Is www.writing.com good?

Question:

Is www.writing.com good?

Is www.writing.com a good website for new writers to show case work?Is it a real site or just a place to show off work?I have a short story i'd like to get out there.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Before you consider "showing off" your story you should consider the facts. By doing so, you are almost 100% certain of never being able to publish the work professionally. More and more publishers are starting to decline any work that has been posted on the internet previously. Why? Two reasons ... 1) The internet is a virtual smorgasbord for plagiarists. There is no way you can stop anyone from cutting and pasting that work and placing their name on it. Even if you could prove it was yours first, it would be a lengthy and expensive court battle that frankly wouldn't be worth the money or the effort. 2) Many of these sites have fine print stating anything published on their site is their property. I got burned that way myself. For a publisher to accept a story posted online, it would involve a ton of legal work for the legal dept to establish conclusive ownership, and frankly it is just too costly for them. Imagine the legal battle if the same material was accepted by another publisher - with another author's name on it.???The best way - in fact the ONLY way - to prevent this is by simply NOT posting online. I closed my personal website down long ago. I have been asked repeatedly to post something here or a link to something but I wont. '

If you just write stories for fun and you dont care if it's stolen, then fine - post it. However if you have any thoughts of entering it in a contest, or sending it to a magazine or publisher, keep it off the net.

Best advice you will ever get here. Pax - C