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Estarriol greets you fellow scribes!

Estarriol

Acolyte
Hello, fellow world-builders and paper-scratchers!

This is very exciting! I have been working on a fantasy story for many years, but finally I am ready to admit I need to send out some short stories. I am hoping that I can refine my writing here and submit a story I can be proud of.

I have been writing fantasy all my life since early in elementary school, yet few have seen my most passionate works. I am a bit selfish in that I like to keep my stories and worlds to myself (also because I am defensive against critiques). This will not improve me however. I am 28 and have been working on an epic fantasy for 10 years, but it is still fragmented. I think my strength is in short stories or flash fiction. I have so many ideas always pouring in, so I am not afraid if some have already been written by others.

My favorite authors are Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan; mostly the Wheel of Time series and Mistborn series. I have read other fantasies including The Name of the Wind, Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and other random novels. I am open to recommendations.

I would like to ask some questions, and if there are already posts answering these, I'll check those out.
1. If I post a full short story or parts of a story on here are they considered published?
2. Can I still publish a story I posted on this site to share or submit it to magazines?
3. What are the limits for passionate scenes in story posts? Romance and attraction are powerful components in fantasy stories, so I want to know the boundary. For example is kissing okay? Is that as far as it goes? What about touch? I assume holding hands and hugging is okay.

Well met all!
 
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Hello and welcome!

I'll be watching for you in the Showcase forum, and i'll try to help. 10 years is a long time to be committed to one project--we'll help you out as much as we can. I don't know the answers to your questions; you'd have to consult a moderator. I can't imagine why kissing would be prohibited, but i'm not so sure about anything past that.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
1. If I post a full short story or parts of a story on here are they considered published?
2. Can I still publish a story I posted on this site to share or submit it to magazines?
3. What are the limits for passionate scenes in story posts? Romance and attraction are powerful components in fantasy stories, so I want to know the boundary. For example is kissing okay? Is that as far as it goes? What about touch? I assume holding hands and hugging is okay.
Well met all!

First, welcome. (I'm very eloquent)

1. Every publisher decides these things for themselves, but for the most part the answer is no, it's not considered published. That's because the Showcase is not viewable from a web search engine. But again, it's not like it's a law. A specific publisher could object.
2. Pretty much the same answer as 1. Another strategy, taken by many, is to publish a fragment of a story, but to share the full story only privately, via email, with beta readers.
3. There are guidelines. They are posted as Sticky threads in individual forums, so they always come up first. Take a look at the guidelines for the Showcase, then ask if you have a specific question.

hth!
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Hail and well met Estarriol
Good to have you here.
[I am less eloquent than S.K (and I'm really tired)]
 

Estarriol

Acolyte
First, welcome. (I'm very eloquent)

1. Every publisher decides these things for themselves, but for the most part the answer is no, it's not considered published. That's because the Showcase is not viewable from a web search engine. But again, it's not like it's a law. A specific publisher could object.
2. Pretty much the same answer as 1. Another strategy, taken by many, is to publish a fragment of a story, but to share the full story only privately, via email, with beta readers.
3. There are guidelines. They are posted as Sticky threads in individual forums, so they always come up first. Take a look at the guidelines for the Showcase, then ask if you have a specific question.

hth!

I will look at those stickies first and read some posts soon. Thanks for the welcomes!
 

Caged Maiden

Staff
Article Team
Hello and welcome!

Since you have to be a member to see the stories here, it isn't considered published in the same way it would be if it's on your website available to the public, but if you have any concerns, you can publish the story to your "Portfolio" and then you will be able to take it down or edit it forever. That avoids the problems with the Showcase, where you cannot edit your posts past an hour after posting. I've edited and taken things down from my Portfolio many times.

Also, regarding what you share, we've got a really honest membership, so anything you post is yours, no one will share it or post it or take it or anything like that, so there's no reason you can't take a story written for one of our challenges and submit it to a magazine, say if there was a challenge and the prompt was one someone else gave to you. (Hope I read that question right). The only thing holding you back would be if the work isn't entirely yours. Like, if we had a "build on the story" sort of challenge and several people collaborated, you'd need everyone's permission.

As far as adult themes, we say in the rules that this is a family-friendly place. BY that, we mean that hateful, lewd, or inappropriate material isn't allowed. But that doesn't mean sexual content isn't allowed. What we typically do if there's a passage that's a bit adult-themed, is that we attach a spoiler like this:

sexy scene hidden from view, and a warning on top to let folks know why the spoiler exists.

and you can access that by creating your post and on the second screen (advanced, rather than quick-post), you'll see a symbol of a yellow triangle with an ! on it, and you highlight the text you want hidden and then click that.

Spoilers are a great way to make sure that your scenes are not shocking. But seriously, we're mostly all adults and as writers, love and its various forms are part of the territory. Also, since we're on the subject, you don't have to edit your words. We have an auto *-er that will blot out and censor your foul words, and anything it doesn't catch should be good to go. If you're concerned that the meaning may be lost in your work with the words missing, go his those asterisks on the second page of your post (advanced again) or edit it after posting it, and put in the first letter for us. We're used to reading naughty words in that form.

Hope you have fun here!
 
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