# Authors and the Board **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867 "2009-10-15T03:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/21 "2009-10-16T04:29:48Z")
I know I shouldn’t bump this thread or anything, but… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/22 "2009-10-16T04:43:38Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > So as late as the 1900s, people believed in sunken continents… But they knew no extra continents existed in modern times, right? So, the 1880s is too late of a time to set a story with an unknown continent? The 1840s? Re “knew”: are you talking about rational people? Nowadays people “know” the earth isn’t flat… except for the ones who insist that it is. So depending on how rational your characters are, the story could be set earlier or later. And re. bumping, please don’t do it, specially after such a short time. Give people time to answer or all you’ll manage to do is irritate them into silence. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/23 "2009-10-16T04:52:17Z")
Alright, I won’t do it. And as for people being rational: The story is set in an “Alternate Timeline” Earth, where the only difference is that this landmass exists. So their rationality isn’t on the line here; mine is. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/24 "2009-10-20T01:24:12Z")
Sorry for double posting, but it seems more appropriate to post this here than in a new thread. If I choose to upload a short story or a chapter-by-chapter full-length story on a forum to get reviews, will my decision raise any problems in later publishing that story, either as a part of a short story collection or as a full novel? I know many authors did this in the past with magazines, but the 'net may be a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/25 "2009-10-20T02:42:39Z")
If you do it here it becomes the intellectual property of the forum’s owners. So, don’t. You can create a webpage to publish your work, some people have done that and later published it in hardcopy. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/26 "2009-10-20T22:39:02Z")
What if I post the actual updates on my own website, but I tell people about it on a certain forum? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/27 "2009-10-20T23:26:54Z")
Not sure if it’s relevant, but as far as size goes, here is a list of [countries sorted by square kilometers](http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/world_statistics_by_area.htm). It turn out Afghanistan is EXACTLY 250,000 square miles, if that data chart and [this conversion calculator](http://www.escapeartist.com/Conversions/Square_Miles_Square_Kilometers.html) are accurate. So that’s pretty small for a lost continent. More than twice the size of New Zealand, but less than a tenth the size of Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/28 "2009-10-21T02:57:14Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > He didn’t take alot of time proofreading. 😉 I see what you did there, but I still think it _should_ be a word. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867/29 "2009-10-21T03:50:21Z")
Whoops. A lot. Sorry for that. English is not my native language, and I did not have a spell checker on the computer I typed that on. (Internet Explorer would not spell check for whatever reason). And indeed, it SHOULD be a word, like whatever, indeed, and unsportsmanlike. It has entered common usage, and in a few years, alot may be considered correct. As for 250,000 square miles: That area is also slightly larger than Madagascar. And it’s not a lost continent, just an unexplored island. It just so happens that an island of that size can support quite a bit of life. EDIT: And it seems “alright” is the proper spelling, while “allright” is wrong. Or did I make another mistake?😕 Damn English spellings… This is why I proofread AND have other people proofread some more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-and-the-board/513867.md?page=1)