This is my first new thread since joining so I hope this is in the right place and isn't a question answered elsewhere. I understand that if you write a short story, and post it on a forum it will be considered published and wont be taken up by elsewhere. But lets say I post a short story of 1000 words, but then expand it to some 4000 words without posting that version. Is it still considered a published work, or does the fact I have built on it make it a new piece of work and therefore unpublished? Does that make sense?
It has been brought up before. It's not cut and dried. Some publishers would consider it the same story, some would not. You're really best off submitting work you have never posted. You have more than one story in you, don't you? Submit something fresh, not a reshash of a previous favorite. A lot of new writers lack confidence. They won;t submit something unless they've vetted it to eveyone they can get an opinion from first. Resist the temptation! Te pieces of writing you put up first to get feedback on, treat those as your practice pieces. Love them for what they teach you about your writing, but don't keep trotting them out as an encore. When you submit, make it the coming out party for that story. When it comes out in print, do you want all your friends to say, "Oh hey, yeah. I remember this story. Congrats, buddy, good to see you finally got it published." Or would you rather hear, "Wow, this is really something. You wrote this? And you got it published. Congratulations!" And look at it from a publisher's point of view. Do you think Dean Koonts posts versions of his stories before he submits them? Or Sue Grafton? Any of the authors whose books line your shelves? No. It's not very professional. And publishers want to deal with professionals.
