'published online' - what does that actually mean?

alfa beta

hey folks

I've been entering a few poetry and short story competitions lately and when scanning through various sets of rules I've noticed that entries are normally only accepted on the grounds that they haven't been published elsewhere.

Being pretty much 'unpublished' myself this is never a problem!

However on two occasions recently I came across the following formula of words and I'm curious as to how others would interpret them:

"Entries must not previously have been published, self-published, published online or broadcast."

Now, it's the 'published online' bit I'm curious about.

You see, I've posted poems, prose and stories here on boards, you know, to see what people think of them, to maybe get some feedback from helpful moderators (that's you pickarooney!!), to take on board criticism (if it comes) and use that criticism to improve what I've posted. Basically I see this forum as a bit of a sounding board and I find it quite helpful when used in conjunction with my other sounding board (ie: the one I'm married to!)

The other thing I find the forum handy for is establishing copyright - certainly beats mailing registered envelopes to yourself and all that.

So, in a nutshell, I personally would not regard posting something here on boards as 'publishing it online' - but then again that phrase is open to interpretation and I guess it could be argued that by posting something here, that's exactly what's being done.

Right now, I have two poems already posted on boards that I want to enter into a competition which doesn't allow for entries to have been 'published online'. I sorta don't want to email the organisers with my query, for fear of getting a straight 'no' response - as that may be the easiest course of action for the recipient of my query to take should they not be familiar with the type of place that boards is....so I was just wondering what others here think.

So do you think a posting here constitutes 'online publication'? (or do you, like me, feel its more like a discussion forum where like minded people can check out early drafts of creative work in advance of it being anywhere near a publication stage.)

Would be interested in your views.

pickarooney

Email them from a new address, with a false moustache. If they say no, then you have your answer and you can decide if you want to chance it or not.