I would like your advise on something. I have a selection of Poems. -I write Poetry and short stories, well long ones too. 😊 AND also about other stuff, – as part of my creative writing.
Hence, I never contacted a publishing house or company to do it.
….. I used to have a Blog in blogger years ago; Thus I closed it down [because of security issues and a personal matter.] Where I DID self publish some of my Poetry and a few stories.
……… MOST of My creative writing and poetry I had written on my private Journals and had an entire mini collection of poems. Many of them, I Never shared them, because I was trying to form a selection of my very favorite ones and then when the time was right, I would just find a publishing house and publish them. So I thought.

As I was Writting them and adding to my mini collection,
Someone STOLE them. [As my personal accounts were also hacked.] Thus, the person that robbed My writings, had entry access to my bedroom, were I had at full displayed all my written journals, where I had saved all My poems and stories. The person that stole them, saved them into their iPhone and sold them to those hacking creeps. Then, my writings were abused and ended up all over the internet of things. Without my permition Nor my authorization.

》I AM Not a publish writer like you, Jim. Thus, through the blog and through here in WordPress; I self published a few of my poems. BUT never the ones I kept safe In All those journals. Those were very special for ME, before they were stolen, I treasured them like hidden gems. Waiting for the right time to finally select my predilect ones and then publish them.

After the incident, I kept writing and have add a few more to my collection. And many I already self published.

In All truth, I never really tried to publish Any of my writings, through a publishing company before. So I am not an expert on it.

But, I would like to know how it’s done and what do I need to do in regards to that. Or is it better to keep posting them as I been doing. ‘Self publish’ on this Site. Or go ahead and seek a publishing house instead. 🤷‍♀️

Could I have your intake on this.

Hi Karen,

A lot to cover here. Let’s go through one at a time.

Firstly, I hope you’ve contacted the police about the break-in, filed a report with them, and have consulted an attorney. There’s a lot of wrong there and that needs to be righted. If you’re hoping to publish any of the stolen works, I get them registered with a copyright first, so you’re on record, before publishing anything. I’m not sure what Canadian laws are surrounding this, nor am I an attorney, so I’d reach out to one first. You’ll want to establish ownership of the poems first and foremost.

Once you have that, I’d suggest you check out my post regarding publishing here.

Once that’s all set, you have several options at your disposal. If you want to send them to a traditional publisher, I’d put them together as a collected manuscript so that they have enough to publish in book form. You also have the option of publishing through the KDP or other online options. I offer some advice on how to go about that and making the decision between your options here.

Personally, I would consider going a different route if I were you, but this is just me. Consider taking a poem or two of yours and getting them published in a magazine or newspaper. There are several out there that willingly take submissions. Once you’ve had them published a few times, you’ll have a bit of a writer’s resume to send to traditional publishers. This is an avenue that short story and poetry writers have that those of us writing novels do not.

Whichever path you choose, make sure you cover all your bases and if you’re hoping to publish your stolen works, I really think you need to go the legal avenue first. Keep in mind, I am not a lawyer and am less familiar with Canadian copyright law than I am U.S. I imagine they are similar, but not exactly the same and in cases like this, small nuances can be everything.

Sincerely hope this helps get you started. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions and keep me updated on your progress as I’d love to see some of your work when it’s in print!

Good Luck,

Jim

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

You can also add me on Twitter!

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim