A B N A Vets Forum Don't worry

A few of you have expressed concern about people outside the group reading  our stuff if we post it here.

 

Yes, anyone on the Cafe can read and review, unless you've blocked someone specifically.

 

No, it's not too likely to happen.  Not unless you solicit reviews by notifying your "friends" when you upload something.  In my experience even within a group getting reviews is like pulling teeth. Maybe like pulling hen's teeth.

 

I can't help wondering why anyone would shrink from having as many people as possible read his work.  If we hope to be published, surely that's our primary goal.  How can we know if our work has the appeal it needs to sell and be read and remembered, if we don't expose it to the public?  "The public" here is folks just like you -- aspiring writers.  Potential friends and colleagues.  I've never had any reservations about anyone here reading my work.

 

It's also been suggested that the availability of our work here may undermine our sales when we're published authors, or sabotage our chances of being published.  To that my common sense and I politely answer, "Bunk!"

 

Nothing we post here for review is likely publishable as is.  None of it will be a complete text, if what we're working on is a novel.  In no way does that interfere with the desirability of our polished manuscripts to an agent or publisher, or to a reading public.

 

This group can be a valuable tool in our development as writers, if we make use of all its possibilities.  I encourage each and every one of you to do just that.  If you're still concerned, please keep posting to the forum, communicating with each other by message, etc.

 

Above all, don't worry!

Yes, don't worry. Above all, don't worry! Everybody, go back to putting your head in the sand. Everything's fine! Don't worry!

Leah, in another thread, when first confronted with the particular TOS passus you said, "I don't understand that stuff myself". Where does the sudden, decisive insight come from?

All I'm saying to the people here is: Upload your stuff somewhere else. Continue using this group, stay in touch, make use of the other features, but don't make the work itself available here under the current TOS.

I agree posting anything on the internet is going to do more good than harm. If you post the whole thing then you’ll lose ‘first publication rights’ so it’s best to use extracts or something that’s previously published. There are people that worry about copyright, but again there are ways to avoid this problem.

One thing that I would advise is not to post your abna entries here unless it’s after the 15th Jan and you didn’t get through. The reason I say this is the same reason I gave for not wanting to post much about my book on my amazon blog. If there is someone who is interested in giving a review on your work, and they give the review here, then they’re less likely to give the review where it is needed, i.e. on the extract on amazon after the 15th Jan. Obviously it’s up to individuals what you do with your own work, but this is the reason I’ve selected some of my other writing to post here rather than my abna novel.

Hi, Josie.

That's also the reason I stated in the group description that our entries probably aren't good material to post here.

I deleted everything from my actual entry that I had online as soon as the flap with the Amazon reviewer started over on the official forum, for those very reasons.

I know from the the other forum and your profile that you've been making use of the internet for your art and craft for a long time, so I really respect your opinion.

 

Michael, I said I didn't understand all that stuff partly in jest, meaning I haven't studied the laws involved, but not suggesting that I couldn't come to understand the implications with the application of a little bit of reason.

As can we all.

If you are truly worried about copywright, you might want to consider coughing up $40 and send the book in for official copywright. I did that before submitting anything to ABNA, so that's one less thing I have to worry about concerning the competition. Amazon has been giving us enough to chew our nails over with already so it's nice to have that worry out of the way. :)

Hello, all. Apart from my ABNA entry, I really only have a buch of pb texts, and methinks it might be unwise to post a whole text. Sadly, a pb text doesn't really lend itself to selecting an excerpt. Sigh. I shall just have to wait until Jan 15, and post excerpts of my entry if I don't get through. I did get a lot of feedback on the ABNA forum, but later deleted everything I posted - synopsis, favourite piece of dialogue, favourite action scene, etc - in the Great Mass Deletion. So, all in all, I'll err on the side of caution, and not post just yet.

What are PB texts?

You don't need to do any such thing. Copyright is nothing you have to apply for and there is no "official" copyright. On your creations and intellectual property it is automatic.

Sometimes it might just be beneficial to document something being your creation, in which case either leaving copies with your friends, or sending a copy to yourself by postal mail and not opening the envelope (to have firm proof of the content's date of creation), should be enough for most applications.

Hey everyone!

 

Sorry to bring up the subject, looks like it brought down the ol hammer! I am not really worried about someone stealing my stuff, of course it has crossed my mind, but it is not like I will lose sleep over it. I always copywright my work.

 

I was really just not ready for people to start giving me feedback that probly really don't care about my career as a writer. I am under the assumpion that most people in the "writerscafe" care about their own career as writers, and have their prioritys, me succeeding is most definatly not one of them. I would just *prefer* to keep it in the group. The writer circle.

 

And I also don't mind other people reading my work, the more the merrier! WOOHOO! But I do think there is a difference between other "writers" reading your work, and "readers" (or non-writers) reading your work. It's really not necessary for me to collect 200 reviews from other writers, I would much prefer to hear the "readers" comments. That is who my primary audience is, the reader.

 

I mean as a writer, I start reading someones work, and many times I get critical ex: "Woah, I wouldn't have done it like that!" or "Wow, I don't like his style at all!"

I think a reader has a much more relaxed point of view and recognize that different styles exist, but will give a different kind of feedback.

 

And I want to point out that it's not that I don't value other writers opinions on my work, I just think that if we have 30+ people in this group, I will get more than enough opinions from that.

 

This in no way means that my approach is the best option, nor does it infer that there are not better ways to get solid reviews. But it is what I am going to try first.

 

I have a few friends that are English Professors and school teachers. I have had my book read by some of the classes (for an extra credit type) to get honest reviews. They read the book and fill out a small questionairre. Being that I am writing YA Fiction, my primary target audience is between ages 11-17, so those are the reviews I value most.

As far as writing style, flow, technical aspects... well, its not as if everyone on this site is a famous published Author, they are still figuring it out like me! (and that is what my editor is for)Where if I get an ABNAvet to review my work, well I know you from the Forum, I have read your best work, I have learned what kind of people many of you are, and I am able to place a higher value on an ABNAvet's opinion.

 

So long winded? Yes!

 

There are many approaches and paths we can all take, no sense in arguing!

 

Best Wishes!