i believe the name was the most hated person or man cant remenber
I believe the story you want is "The Most Hated Man" by Ron Dudderie. Unfortunately he had taken it down. It is for sale on his website. Just look in his blog to find it.
Lonny
His latest story on SOL is a pared-down version of the story he has for sale. Isn't he stretching the 'teaser' rule?
AJ
Isn't he stretching the 'teaser' rule?
not if it's a completed story that makes sense.
Isn't he stretching the 'teaser' rule?
not if it's a completed story that makes sense.
As long as the reader doesn't know that there are missing chapters it's no different than if they were edited out.
If the author tells the reader that an apparently complete story is incomplete in order to sell the complete version, does that cross the line? I don't know. Lazeez drew the line so it's his call.
If the author tells the reader that an apparently complete story is incomplete in order to sell the complete version, does that cross the line?
If the author tells the readers there is more in the version for sale, then yes, it's a teaser and it won't be allowed.
@garymrssn
If the author tells the reader that an apparently complete story is incomplete in order to sell the complete version, does that cross the line?
If the author tells the readers there is more in the version for sale, then yes, it's a teaser and it won't be allowed.
Sometimes I like to play devil's advocate:
There are many stories by well known authors out there, where the author wrote first a short story, and later expanded this short story to a novel. Sometimes s/he used the same title for both.
How could the author inform her/his readers on SOL that he had reworked this short story and it's out for sale as a novel? (that's without violating the rule?)
HM.
FYI and just as an example:
David Weber's "A Beautiful Friendship" was first part of the anthology "More than Honor".
In the novel the copyright statement reads:
Copyright © 2011 by Words of Weber, Inc.
An earlier version of "A Beautiful Friendship" copyright © 1998.
We have had several authors that have cleaned up and maybe rewritten parts of their stories for commercial sale, and have mentioned their availability in their blogs. Some have even enlarged the story and stretched it out to novelette or novel length, as Weber did. As far as I am concerned, as long as the story they posted here is complete and terminated like a story should, I have no problems. It is when the story just stops and the author says the rest is available on my website or at one or more online booksellers that I consider it a teaser. For any of you that have visited 'Collected Driblets of Baen', those are teasers, but that is clearly stated up front, and the presented chapters don't pretend to be a complete story.
In this case, the author has dropped the first part of his story which seems like a prolog more than anything. The missing section doesn't have much to do with the actual story and seems mostly connective tissue from the first books in the series.
The first books are no longer on SOL, so new readers who want to read the instalments have to buy the books.
AJ
Just IMO but he is clearly using SOL for promoting/teasing readers into purchasing his work. I do not have a problem with perse other than the series is mediocre at best. I read the first book and a half or so before losing interest for a number of reasons. But again just IMO.
I don't see a problem since the current story is complete and self contained.
If the author in question follows his previous practice, a week after he is finished posting this story, it will be removed. A message in his blog will point everyone to his website, where a longer version may be purchased.
Since this is the first story he's clipped a prologue from before making it available for sale, it's not really a previous practice.
I do get that some might be annoyed by the author's motivation in taking the story down a week after it's complete. In action, though, there seems to be little difference between announcing that a story will be coming down soon after it has been posted and the authors who take story down to try to sell months and years later.
Since this is the first story he's clipped a prologue from before making it available for sale, it's not really a previous practice.
Does that mean you bought the complete story so you know how large a coverage was devoted to Edwin's birth?
AJ
No. I took his blog post at it's word. And I have been reading along as the story has I've had time and it doesn't seem like it has much to do with the baby.
Sure is. If someone paid for it it would be interesting to find out what was cut. It's a fair sized book as it's published here, though... and I'm sure he didn't type it on InDesign so I would imagine that it's 100 pages in Word or whatever. For me that would be about 50,000 words. Big for sure, but since the current story is more than twice that and seemingly still chugging through it's second act it doesn't seem like too big a deal.
I have found Laz and his helpers are very nice about checking stories or authors when I have doubts as to them following the rules. But then I do tell them "I am not sure about whatever looks like a violation." Done right there is no chance of an innocent writer being hurt. Yet the real rule violator will be caught before it goes to far. Sure this topic can possibly also help, but how will that author be checked unless they are named. A private message like I said can get them checked with little or no chance of doing harm. Nice part is I always got a reply from Laz after he checked what I was unsure about.