Discussion → OPEN TO PUBLISHED STORIES: PROS AND CONS

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    Gloria Garfunkel
    Jul 30, 08:26pm

    Pro: Greater variety of contributers of stories, lessons that can be learned from places that publish microfiction, opens up another level of conversation from diverse areas of the community.
    Con: More contributions means unpublished stories won't stay on front page as long. Still, this feels a bit like a Gulag to me. It's a Cafe after all. What do you all think?


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    Ann Bogle
    Jul 31, 01:20am

    Staying with unpublished may assist editors in seeking stories, as has happened with the Flash longer length group.


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    Gloria Garfunkel
    Jul 31, 01:55am

    I just find it hard to believe that editors really come combing for stories when they have these huge slush piles in their offices (having worked in book publishing). Is there actually a specific instance of an editor seeing the story in the group and saying, Hey, that's unpublished? I'm going to grab it. It sounds like a fairy tale, an urban myth, wishful thinking. What makes you think this can happen? It's like going to LA to be discovered as an actress. I'm a cynic. Convince me otherwise. Show me a "discovered" published story. I'd like to believe it's possible too.


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    Sam Rasnake
    Jul 31, 03:03am

    Two examples of work posted here / accepted at Blue Fifth Review:

    "Cahiers du Cinéma" by Marcus Speh
    http://www.fictionaut.com/stories/marcus-speh/cahiers-du-cinema

    &

    "Son of Goya" by Bill Yarrow
    http://www.fictionaut.com/stories/bill-yarrow/son-of-goya


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    Gloria Garfunkel
    Jul 31, 03:23am

    Were they "discovered" here, or just submitted and accepted despite being on the website? Because if the latter, there's no point in having a group just for unpublished microfiction. We may as well open it to everyone and get more of a mix. What do you think, Sam?


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    Sam Rasnake
    Jul 31, 03:31am

    I read them first here, and I asked for the pieces. Also, asked Marcus Speh if he'd be interested in expanding his piece - which he did brilliantly. He also added a note about publication in BFR.

    At the BFR site, I added a note indicating that the shorter version of the piece was published at Fictionaut.


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    Gloria Garfunkel
    Jul 31, 04:02am

    OK. So there is a logic to keeping this an unpublished only group. I needed a reason and you provided it. There will have to be another group for the published ones, where these stories can go when they graduate. Thanks, Sam, for your patient enlightening of the ignorant. I hope I wasn't overly obnoxious.


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    Ann Bogle
    Jul 31, 04:09am

    Marcus Speh's story, Cahiers du Cinema, is among his most important, regardless of publishing semantics and mechanics, and Sam relates that he found it that way and asked to publish it at BFR.

    Scott Garson did the same with me when he found my story "Inaccrochable" in the Flash (unpub'd available) group and asked to publish it at Wigleaf.

    (Off-topic): I list publications "at" Internet journals but "in" printed journals. It seems others are going with "in" in both media.


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    Gloria Garfunkel
    Jul 31, 09:05am

    This is extremely helpful to me as I have been living under the impression that posting a story on your personal blog can be death to its chances of publication in any journal, online or print, and have therefore blogged anonymously for several years, quickly removing the material within a few months of trying for publication. It has seemed very oppressive, since the exposure to readers on the blog was miniscule. Most of the stories I've written started as blog posts long ago. So the deal is sealed as far as I'm concerned: keep this an unpublished group, give unpublished pieces some space and exposure so they aren't crowded out by published pieces. It seems to have a real purpose to serve. Look at this amazing story Twedes you just wrote. I am humbled and corrected. Thanks so much.



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