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I was wondering about the "Fragments and Feedback for Short Stories" forum and the possible presence of judges from the WotF contest.
Since the contest is blind, should we not post for crits of a story we intend to submit to WotF?
Just wondering if that was a concern. I know that there are groups in the "Hatrack Groups" forum for this as well but since they are not publicly posted they are ok.
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I can't say for certain, but i've used the F&F without getting disqualified (I just didn't use the title)--of couse...I didn't win either. Posts: 3687 | Registered: Jan 2007
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Unlike some other critque groups, Hatrack is a public forum. It would be wise to NEVER use the title you intend on using on her, it is. Although, it is unlikely that a judge would read any of the post on here (even Mr. Card, I'm afraid) it would be best if you wouldn't tempt fate. A lot of the members on this site are slush readers for other magazines, so in case you submit your finished product to lets say, Flash Fiction Online, you really don't want to taint there opinion of your piece because they remembered your original post on here.
Posts: 3072 | Registered: Dec 2007
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Uh...are you saying not to workshop a piece on here that you intend to submit?
While a few of us are indeed slush readers for magazines and ezines (including Flash Fiction Online), we expect you to workshop for the best possible piece to submit. I, for one, have not rejected anything I recognized from here (I think I've seen two), I only took myself out of the recommendations for said pieces. If it's a memorable 13, there's a reason: it's either horrible--in which case you will inevitably be told--or it has something.
But, as I have said before, I can only speak for myself.
(PS - Contrary to popular belief, I love to see fellow Hatrackers get published.)
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited June 29, 2008).]
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In case your question is directed at me, IB, no I meant to say I never put the title of my work in the F & F section, just in case it may influence someones decision. I assume that stories are excepted based on merit alone anyway, but why tempt fate? Maybe I'm just being superstitious
Posts: 3072 | Registered: Dec 2007
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I think the WOTF group eliminates any sticky situations which might occur due to posting in F&F. Unless you just have no interest in joining a group there would be no need to unless it was a last minute descision to join, or something like that. Being somewhat naive, I posted my first entry in F&F--title and all.
It definately is not a good idea to post your title...ever, but in all honesty I doubt it would ever come into question. Millions of words are read per year by those that judge our stories. I am sure that they don't spend much time perusing through our first thirteen lines, but it is certainly a risk not worth taking, once you know the potential consequences. We work hard enough on our little unapreciated stories to have our chances narrowed even further, by being disqualified.
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Oh great ! That was the only reason I was writing my short story, and I did just what everyone is saying not to do. Should I still enter it even though I submitted my first 13 title and all? What if I find another title? Though I must admit the one I've already picked is the best one for it.
Posts: 1320 | Registered: May 2008
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quote:Oh great ! That was the only reason I was writing my short story, and I did just what everyone is saying not to do. Should I still enter it even though I submitted my first 13 title and all? What if I find another title? Though I must admit the one I've already picked is the best one for it.
Honestly Crystal, I would just submit it the way it is. Like they've already said, chances are that no judges frequent this place and you don't want to cripple an otherwise good story by giving it a title that you don't feel good about.
In the future just use a working title that you know you won't use or no title at all. That's my plan.
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Crystal, if you like, you can tell me which topic it is (the title it has now), and I can change the topic title to something else ("untitled story" is always good).
Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Thank you so much, Kathleen, but I doubt if I'll do much more with it in short story F&F forum until I'm ready for a reader. It still needs work before I'll be ready to send it.
I really like the last "first 13" that I posted. The story was my horse abuser novella. If you change the title of my topic, I guess you could call it "A horse abuser fantasy"? How does that sound?
Yeah, I guess that'll do. Once you've already chosen a title, it's hard to come up with an alternate. I thought originally of calling it "The Watcher" or "Watcher in the Woods", but both have been used at one time or another.
[This message has been edited by Crystal Stevens (edited July 01, 2008).]
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! That was the only reason I was writing my short story, and I did just what everyone is saying not to do. Should I still enter it even though I submitted my first 13 title and all? What if I find another title? Though I must admit the one I've already picked is the best one for it.
