking for "first world rights" or first rights of any kind, it won't want the work because those rights can no longer be sold.

I suggest going to someplace like the Submission Grinder:http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/thegrinder/Default.aspx

There you can look for reprint markets (places that are glad to republish previously published work). Note that most markets pay less for reprints than original work, which is why it's best not to let first rights go easily.

fivetoesten · May 22, 2013

The site that published my stuff no longer exists, so...

MJNL · May 22, 2013

fivetoesten said:
The site that published my stuff no longer exists, so...

Doesn't matter. There are lots of zines that no longer exist, doesn't mean they never existed. Published is published.

If you really think the venue would be interested in the story anyway (and they might be), you could always query, explaining where the story appeared before and why you think the circulation was low enough that they'd want to buy your story regardless.

Jamesaritchie · May 23, 2013

fivetoesten said:
The site that published my stuff no longer exists, so...

It was still published. When a market says no previously published material, they mean it, and have every right to expect writers to abide by their wishes.

Write new material for these markets. This is what writers do.

What writers should never do, under any circumstances, is lie about a piece's history, or try to sneak something in under the radar.

I'm "published." Dang.

fivetoesten

JulianneQJohnson

Ferret Herder

MJNL

A Little Lost

fivetoesten

MJNL

A Little Lost

Jamesaritchie