h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Regarding copyright, I would have thought emailing a copy, or synopsis and representative chapters to (and/or from) a web-based email account (or several accounts) might be an idea. As long as the mail wasn't deleted, it should provide good evidence of when you had the text in your possession.
Emailing to an account where the mails were downloaded to a PC would be less good, as the company hosting the mail account may not keep a record of the mail for a terribly long time.

If you were worried about security, you could encrypt the data first. (Likewise if you were mailing copies to friend's webmail accounts, - that way there'd be no risk of blaming the wrong person if copies went astray.)

Or mail it direct to the US copyright department. If you copyrighted it in the US on a certain date, then you obvoisly had it, and the document was then in the public domain.

(copyrighted it in the US? Does it have to be there?!)

Sorry, I meant to come back sooner. All this stuff about copyright is quite unnerving, since it's not only writing I do (there's pictures, clothes designs and fadge knows what else I thought would be a good idea at the time.)
It is a work of fiction, quite long (can't remember the exact word count) and has been severely gone-through by me and several others- and I have some brutally honest friends. With red pens. (Ok, so only 2 of them have seen the full version but that's their problem since they keep forgetting to give it back. Or are too busy.)
I'll save time on editing because I can actually spell, though.
I thought of sending short stories first, to magazines etc. since they seem more willing to go with new material. Is this a good course of action?
I actually prefer to let strangers read my stuff, rather than family/friends since I care less what they think. (I'm not the most confident of people.)
As little as 1% of books are new ones? That's not reassuring. Sad that they're willing to publish piles of frothy 'chick-lit' nonsense and nowt new... but I spose there's a market for it. Sigh...
ok, now post something optimistic.

Optimistic? Hmm... At lest you know that someone gets through. A friend of our family wrote a semi-historical fiction book and it got published. It's called 'Bermuda 1817' by Joan Brodie, and I have a free copy of it sitting on my shelf at home.

The 1% are from unsolicited manuscripts - the other 99% are also new, its just that the publisher approaches the author/agent rather than the other way around...

Good for them. There was an article in the daft press today about 'there's never been a better time to send your book off!', and seemed to advocate giving up your job to write 'the novel inside' if it's something you've always wanted to do. (If you've always wanted to do something... then why haven't you done it yet?!)

I just mention the US because their system for copywrite requires you to register a document at the copyright office. So it's a simple firtst to the post system really.

Is it different in the UK? And where are these Patent Offices & such, anyway?

yes, I'd still loik to know. curiousface

So, I'm not the only one dredging posts up from the (moderately) distant past.

Nope, I'm still interested.

Any original work by you is already copyrighted by law in Britain. Proving you did it is another matter. The easiest way is to deposit the manuscript in a bank account - better still, just keep a log of everyone you've sent it to, and keep all your mail.
Check out the Writer's and Artists Yearbook - it's the industry bible and will have all the information and addresses you will ever need.
But you're going to have to let someone take a look at it one day. Sending your work off is scary - I think a lot of people worry about copyright as a way of avoiding that horrible, delicious moment of complete vulnerability.

Not that many people have their work ripped off by publishers - it's usually other writers that rip it off. After all, if a publisher thinks it's good enough to publish and that you're capable of supplying more, it's not going to shoot itself in the foot.

This is all, of course, IMHO.

I looked into this a while ago. IMO copyright is the least of your worries, if your work is good enough for some one to steal it and publish it it's a cause for celebration. You can worry about proving it was you later...

The Writer's and Artist's yearbook is a good place to get started. Generally though, it's very hard for any new fiction writer to get published.

My plan is to get well-known for something else. Write a biography on the back of this, and then whack out some novels. That's if it ever happens of course.

Yet another hopeful writer to another; the mailing a copy to yourself thing depends on the postmark being legible. You might have to have more than 1 go!

I subscribe to Writers News (the monthly, physical mag. that comes by post). It has advice, news of publishing opportunities, a Helpline section, competitions etc, and I find it a good source of advice & inspiration for all types of writing. It includes Writing Magazine every other month, which is also available on newsstands, so you could take a look at that before deciding; but it doesn't have the news sections. I don't know if any public libraries subscribe to Writers News, but it might be worth asking (especially if you're anywhere like London).

There are also lots of websites for writers and 'aspiring writers' (but I suppose we're all writers, once we start anything!). They vary from those run by & for writers, to commercial ones, including vanity publishers. Steer clear of adverts, anywhere, that claim to be looking for writers to publish; they'll probably praise everything and then swindle you. But there are honest printers who also offer other services, for self-publishers. Self-publishing needs as much careful thought and planning as any other business.

Good luck! Luck does come into it, as well as inspiration and perspiration.

Vanity publishing is a waste of time.

Ta all.
detailed post to follow when I have thought about it and am on own computer...