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Underground > Creation >

Publishing Anonymously

04:30 / 07.02.02

a new fiction magazine, nemonymous, has been asking for stories - those published will carry no clue as to the author, until the next issue. this has undoubtably been done before, but could you, would you, have a story published where the reader might never know your identity?

i have not submitted, for technical reasons (not knowing how to cut and paste a story to an e-mail). if someone shows me how to do this, will i then submit? i do like the idea of ego-less publication, although the other side of the coin is that i've had stories with editors, accepted and awaiting publication, for years. my name is known in certain sci-fi/horror circles, and that usually means editors actually look at my work when i send it to them. can i afford not to have my name associated with my work?

Kitten Caboodle

07:44 / 07.02.02

See what happens when you send them something. Send what you consider to be your best story and your worst, anonymously, from different email accounts.

It depends on how well known you are/how well you get paid but from my very limited experience of short fiction publication I would say that the pay is so pissy that financially at least you can easily afford to publish a story anonymously. In terms of stature/reputation, it depends entirely on the merits of your story. It could even enhance your standing (voted best story despite nobody knowing it was you kinda thing). NB in this case make sure to send the crap one under a pen-name.

Plus if your good story's really good there'll be a buzz about it and everyone will want to know who this hot mystery person is.

10:18 / 07.02.02

basically what i think you are asking is should you submit anonamously. I would say no because as an editor I like to have an idea of what the author is capable of, and that they have been published before etc. definitely makes pay more attention when reading.

As for publishing anonamously, much of the kids book stuff i write is published anonamously - but i guess that's pretty different cos its non fiction stuff an arena where there is not much ego to begin with...

19:05 / 07.02.02

sfd, I'm assuming you've got your wordprocessor and your email program on the same computer?

then all you do is highlight the story in the wordprocessor (select all should do it), then copy it. Open up your email prog, open up a new email and then select "paste" from the edit menu. voila.

as for submitting anonymously, it intrigues me. it would be a counter-egotistical move for me to do such a thing, which makes me think it'd be good for me. I think I'd probably submit. In fact I think I might. is this an online mag?

m.

19:21 / 07.02.02

hmmm i think i might be mis understanding the problem here...

07:05 / 08.02.02

i think i must have phrased my original post very badly. many thanks for the tips on how to cut and paste. basically, i was interested in the concept of how much ego plays a part in getting published, although this could be asked of any area of creation.

i will submit a story to the mag (which is paper, not online). i do like the idea of the stories appearing being equal, in that people will read them without having judged them by name/gender etc. and i did have an idea several years ago of submitting stories, never using the same name more than once. i gave up the idea after hearing about the 'slush pile' and how editors barely glance at writers they haven't heard of.

i'll be honest: i want people to know who i am, and to have respect for my writing. after one story was published, the next issue carried loads of letters raving about my story. it pushed me to want to write more, and better, because there is a definate point to what i write, but it did make me feel good, too. but i'll submit a story to this mag to spite my ego.