to publish?

[lobelia321]

Spurred on by eyebrowofdoom's success, I find myself contemplating the submission of one of my fics to this anthology of slash. What do you think? Is this a good idea?

And if I decide it is, which fic would you recommend as suitable? I am thinking Arthropods but then I would. And if I choose Arthropods, do I choose the whole series or just the final installment, When We Are Human? Or is it not 'slashy' enough?

And is anybody else submitting? And is it okay to do that? What with anonymity and copyright issues and the whole thing?

ETA: Or is it wiser to choose fps? Because of the whole rps 'thing'??

Comments

[eyebrowofdoom.livejournal.com]

One of my submissions was rps (the early "Beer and Skittle") so that's fine. You will see that this project involves working with an editor to rewrite fanfic into original fic, so there's no copyright issue. Looking at my contract I am signing right now, you sign the contract under your real name but you can nominate a pseudonym to publish under. I am publishing under my real name because I can't be arsed to make up another, and Eyebrow of Doom seems a bit silly for print.

[eyebrowofdoom.livejournal.com]

Oh, and they are fine with fic that is published online already - as long as it's just on webpages, not in any kind of e-book, pay-per-download or optimised-for-print format (which the contract will claim the rights to).

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Aha. So I sign away my rights to the fic? Or... *goes into a kerfoodle* It's just so bizarre to think this stuff we are posting in our little space here is anything even remotely approaching publishable. *feels weird but sort of excited*

How do you feel about it?

[eyebrowofdoom.livejournal.com]

No, you give them exclusive rights to publish and sell the work in hard copy and printable formats (like e-book) for a minimum of two years, and you continue to have the right to publish it in webpage-type format. I think you are making this more complex than it is - I'm sure you are already intellectually familiar with what publication rights mean from your academic publications - right?

I feel pleased about it - I haven't sold anything creative for commercial publication for a couple of years (not that I've been trying for the most part) so it's good to do so again.

You are already a non-commercial, electronic publisher of your fic. Every time you make a livejournal post you are publishing that post. Publication is what the entire internet constitutes!

Re: other comment...
I don't know if you know or should know my last name, but I am not going to tell you in a public comments thread, you big dork. :D Your other questions are best answered by reading the call for submissions.

I haven't worked with the editor yet because this has only just happened. I don't know what will or won't make you feel bad! You would certainly have to be prepared to cooperate with the editor.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! I've now decided to send them something because why not? It could be fun. And if I'm allowed to keep the fic up on my website: good!

I know I am a non-commercial publisher of my fic but I have total control of that. I could delete my website at any time, if I wished to do so (and indeed, I have done so, not intentionally, alas, but I did manage to wipe all fics half-way through last year -- msilverstar found them cached for me in some amazing html heaven out there). :-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Do you know what's funny? I immediately thought of Arthropods to send in, and Sheldrake thought of Holding the Pose, and you thought of Beer and Skittles (didn't I beta that? Ah, I am so nostalgic). We all thought of old stuff. Lotrips stuff. My more recent stuff seems too raw, too alive. Lotrips is well marinated and safe.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Er. What is your real name? *is sheepish* I know the first name but...? Something or other surname...? Um.

I should know this, right?

So it's not slash fanfic at all? But pretend fanfic? Or is it clear that it's rewritten-for-copyright purposes slash? And did you find the editors okay to work with? This is not going to make me feel awful, is it?

[sonicbookmark.livejournal.com]

I say go for it? What have you got to lose?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Hm. True. Rights to my fic? Hm, I dunno. You are right, though. I am a frighty-poo person. But it's just so weird!!

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

I am considering, but have *issues*. One thing is, they're really after 'erotic' stories, and I don't think mine are, particularly. Slashy, yes; erotic, no.

