Is it safe to create a wiki for a book (or something featured in it) before the book is published?
I'm working on a sci-fi novel, and it contains a lot of fictional creatures, which are in some ways separate from the novel because I came up with them a while before I actually got the idea to write a novel.
Would it be safe to create a wiki for my creations before the book is published (and before I've gone through the hoops of copyright etc)?
For clarity in light of the answers so far:
- The reason for the wiki would be that basically I think others might find the creatures I've created interesting (even if I never did publish the book), and I'd like to see what others (who like fiction) would do with them.
- Others could use the descriptions of these creatures to create illustrations and artwork, and I and others would enjoy this I'm sure.
- @Xqyz Well part of the value for me, is that in this age of everything being electronic, some things can be publicized before they are finalized. So, I guess seeing as I will likely publish first in ebook format or something, and I'm hoping to get a community around the whole concept in the novel - a wiki with the creatures would be of great value to me. If others create new species from what I've created for example, I would love that :) (this was originally a comment)
- I'll add some more reasons as I get my thoughts together ;).
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I'd be very wary of trying to create buzz and a community around an unsold novel.
Here are possible issues I see:
- First and foremost: you can run into copyright problems if it is not plainly clear that you are the author of your creations. For example, if anybody could edit the entries, your copyright over the entries might be severely weakened.
- Even if your own copyright is established, many of the same issues with fan fiction likely apply.
- Letting people play around with your ideas - particularly in a forum you're involved in and implicitly approve of - can open you to claims that you've used others' ideas without credit and compensation.
- Letting people use your material in ways that may reflect poorly on your novel would make your novel very unattractive to publishers.
- Lack of care enforcing your copyright could conceivably lead to you losing it. This would have to be pretty extreme - but then, you're setting this up as kind of a joint creation.
- Bear in mind that your novel may go through substantial changes and revisions during editing and publishing. Do you really want to commit publicly to so much of your setting's detail before the novel's even finished?
Along with all this, though, I'd say if a wiki site sounds cool to you - then it'd probably make for great promotion later on, when you'll have the book ready and the publisher signed.
And if you think it'd be cool right now - not to speak of building up a fan-base, which is very desirable - why not do something similar, but less inherently tied to your work-in-progress? You could even use a lot of the same ideas - with twists, and name-changes, and room for other people to put in developments you have no intention of putting in your novel. That'd still get you a community of people interested in the kind of thing you're doing - and they'd know you as the site's founder. And you wouldn't be risking control over the creations you intend to sell elsewhere.
Good luck to ye :D
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I am not a writer but I would think it's not a great idea to detail out your own idea regarding a novel that you will be writing in the future for public to see. What do you hope to gain from doing this? If you are looking for constructive criticism, I would think you can wait till at least you have a rough draft ready so that you can pretty much claim this being your idea that you already put into work. Quick check on google shows that you have to send in your actual work to copy right office. I would think google is your best friend but personally, I don't think it's great idea to put up a wiki before your book is secured with copy right.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/3088. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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