Inspired Author Part 2

[hyperintensity]

Again thanks for the advice. I am hoping to have some stuff submitted in a couple of weeks. To respond to jrderego's comments specifically, I do intend to make a little cash from what I shall describe as a "hobby." Unless, I really blow away the literary world I am not quitting my day job. However, per scattercat, I will not shun the token/nonpayment markets as a place to start. But I do have a question about copyrighting. Is it common practice to get stories, including flash fiction copyrighted?

[tpi]

Isn't copyright in US nowadays similar than in rest of the world?
If something that can be classified as "original work" is published, it is automatically copyrighted.

[jrderego]

Again thanks for the advice. I am hoping to have some stuff submitted in a couple of weeks. To respond to jrderego's comments specifically, I do intend to make a little cash from what I shall describe as a "hobby." Unless, I really blow away the literary world I am not quitting my day job. However, per scattercat, I will not shun the token/nonpayment markets as a place to start. But I do have a question about copyrighting. Is it common practice to get stories, including flash fiction copyrighted?

A little more advice from me - www.google.com can answer a myriad of questions such as common answers to copyright questions. I googled "new writer FAQs" and this was the second link ...

http://www.sff.net/people//Rothman/nwfaq.htp

Cool eh?

Yes, you're new. We were all new once. Good luck. Etc... Hope to see your work produced or in print somewhere.

Finally, get market listings at www.ralan.com and www.duotrope.com, don't waste your money on Writer's Market listings as they are always months or years out of date. Don't overuse gerunds. Watch the passive voice. Other writers aren't your colleagues, writing isn't a big group hug where everyone works together to make the best whatever they can... it's competition.

Every published writer is your competition. Every unpublished writer is your competition.

Welcome to Thunderdome.

[Scattercat]

For the record, I don't particularly think of other writers as my competition.

[Ascii King]

Every published writer is your competition. Every unpublished writer is your competition.

Welcome to Thunderdome.

BAH HAHAHAHAHA!

I have to admit that I do prefer the group hug philosophy. I understand that other writers are trying to make it too, but is it really that fierce?

[jrderego]

Every published writer is your competition. Every unpublished writer is your competition.

Welcome to Thunderdome.

BAH HAHAHAHAHA!

I have to admit that I do prefer the group hug philosophy. I understand that other writers are trying to make it too, but is it really that fierce?

The first time you're holding a form rejection letter from a formerly friendly market who has taking to publishing crap by other authors who are not only unreadable but who in your few interactions with them (the writers) makes you consider giving up the business for the lucrative vocation of goat farming, you'll see. When you walk into a book store and realize that every name on every spine in there, save a tiny percentage, all have full time day jobs. When you hope your contemporaries really like the idea of self publishing and DIY that they'll essentially get out of the game and stop flooding editors with retellings of Firefly episodes that inexplicably get accepted. When you see unpublished authors referencing their own stories that no one has seen when writing negative comments about yours on a bulletin board of the magazine where yours is published.

You'll see. (makes pointy spooky finger and hisses like Donald Sutherland at the end of 1975 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

[Umbrageofsnow]

Group hugs are nice. Rejectomancy leads to envy. Envy leads to anger. Anger leads to Hatred. And Hatred leads to the Dark Side.

But I see your point. Honestly, none of the Union Dues stories (for example) measure up to my unpublished collection of masterpieces "Superhero Worker's Association" about a group of superheros increasingly hamstrung by their organization's business interests. Of particular interest to writers in this thread are my exceedingly brilliant and original "The Aria of Johnny Koruto", "Mostly About the Merchandising", and "Out of Petrol". It's a shame that Derego hack insists on stealing my unpublished ideas all the time. I suspect he breaks into my house to read my extremely detailed word-maps.  I'll get to writing them up into actual sentences one of these days, after I change the locks again.