Thanks for sharing this concern, which is very reasonable.
One of the things that motivated us to run this contest was the desire to have a lot of interesting new content on the Forum â we want people checking in regularly to see new stories, commenting on submissions, and digging through the archives even after the contest is over.
If we used a standard âread submissions in private, publish the bestâ model, weâd be missing out on that, even if we still achieved our other goal of âfind a few really top-notch things to shareâ.
But I do acknowledge that this presents authors with a conundrum if they want to publish stories elsewhere. Would the following arrangement be fine?
Publish your entry on the Forum
If you win, you leave the post up
If you donât win, you move the post back to a draft (where Google wonât find it)
This seems like it opens up the chance to submit the story elsewhere again (since no one will be able to read it on the Forum anymore). And if it doesnât end up getting published elsewhere, you can just go back to your draft post and hit âpublishâ.
Would this work, or do you think something ever having been published, even if it disappeared again, would make it impossible to submit to some/âmany places?
I completely understand your goal, which is very reasonable!
But most publishers consider âwas printed in an obscure magazine that sold ten copies and is now a collectorâs item, has never been printed sinceâ to be âprintedâ. Some people buying reprints are only interested in that kind of obscure thing, but even if it is âalready published obscurelyâ, I still think you wonât get much for the reprint.
So although thatâs an understandable try at a solution, I donât think it succeeds.
Thanks for the further feedback. Iâll think more on whether we should open some kind of private submission option, and we may end up doing so. It would be really sad if authors were forced to sacrifice future opportunities in order to participate.
If youâre looking for a compromise solution, stories submitted to the Grantville Gazette Universe Annex (Baenâs magazine) are submitted by being posted on a password-protected forum (Baenâs Bar) that anyone can get an account for, where readers can critique them, then a subset of those are purchased and professionally published in the magazine. Posting a story on Baenâs Bar is generally (some people say explicitly, and it appears to be the consensus unless Iâm making a horrible mistake) not considered publication, and stories posted there donât appear in Google searches.
Youâd want to do more research into this, but if youâre interested, it might provide you a base to work off of.
I second interest in a private submission /â private forum option! I intend to submit my entry to a few places soon, but that wonât be possible if itâs âpublishedâ by submitting it here. If there isnât a private option I probably wonât submit here.
I think this is a really well intentioned and thoughtful reply.
However, hiding publication on an internet forum seems technically dubious (archiving and forum scraping seems common).
Also, this wasnât the intention, but it does seem to be the same as, well, fraud. My guess is that authors are required to state their story isnât published (and removing it after the fact doesnât alter this state).
I think there is some solution here that should be explored.
Thanks for sharing this concern, which is very reasonable.
One of the things that motivated us to run this contest was the desire to have a lot of interesting new content on the Forum â we want people checking in regularly to see new stories, commenting on submissions, and digging through the archives even after the contest is over.
If we used a standard âread submissions in private, publish the bestâ model, weâd be missing out on that, even if we still achieved our other goal of âfind a few really top-notch things to shareâ.
But I do acknowledge that this presents authors with a conundrum if they want to publish stories elsewhere. Would the following arrangement be fine?
Publish your entry on the Forum
If you win, you leave the post up
If you donât win, you move the post back to a draft (where Google wonât find it)
This seems like it opens up the chance to submit the story elsewhere again (since no one will be able to read it on the Forum anymore). And if it doesnât end up getting published elsewhere, you can just go back to your draft post and hit âpublishâ.
Would this work, or do you think something ever having been published, even if it disappeared again, would make it impossible to submit to some/âmany places?
I completely understand your goal, which is very reasonable!
But most publishers consider âwas printed in an obscure magazine that sold ten copies and is now a collectorâs item, has never been printed sinceâ to be âprintedâ. Some people buying reprints are only interested in that kind of obscure thing, but even if it is âalready published obscurelyâ, I still think you wonât get much for the reprint.
So although thatâs an understandable try at a solution, I donât think it succeeds.
Thanks for the further feedback. Iâll think more on whether we should open some kind of private submission option, and we may end up doing so. It would be really sad if authors were forced to sacrifice future opportunities in order to participate.
Welcome! Iâm happy to help.
If youâre looking for a compromise solution, stories submitted to the Grantville Gazette Universe Annex (Baenâs magazine) are submitted by being posted on a password-protected forum (Baenâs Bar) that anyone can get an account for, where readers can critique them, then a subset of those are purchased and professionally published in the magazine. Posting a story on Baenâs Bar is generally (some people say explicitly, and it appears to be the consensus unless Iâm making a horrible mistake) not considered publication, and stories posted there donât appear in Google searches.
Youâd want to do more research into this, but if youâre interested, it might provide you a base to work off of.
(Their submission rules; warning, mildly arcane: https://ââgrantvillegazette.com/ââuniverse-annex-submissions/ââ )
I second interest in a private submission /â private forum option! I intend to submit my entry to a few places soon, but that wonât be possible if itâs âpublishedâ by submitting it here. If there isnât a private option I probably wonât submit here.
Hereâs our new private submission form!
Iâve just submitted two stories! Hopefully theyâve landed properly. Thanks for the form!
Forgot to say thanks, just used it!
I think this is a really well intentioned and thoughtful reply.
However, hiding publication on an internet forum seems technically dubious (archiving and forum scraping seems common).
Also, this wasnât the intention, but it does seem to be the same as, well, fraud. My guess is that authors are required to state their story isnât published (and removing it after the fact doesnât alter this state).
I think there is some solution here that should be explored.