Wondering why these haven't been published? It should be!

[Banner]

Okay I just read the first series, all five books, and I have to say I was extremely impressed. Yes there were some minor continuity errors, and some spelling, etc. Nothing that a good editor couldn't clean up in a few weeks easily.

The story and the writing itself however are extremely good. I really enjoyed the whole thing, I liked the world and the characters. I -really- think you should send it in to DAW or someone like that. This is definitely as good as what they put on the shelves at the bookstores. Heck, I think it's better than a lot of the stuff I already have plunked down my money for. If I run into you at a con I think I'll give you some cash just because I think you deserve it.

You are a very good writer and story teller. You should be published.

[Lochar]

Most of the problem with the Sennadar series is that since it's already published on the web, first rights are effectively gone. Most publishers won't touch something they don't get first rights on as a writer's first piece of work.

That said, I think Fel had plans to create a new world, semi-parallel to Sennadar and write a storyline in there.

[freethrow]

I found the same things when I first read the series. A truly enjoyable "many hours and hours" of reading.

You need to be sure and read Subjugation. It is still a work in progress too but just as good a read. The current chapter just finished will have you laughing out loud.

On the publishing idea, I feel this work should be published as well. Surely there is a way around the First Rights situation. I would think if a publisher would just read a few chapters they would see that Fel's work is a potential money maker.

[Banner]

I would suspect Bean would publish them. But lets be honest, for the quality of this, which is high, I don't think that it would hurt sales that much as long as it was pulled off the web. I know I'd -still- pick up a set of the books, just to have them in my library.

He's a great writer, he should be getting paid for this. So he'll write more

[Sbudda]

As someone who has ruined my eyes trying to read stories on the web, I would love to see a paperback or hardcover version of this. And also a movie, but I digress...

Fel, have you ever looked into self publishing? Maybe one of the drop-ship companies like CafePress, or maybe the smaller publishing houses like iUniverse, could be a good choice. Many of these are affiliates with Amazon or Barnes & Noble, which you have to admit would be pretty neat to see the series sold at one of these stores. Not to mention how neat it would be to have an ISBN.

As far as the concern that it existed online first, I can't imagine that this would seriously impact you for many publishers. MegaTokyo has always been available online, yet is still the highest selling American produced manga in history. None of the self-publishing houses seem to make you sign an exclusive contract, meaning they shouldn't really care about it being online either.

Considering that you have 500 forum readers, I'm sure that some would be willing to put up $20 or so to help out with publishing fees, in exchange for a signed first edition. I know I would. At the very least, I'm sure you could convince a hundred or so of us to read the series again with editor hats on to save a few more dollars.

I have spoken... errr...written. Wrote. Whatever.

[miraborn]

I would love to serve as one of the community of editors on this project. If we decide to do this, we should probably decide on a single format for doing this, to make suggested edits more easily correlated.

[Sbudda]

I would love to serve as one of the community of editors on this project. If we decide to do this, we should probably decide on a single format for doing this, to make suggested edits more easily correlated.

The easiest way to collaborate on this would be to reduce the stories to a plain text format (HTML or Latex would work if you wanted to keep various formatting information), and store it on a CVS system (like CVS or Subversion)

I'm assuming that most of you aren't programmers, so to let you know: CVS (concurrent versioning system) is what most programming projects are stored in. It allows multiple people to work on the same project while keeping a record of all the changes that have ever been made - and supplying methods to work out conflicts if two people are working on the same file. Sort of like a Wiki I suppose - but not exactly.

[Phantom]

I would suspect Bean would publish them. But lets be honest, for the quality of this, which is high, I don't think that it would hurt sales that much as long as it was pulled off the web. I know I'd -still- pick up a set of the books, just to have them in my library.

He's a great writer, he should be getting paid for this. So he'll write more

Baens Comments on Copyrighted material on the web (reposted from their site)
===============================================

Copyrighted Material on the Internet

Q. Is it okay to upload my story to my website and just post a link to it?

A. In general, it would be an extraordinarily BAD idea. Posting copyrighted material on a public website can be construed as _publishing it._ You could forfeit all salable rights except "one time," which is usually the retread remainder for a work that has already sold all first, second, and other specific rights. Posting with a plain and definite caveat of "This is (an excerpt of) a work-in-progress posted for commentary and criticism" _might_ cover you, but the internet is still a young medium, and the laws haven't been fully tested.
See http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html and http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html for more information.

The Bar is a semi-private forum, and the Slush Pile is definitively set up for commentary and criticism of works-in-progress. It may not have the established 'weight' of a group like Critters http://brain-of-pooh.tech-soft.com/critters/ , but it serves the same purpose. Few publishers would blink at being told the work had been finished with the help of a critique group, whereas many would give you a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" at hearing it had been posted to a public website.

=========
Final Points:

* Do not refer to these posts as "publishing."
* Do not post the entirety of a novel or similar long work on which you intend to sell rights.
* Do not post the final draft of a work on which you intend to sell rights.

There are contentions that any of these could negate some or most of your copyright to the work. Again, the law on this is still being sorted out.

Use the Slush conferences to get the rough spots off, and to see who is giving you good and steady feedback. Invite those people to join a private mailing list to help you with the final edits of the work, if you need it.

=================================================
you can find this and more ...on the Baen bar under FAQ's
http://bar.baen.com/WB/?boardID=Bar (you need to register (FREE) at baen before you can enter the bar )



Phantom