Today, after working on my novel for two years, I found out that another book has recently been published with an almost identical plot. I was going to submit it to a publisher in two days. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, I came home to find two letters from a publishing house that I'd submitted my manuscript to. The first was congratulatory, stating that my book had been accepted for publishing. The second was apologetic, stating that the first letter had been intended for someone else. FML
Today, I realized that not only am I still an unpublished author, but I can't even get an FML posted after submitting several in the last year. FML
Today, I found out that my ten-page paper, which has taken me two months to construct perfectly and is worth 30% of my grade, was on the wrong book. It’s due tomorrow. FML
Today, I was reminded that I'd submitted a short story to a writing competition months ago when I got an email saying I'd won second place. I excitedly forwarded it to friends and family. A few minutes later, another email arrived, explaining they'd contacted the wrong person. My celebration lasted exactly eleven minutes. FML
Today, I handed in an internship assignment that I have been working on for months. Once submitted, a pop-up showed, stating the assignment was 100% plagiarized. What was it plagiarized from? A student paper. My own, to be more specific - the exact same paper I had uploaded seconds before. FML
Today, one of my colleagues was asked to rewrite an entire project, which I wrote last week. I'd spent more than 4 days writing it. FML
Today, I found out that a family member found a publisher for his book; his badly written, terribly sourced, historically inaccurate book that insults and misrepresents most world cultures and religions. If this actually makes it to print, I'll never be able to use my maiden name again. FML
Today, I finished a huge project for work. It took 3+ days and I was very proud of it. Except when I submitted it to my boss, he said that he'd already asked another person to do it. He used that person's project, not mine. FML
Today, after submitting a 500-word essay to a writing contest, I found out that I lost to someone who wrote 3 sentences. FML
Today, I bought a book by a #1 bestselling author, hoping it would distract me from having my manuscript rejected, as well as learn what made their book so successful. Now I realize I need to say stuff like, "I wish I had great boobs (hehe... boobs)" to get my works published. FML
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Top comments
CoyoteOldOne 17
I used to be in publishing. Trust me, submit the book. There are lots of books that have very similar plots. As an author, who is very close to your own material, that other book may look like it's almost your story, but your story is still your own. Stephen King wrote The Stand, and Robert R. McAmmon wrote Swan Song. They're almost the same exact plot. They're also both fun, enjoyable, worthwhile novels, and the world would be a little poorer without either of them. Romance novels all have the same three (some say five) plots, and they bring lots of pleasure to the readers. Write the story you want to tell, and share it with whoever will read it. And if a publisher doesn't want it, publish it yourself (get an editor though). There's no rule that only one person can ever tell a story ever. Your version may resonate with different (or the same!) people than someone else's. You aren't an author because you told the story first. You are an author because you write stories.
manb91uk 22
Similar stuff has happened to me. The only thing you can realistically do is see if you can retweak certain plot points or elements into a new story. Either that or scoop up your already flashed-out characters and see how they fair in a different context. Sorry about your idea though - at least you’ve actually completed a project!
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Comments (12)
manb91uk 22
Similar stuff has happened to me
manb91uk 22
Similar stuff has happened to me. The only thing you can realistically do is see if you can retweak certain plot points or elements into a new story. Either that or scoop up your already flashed-out characters and see how they fair in a different context. Sorry about your idea though - at least you’ve actually completed a project!
lonelyny1945 8
Came to post this same FML, but I guess someone beat me to it by a couple days.
CoyoteOldOne 17
I used to be in publishing. Trust me, submit the book. There are lots of books that have very similar plots. As an author, who is very close to your own material, that other book may look like it's almost your story, but your story is still your own. Stephen King wrote The Stand, and Robert R. McAmmon wrote Swan Song. They're almost the same exact plot. They're also both fun, enjoyable, worthwhile novels, and the world would be a little poorer without either of them. Romance novels all have the same three (some say five) plots, and they bring lots of pleasure to the readers. Write the story you want to tell, and share it with whoever will read it. And if a publisher doesn't want it, publish it yourself (get an editor though). There's no rule that only one person can ever tell a story ever. Your version may resonate with different (or the same!) people than someone else's. You aren't an author because you told the story first. You are an author because you write stories.
manb91uk 22
That’s good advice too! There aren’t really that many (if any) truly original stories out there these days
Niniva 8
I'll go one further: Interest comes in waves. If this turns into a hot trend for the next few months, you could see a boost in sales.
James Thompson 8
As the saying goes... all the original ideas have been taken. Maybe rewrite it to take place in space!😂
RichardPencil 32
No one cares about the plot. As long as your sex scenes are steamy and dirty, you’ll be creating great literature!
novdestiny 23
Absolutely submit it. the year Harry Potter came out there were several similar books.
WeirdUS 30
Submit it for sure. Harry Potter does have a some amount in common with The Worst Witch and The Hunger Games is pretty much a rip off of Battle Royal. I'm sure you'll be ok.
Razell 13
You're not going to find an original plot. They've all been done. how you execute that plot is where your book will stand out. Best of luck with the submission, and if all else fails, you can self-publish.