World Anvil as part of promotion

Aegrin

Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
38
Reaction score
2
Location
Shire... wait, no... Poland
I have one idea how to start my author platform going. I was thinking about presenting my worldbuilding in World Anvil service. World alone won't hype anybody, but I will do that in a way showcasing also my writing style and what to expect from upcoming books (Three followers are better than nothing, right?). Will this work? What do you think, did anybody try that?

There is also one more thing to this. World Anvil states that I preserve all copyright for my content. But I do not know if publishers will be able to publish my book, containing names and such already "on the web". I'm affraid though, that it may backfire.
 

ChaseJxyz

Writes 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 and 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 accessories
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
4,524
Reaction score
6,202
Location
The Rottenest City on the Pacific Coast
Website
www.chasej.xyz
So copyright is for a creative work, which would be the whole story. It wouldn't be for a sample chapter, or a blurb, or a wiki page about Jimmy Protagonist (that's how fan wikis exist, after all). But if you have your whole story up for free on your website, a publisher probably will have issues with that. Tweeting about your characters or world or sharing bits about them won't void that copyright.

Do be careful, though. Making supplementary material for the story can be a double-edged sword. It shouldn't be required reading to fully understand what is going on. Look at HBO's Watchmen, they had in-world documents on their website that gave some extra info, told you about the world, explained why they don't have smartphones, and it answered some of the questions you might have but you didn't NEED it to know what was going on. But many video games have those in-universe encyclopedia pages you have to read in the pause menu to know what the heck is going on. No one wants to pause what they're doing to go do that. So make sure that any info that you put on there isn't needed to enjoy the story, but is just some fun extra stuff. The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the little Quidditch book that JKR published early on in HP's life are good examples of this. It added to the world building but you didn't need it.
 

Aegrin

Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
38
Reaction score
2
Location
Shire... wait, no... Poland
Thank you for clarification on copyright.

I do not intend for this to be needed to understand the books. I'm one of those malevolent authors who like to keep readers in the dark and let them figure all out. Presenting setting that way (not all secrets and elements of course) is kinda painful for me, but I have no better idea to start author platform. Charismatic people have so much easier in life...