I am submitting a story or two to online literary magazines out there. Most publishers want unpublished stories only, so I guess my first question is, is posting on Lush considered "published" for these purposes? No editor accepted it, or paid me. It was just considered grammatically correct and didn't beak the TOS.
Assuming the answer is no, I want to, at least temporarily, take the story off Lush. I chose "Hide story" on one of my stories here but I can still find it with a search. Is the only way to make a story disappear to delete it?
For professional and semi-professional publications, writing is considered published if it has previously been made available anywhere. That means Lush and any other website, including personal sites and blogs.
It’s not about whether the writer’s been paid. If thousands of people have seen the story on Lush, then you aren’t able to provide first/exclusive publication rights, which is what many such publications require. In such matters, you can only submit previously published material if a publication’s submission guidelines specifically say so. In the rare cases when this isn’t mentioned, always enquire before submitting.
If you breach a publication’s submission guidelines, the story will almost certainly be rejected without it being read. Plus, the author will become persona non grata if a publication accepts a story, only to discover later they are not getting what they’re paying for. Then you’re talking about contractual issues that are beyond my knowledge.
Hope this helps.
Depending on the literary magazine and the editor, they may not mind that it once appeared on a website, if it is now down. It really depends on the newness of the online mag, if you do revisions, and how much the editor (or slush reader) likes it. Most submissions give the option of a cover letter. I would be very honest there, so no editor feels misled.
