d.b.potts

I've been posting my poetry on the forum for about a month now: new stuff, old stuff, revisions, etcetera. And I've had a lot of fun doing it. Some of my poems have become better because of the interaction with other members.

I'm wondering, though, is this a form of publication? I don't want to find out that I have somehow lost the rights to my work. I've been looking into submission and contest guidelines, and some of them specify that they'll only accept work that has not been published in print, online, or on any websites.

Can I still submit these poems for publication? Please get back to me, because it will unfortunately decide my fate as a member here.

Thanks.
d.b.potts

Baron

If you are sensitive to this then you can post in the Writers Workshop which is not accessable to the public. However this is not necessarily guaranteed to get the same responses that you get on the poetry forum.

I get around this by simply pressing the edit button and deleting my work after a period so that the original work is no longer available on this site. This method has presented me with no problems.

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Ben

Posting in the public forums removes your first rights, which is generally what people want when they publish your work. To get around that we've got the Writer's Workshop, which, like Baron said, is private and protects your rights.

d.b.potts

Really... I wouldn't have thought of that. It's a relief too, because I don't want to leave.

Thanks a lot Baron, and Besh.

d.b.potts

How much time do you mean really? Like two weeks, a month, a few days?
Just wondering.

d.b.

Rumrunner

Essentially, before you send it off for potential publication. If they can't find it on the net (i.e. google it, and it doesn't show up), it's all good.

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"But as he gazed on truth his aching eyes grew dim...."
-- Byron, from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the First

Baron

I tend to edit them out once they've gon a couple of weeks without comment or immediately they're submitted for publication. Also, should there be any mention of poems having been published on the forum, this can be got around by making a final edit to the submitted work so that you can honestly state that only a working draft has been published on the forum.

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Foxee

If you want to make sure that the Poetry forum population has a chance to see your work and comment on it after you've posted it in Writer's Workshop you should probably tag it 'Poem' in the title (for those who use the 'new posts' feature)

Alternatively, you could put a link to it in the poetry section. You wouldn't even have to put the title in the link post...just the link and maybe a line that says generally what the poem is about.

Just an idea.

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By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, I mean. ~Mark Twain

d.b.potts

Thanks everybody for your help. I think I'll stick around the poetry forum and just delete them as they become stagnant.

I'm glad there's a way around it.
Thanks again.

d.b.