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Originally Posted by grimo1re
My husband has written a novel..actually more than one. I *love* them but he's found the whole getting published process so painful he's given up and now his creations are gathering dust in a (virtual) desk drawer. Perhaps I should encourage him to publish under Creative Commons? Any ideas on that?
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Read the license and see if it fits your wishes.
I've seen two sorts of work issued under Creative Commons. In one case, the book has a paper edition, but the author makes an electronic version available. Cory Doctorow does this with his SF. He feels that a writer's problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity, and the wider you can make your distribution, the better you will sell. He's doing well enough from writing that he quit his full time job, so I think he has a point. Of course, Cory is blessed with a publisher (Tor Books) who is more clueful about this than most.
In the second case, the author simply wants to get the work out where people can read it, and issues it under a CC license in electronic form.
I guess the big question is what your goals are. If your husband
does wish to see his books published in an actual paper edition for which he'll be paid, CC issue may be a problem. Publishers of paper books might be scared away by the presence of a free electronic copy already in existence.
If you just want to get his work out there where folks can read it, CC licensing might be the way to go.
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The way he writes is to make a plot outline, we used to do that together. I have many happy memories of hammering out plot problems with him. Sometimes he'll collect photographs or images for the characters to flesh them out in his head. Once he's happy with the plot he'll sit down and write the whole thing from start to finish. He'll come home from work, put on some headphones and write. He'll keep doing that until it's finished and he'll go through a couple of drafts.
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Every writer has a different approach. The standard method of submission for a novel once you have a track record is outline plus sample chapters. For a new unpublished author, a full manuscript is a better idea. Until they've worked with you for a while, a publisher can't be sure you'll actually
finish a book you sent an outline for.
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Dennis