Hi everyone,
I'm in the process of launching my own website, and I am interested in using it to promote my creative writing. I am however concerned that by publishing my work, for example poems, short stories etc I might be negating my opportunity to put said work into competitions and or other forms of publishing.
what do you think?
Is it a useful tool to have your own website? And what is the best way to use it to promote your own work.


Thanks


Alison

Hi Alison!
My understanding is that some comps/publishers etc take a dim view of work that has been showcased on the web at all, and this would make it already published. (Although others here will have much more precise info I'm sure.) I think though that if you limit access, as we do here in groups and Private members section etc, you're better placed- but then you'd have to make your work only viewable by people you invite... is your main aim to want to get your work read as widely as possible?

Yes, I think lots of competitions specifically state that work must not have been published anywhere other than closed forums (like WriteWords), so I'd be very careful about posting anything other than snippets of anything you wanted to try to have published.

What if you were to password-protect work until after it had been entered in a contest, and then (assuming the competition rules allowed), you could make the relevant piece public? (I use Wordpress this way, password protecting individual posts.) That way you keep everything in one place, but don't give away your first time publication rights too early. (So goes my theory, at least, I'm no expert, but perhaps those with more experience will know.) Also, if (when!) you get published or placed in competitions, you can use your website to link to the competition results, or to reviews, or to pieces of yours published elsewhere online, so that your website functions as a hub and a showcase.