Today, after visiting different writers' blogs, I noticed several authors had posted their story summary in hopes of gaining feedback from their followers. For the majority, the responses were great. There were even a few to receive comments from bestselling authors. This was nearly enough to make me follow suit, but something held me back. Okay, yes, I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to posting details about my story. In fact, no one other than my parents, husband and siblings know the title to my project. You see, I've had way too many nightmares in which a creepy book-thief-type-villain makes millions from stealing my concept.
So, my questions for you guys (veteran writers please speak up!):
1.) Is it safe to put your synopsis online, exposing it for the world to read?
2.) What if someone steals your plot? *gasp and cry for hours/days...*
3.) But what if an agent stumbles across your book summary and falls in love? *happy dance* Isn't this worth it?
I'd love to know your thoughts! Have a great Friday, everyone! Tory
*The compositions herein are not to be copied, reproduced, printed, published, posted, displayed, incorporated, stored in or scanned into a retrieval system or database, transmitted, broadcast, bartered or sold, in whole or in part without the prior express written permissions of the sole author Tory Minus. Unauthorized duplication is strictly prohibited and is an infringement of National and International Copyright Laws.
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My concern wouldn't be for someone steeling it. As someone once wisely said, not only is it unlikely, it would end up looking like an entirely different story when written by someone else anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'd worry about is that if you put something online it is considered "published" now I don't know what that means with a summary. But I've always been careful not to put anything up I didn't expressly intend never to try and publish elsewhere. My two cents.
Lisa Gail- Your comment makes a lot of sense! Maybe my paranoia will end soon.:) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this issue.
ReplyDeleteWhen I share something on my blog about my WIP (which isn't often), I'm purposely very vague about it. I try to give my readers an idea of what I'm working on without giving anyone too much that they could copy from. The same goes for my excerpts -- I never post anything that has a major plot point in it, but scenes with subplot or secondary characters are okay. Just my personal take on it. :)
ReplyDeleteTory, I wanted to pop over here and apologize. I noticed today that I had a friend request from you with a message, and to be honest, I have no idea how many weeks or months ago you sent it. I am so oblivious! I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was ignoring you or being snobby. I'm clueless, that's all. ;)
Hi, Shelley! I'm so glad you visited today and thanks for sharing your take on this issue.
ReplyDeleteBTW, if your week is anything like mine (complete whirlwind 24/7), then I'm sure this explains why my comment was overlooked.:) Don't sweat it...I'm an easy-go-lucky kind of gal! Hope you come back soon!
I don't know much about the "writers" world, but I would say to keep it a secret! If it's good, then someone could definitely steal it, or at least parts of it.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering myself about this. Lindsay Currie and I are co-writing a very unique YA series called "Songbirds" and even have a website set up for it already. Singing themes are really hot in the market place right now what with all the Disney and Nick shows out there and it's scary to put out our series idea when it could so easily be copied. *bites fingernails*
ReplyDeleteHeather - Exactly! I've yet to read anything similar to my plot (this could be good or bad), and my title is absent from amazonbooks.com (again, this could be + or -).
ReplyDeleteJulie - I'm paranoid! Plain and simple. Not in life, though, so don't worry you've befriended a psychotic follower. Just be careful of how much info you put on line. From what I've read of Songbirds...it's great, and no one deserves the credit other than you and Lindsay! Thanks for stopping by:)
Tory, I'd be nervous about it too. Part of me thinks if the writing is so great, then agents or publishers would be calling me night and day to snatch it up. But still, I worry about this too, and choose not to do it. Stupid? I don't know!!
ReplyDeleteHi, Julie! YEAH...I'm so glad I'm not the only "newbie" afraid to post story info on line.:) Hopefully, one day SOON, we'll snag an agent and everyone can read the REAL THING!:)
ReplyDeleteI realize this is an older post, but I'm new here and wanted to say that I feel the same way you do. I'm also a writer, but do not feel comfortable saying pretty much anything about my works in progress online. Without going back to look this up, I think I actually just mentioned that in a post from yesterday (which is why I felt compelled to comment...).
ReplyDelete