Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Ask Mr. Writing Person: Fleshing out a Plot

This is topic Ask Mr. Writing Person: Fleshing out a Plot in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :

For those interested, I've got another installment of Ask Mr. Writing Person posted:

http://mr-writing-person.blogspot.com/ or http://mr-writing-person.blogspot.com/2006/05/ask-mr-writing-person-fleshing-out.html

quote:
Welcome back to Ask Mr. Writing Person, where we've been tearing down artless cretinism for nearly a whole week now. Today's question is from Lisa Swetchop from Taiwan, who has found herself with an unusually short novel because she's an unpracticed naïf.

Yeah, so, go read it. If you feel like it, let me know what's funny and what's not.

I have a question for Hatrack in general. I got a comment from a old-timer / lurker here that I ought to be considering publication rights. We exchanged emails, and between what he told me and what I've seen, I think this is the state of things:

1) Many / most publishers consider a blog post to be a first electronic publication (or maybe first publication, period?)

2) Some might be okay with, say, publishing a compilation that includes these if they don't comprise the whole of the book and/or the site has a broad readership

3) These blog posts may never be published individually as articles, but again, this depends on the publisher

Regarding #3: I've seen quite a few blog posts make it into the WSJ opinion pages, but I don't know how representative the WSJ is of my likely avenues.

This Hatrack old-timer knows more about this than I do, but says I really should post the question here to draw upon more expertise. Assuming I'd want to have these Ask Mr. Writing Person posts published somewhere, either individually or as a collection, what are the considerations and limitations?

And a final question: would having ads on the blog have any effect on a publisher's willingness to republish blog posts?

[This message has been edited by trousercuit (edited May 14, 2006).]

Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :

I don't understand the question. Is this saying it's wrong for either articles or blogs to be published in book form, and if so, why?

Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :

Yeah, it's somewhat convoluted. Let's try a clearer version:

How, exactly, am I limiting my future publishing options by posting Ask Mr. Writing Person articles to a blog?

[This message has been edited by trousercuit (edited May 14, 2006).]

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

First publication rights get used up when you first publish in any format. Posting publicly on the internet counts.

The real question is which rights potential publishers of these bits are interested in.

If you're thinking of trying to publish them as individual articles, you can't offer first rights, which is usually what periodicals want. They want to offer something new. You may be able to sell them as reprints but that is typically both more difficult and less profitable than selling first rights. If you develop a significant audience, that could change, yes, but if a publisher is considering "already published column by someone no one has ever heard of," it doesn't sound too appealing.

If you're thinking of publishing them as a book someday, that's a different game - book publishers aren't *as* concerned about that. They'll be more interested when you're able to tell them about the audience of 100,000 faithful readers that you've managed to build up, because that gives you a solid platform from which to sell your book. It is what transforms your pitch from "a collection from someone you've never heard of" to something more marketable. In one of the recent blog topics here, there was a link to Andrew Sullivan's comments on successful blogging and publishing - I suggest looking that up. He said something like "why not post your opinions, develop a huge audience, and turn it into a book?" (why not: because it is not that easy, but I don't remember Sullivan mentioning that.)

In either case, using the blog to develop an audience can help you both refine what you are offering and lay the groundwork for publishing later, either those pieces or something else. But it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish; it might be wise to squirrel your precious morsels away where no one can see them, or it might be wiser to use the blog to develop a following.

Posted by Kadri (Member # 3402) on :

I doubt you'll get your existing blog posts published elsewhere, periodical-wise, but if you're getting attention, you may be able to publish new things with the same format in a magazine.

If you just want to recycle material, a book would be better.

Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :

I wonder, (which means I'm not speaking from knowledge) if you could get your article syndicated so it would appear in newspapers and stuff as it comes on the blog.

As for the past stuff, Dave Barry publishes his articles in anthologies so why can't you? (I say work on it untill you don't have an answer to that question. And 'I'm not Dave Barry' doesn't cut it.)

Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :

He's not making that up.

Edited to add: This made me think how much I miss reading Dave Barry. Lo and behold, he has his own website now:
http://www.davebarry.com/

Anyone who plays in a rock band with Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom can't be too bad!

[This message has been edited by Elan (edited May 16, 2006).]

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

Dave Berry can publish anthologies of his stuff because his column is widely-syndicated and he has a huge base to sell books to. The question is not so much "why not do what Dave Berry does" as it is "how do you get to a position where you can do what Dave Berry does."

Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :

In my case, I suppose it would be getting linked to from Instapundit, The Daily Dish, The Daily Kos, Atrios, the WSJ opinion pages, Mugglenet, etc., etc., etc. After it gets the right kind of momentum, it just keeps rolling as long as I keep producing.

Actually, I'm thinking of doing a Harry Potter one ("How Can I Get Filthy Rich By Writing a Teen-Angst Fantasy Septology?") specifically to snag the HP web site readers. There are tons of beginning writers there that might enjoy the format and content. I would only hope that none of them take the advice seriously... a lot of them are really young...

Bwahahahaha!

Um, but I'm very flattered to be mentioned in the same keystroke as Dave Barry. I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

*grovel*

I used to spend hours at Barnes and Noble reading his anthologies.