Hrrrmmmm...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Yes! I have *issues*! But I don't even know what exactly those 'issues' are! And if they're maybe just a kneejerk reflex! As alli everyday said above: what have I got to lose? What have we got to lose? I am certainly weirded out by the very notion of the stuff we stick on this little space of ours being anything even remotely approaching publishability but also a bit excited by it. What did you feel when you saw yourself in print in the zine??!

Is that zine still available, btw? And where?

What are your *issues*?

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Actually I think I'm fine with it as long as I don't have to take down the fic, which I gather isn't a problem. As you say, why not? My issues are to do with - what name do I publish under? I assume you probably wouldn't want to publish this under your real name... I'm not sure I do, but I'm not sure why. Maybe I should make up a hybrid real-life/fandom life pseudonym?

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my story in the zine (which I assume is still available from cafe press - I'll have a look and send you the link). My other issues are:

How to format - I assume they'll want it in print format rather than web?
What to say in this biography they seem to want.
What to send??? What is their idea of 'slash'? Do I stand a better chance with something that's got actual sex in it? ie a good old fashioned slash story with a plot AND smut? Which I don't write very often...
Obviously I thought about Holding the Pose, but I honestly don't see how you could disentangle it from the fandom without completely rewriting this.

Nothing seemed particularly suitable, but in the end I decided my best shot might be a fic called Making Sense. Although, at the time no one seemed to like it much... I do quite like it, but mainly I just think it stands the best chance of being de-fandomified, and it has some sort of vague sexual or 'erotic' content.

Gah, this is qutie difficult! How are you getting on?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Oh, hello! My online activities are odd these days and scrape LJ in passing so I miss stuff! (like your b'day, *hides*...) The deadline for this sybaritic press is coming up, isn't it? I do want to send something, and I think I want to send the Arthropods series -- although they want 20 pages (pages? What's that in terms of word count?), and if that's too long, When We Are Human. Just to get it out of my system. Strange, how we're both going for old things, stuff we wrote years ago. Although I don't remember your Making Sense from the title... is that old? My new things seem too raw, too alive, if you know what I mean. lotrips is safely dead.

The name thing!! I don't want to give my real name. Because I have published under that name already. And I may yet want to publish fiction under that name. And... somehow it doesn't seem very 'fannish' (who uses their real name, after all??!). And if I put Lobelia that's no skin off my back, is it, because people just need to google the fic and they'll discover it online, anyway. And re hybrid name! I am so ahead of you because I've had one of those for about a year!! I even have an LJ under that name! I upload pictures for my book to it and email my parents who then look at the pictures. I may tell you but only very sekrittly.

Cafe press! Yes, send linky linky! I now want to buy it.

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Hello - here's the cafepress link:

http://marnanel.org/joule

I've sent mine off - I agonised a bit, and I'm still not sure I sent the right one, but it seemed to fit the bill better than some others, so... whatever. Tis done. It's here by the way. Apparently I wrote it in 2004 - it was for a valentines fic thingy. That's just over 3,000 words and it came out about 9 pages double spaced. It's a bit confusing, really. Humph.

I emailed them under my real name but if I get it accepted I think I'll ask to be published under a pseudonym. Luckily, my fannish name is a surname, so can create easy hybrid. :)

It was very difficult choosing a story to send. I'd have loved to send Holding the Pose, but I think it would be impossible to untangle it from its RPSness.

Which reminds me, I was reading a recent article on Derek Jarman in Sight and Sound, and they used the phrase 'holding a pose' when talking about 'Caravaggio'! Made me happy, anyway. :)

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Bugger, sorry that's not the right link! I forgot I'd copied something else. Here we go:

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a href-"https://www.cafepress.com/lotripszine.13119599">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Bugger, sorry that's not the right link! I forgot I'd copied something else. Here we go:

<a href-"https://www.cafepress.com/lotripszine.13119599">https://www.cafepress.com/lotripszine.13119599</a>

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Oh for god's sake.

here

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely little story. I may like it even better in its origversion because I recoil from Elijah! :-)