Yeah that sounds like nonsense, I dunno. It's not like these are published FOR SALE.
You don't even need a publisher. All they do is advertise your story and a few other things, right? Work hard enough and you can do that yourself in a similar capacity a publisher can.
I'm not even sure how much the average author would make. I mean you're probably not gonna publish the next Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, you get me? So I wouldnt use them as benchmarks. I'd just ask people who self publish and are successful what they did. Successful meaning they can make a living off their writing alone
This is an age where people dont need third parties like a publisher anymore as long as they have some know-how.
Not that in saying you shouldnt go that route. You do you, mate. I would just do more research, see what's best for you. Cuz I do know a few people who seem pretty successful as self publishers. Ace Arriande being who comes to mind right now
As I've said before to people on this site - the most common fiction here is not commonly in print. For y'all self publishing works way better.
Self publishing seems so rosy, but in my research it is rarely as successful as a publishing deal. Most authors do not become Harry Potter. But they also get a check in advance for the publishing deal.
Yeah, but I've read a lot of books listed as "number 1 best seller" and cant name a single publisher. I know the authors. The common dude will know fuck all on who publishes the book.
I will admit that they will get the story out there better than you can alone, probably, but I'm not sure brand name plays as large a part as people think considering I doubt many people can even name who published the Hp books.
Is there a kind of monopoly, too? I feel like I only know like one or two big publishers who were affiliated with big name authors. Tho, again, I probably wouldnt even know for sure WHO published them. I read all kinda of novels, not just the top 1%, and of them all I still cant recall who published these stories.
I'm sure some people care about finding out who published their favorite authors. But the common reader, which makes up the majority, probably wouldnt. Which is why when it comes to novels I dont consider the brand name all that important, just the power of the company being able to market and advertise better than the average author.
It's not a brand name thing - it's that they get it out there. For people looking for a new fantasy novel to read, I'm sorry, but they aren't going to look on scribble hub.
They are going to find it in a book store, see an advertisement, or see the audiobook in a new releases section.
A publisher has expertise and connections. Even if an author knows how to get self published, it'll likely be more expensive and generally difficult.
It is deleted as far as the sites you posted at go.
That said, if pirate sites scrapped the content with bots and reposted it... Then it was reposted and it is there.
It's not like you can't do anything about it though. If a part of your work was published without your permission somewhere when you have an exclusivity contract, you should be able to send a DMCA to the pirate site. While them actually abiding to the DMCA is unlikely, you'll be doing your part in protecting your IP, which should probably be enough as far as the publisher cares.
Piracy is not my concern, just my publisher finding remnants of the story some how.
Frankly I'm just pissed that this is how it works. I had no idea this was a thing when I started posting my book on these sites. It feels like arresting someone for speeding when they didn't know what the speed limit was.
Edit every text and replace with AAAAAA until you meet word count required. Change the name of the novel to [REDACTED] as well as every chapter title. Delete every comment and stuff.
Even if they do find your novel, it won't be what you're showing them. Easy peasy lemon squeezy
I've already deleted the stories online - but I'm almost certainly going to change the name of my story, and adjust the beginning chapters.
I just hope that the publisher isn't desperate enough that they're digging through the way back machine for hours on end...
Okay, update - I am screwed.
If you search up the name of the main character, Irian + Wattpad, Scribble hub, or Royal Road, it brings up the synopsis of my story.
I don't know what to do because these stories are very much deleted. I wish I'd been smart enough to fill all the pages with different text...