what is “a published work” anyways?
Will my latest manuscript or poem be well-received by my favorite literary journal or publisher?
What happens if I share this now and decide to work with a traditional publisher later?
What should I keep in mind when writing and sharing online?
These are all fair questions for the writer due to the ever-changing nature of publishing. Publishing is definitely having a bit of a moment. While publishing is now more accessible than ever, writers still have to make choices early on about how they plan to share and promote their writings. One oft overlooked question for the writer is the vague nature of what constitutes “a published work” in digital publishing. Imagine opening a rejection email or letter, in all its glory, and reading the sentence, “We can’t publish this, as it’s already considered a published work for all intents and purposes.” You might think to yourself, “I haven’t published this…that’s why I sent it to you!” I have spoken with several writers and journals to better understand this issue and try to find out why it’s so hard to find an answer on what is considered a published work online.
The current publishing environment is going through a lot of changes: big publishing houses are becoming less prominent, self-publishing is on the rise, and plenty of new companies are coming up with ways to help writers of all backgrounds. One of the biggest issues that writers have is a lack of exposure and an inability to be discovered by their true audience. Anyone can write a book (even if it’s not a bestseller), but it takes time and money to find readers, even if you do have a publisher and an agent. For new authors anxious to make a name for themselves in the market, most start sharing on Facebook, Reddit, or writing forums to find feedback and critique. These are the initial tools that writers use to reach an audience and begin sharing their work. However, once authors have surpassed the beginning stage of their writing career they will inevitably begin to submit works to journals and publishing houses with the hopes of advancing their writing careers. But something that has come to haunt writers is the trouble with those first few “published works.” In a post detailing how a previously published work is defined online, the staff at writersrelief.com came up with the following:
“If the forum or Web board is private and intended for the purposes of encouraging feedback or community support, then most editors and literary agents will consider the work unpublished… If the forum in question is public (that is, if non-members can see what you’ve written), then your work will likely be considered previously published.”
That’s right, once your work is readily available to the public it is *technically* considered published. As the publishing industry continues to evolve over the next decade, this will hopefully change. After doing a quick Google search, I found a variety of small presses with relatively vague descriptions on what they look for in a submission. One publisher says on their website that they only publish “unpublished works,” but the site failed to define exactly what that means. In the past, a published work was very black and white. If your writing appeared in print in black and white, it was considered a published work. Times are obviously different now, and there are more things to consider before sharing your work publicly, due to the vagueness of these rules. The key with sharing your work online seems to be sharing in as private a setting as possible, with the purpose of receiving feedback. Ideally there would be no publicly shared link. A great example would be a closed Facebook group or a private forum online. If you can keep posting your work to these types of private outlets, editors and agents will generally consider your work unpublished. Journals, houses, and agents might overlook previously “published” documents in favor of newer, unread stories, while also avoiding legal questions over ownership of the work.
Another pitfall of publishing your work online is the ease with which individuals can plagiarize writing. There have been stories of authors having their works stolen and sold on other sites as originals. Not only does this hurt your future chances of being accepted by a publishing house or journal, but it can also set your writing career back significantly. Knowing that you are sharing your work on a secure and private website is important in preventing plagiarism in all forms. It is important that publishing houses and journals understand when work is not intentionally published and when it is stolen. Websites like Wattpad contain a “fraudulent copyright notice” within their terms and conditions. While these terms are made to help the author, they can sometimes be used against you. Several Wattpad members have had their own work taken down from the site because of it being reported as plagiarized, even though it was theirs to begin with. There is a risk associated with any online publishing and these dangers are something to consider before making your work available for everyone to see.
Publishers, journals, and the writing community as a whole must come together soon to answer these questions that new technologies have imposed on our industry. If we cannot agree on how to address these issues it will further stratify the literary community as a whole and pre-determine who can and cannot succeed. The burden of proof should not be placed on the individual writer, rather the leaders of the literary community. These are not easy questions to ask, nor are the answers easy to come by. But in order to build a better writing experience online, we must work to come up with something soon.
