About unpublished works

[ArielRacing]

In the last months someone auctioned a photocopy of The Star Invaders, one of the first works written by King that remains unpublished.

Considering there are so many in the same condition (I remember "Charlie", "The aftermath", "Sword in the darkness", "The house on value street" and "The pretenders" among several others), is there any chance that the experiment made with The Cannibals repeats?

I understand that King doesn't want the works to be published due to their quality, but it'd be nice to see at least a couple of pages scanned here in the official website, just for the fans (which are the ones that visit the website in the first place).

Just a thought.

[Moderator]

That would have the same result as publication except for the exchange of money. It's about not wanting those to be available for the public to see and putting them on the internet might actually be even worse than publication because it would make them accessible to a much larger audience. He may consider an exception at some point, though.

[ArielRacing]

Oh, maybe I didn't put it properly.

What I meant is that several of those unpublisher works could be partially reproduced here like The Cannibals

Hope he makes that exception some day! Thanks, Mod!

[bobledrew]

This is an interesting intersection between what we fans want and what SK is willing to give us.

I would like -- for my own reasons -- to read all of his stuff. Whether or not he's published it or not.

SK may feel that some of his work isn't up to his own expectations, or (like Rage) is just inappropriate to publish.

When do I, as a fan, have the 'right' to read his stuff. When does he as the writer have a 'right' to not share his written work with me or anyone else?

This reminds me of Ray Bradbury's story "In a season of calm weather" I love me a thread that makes me think of SK, Ray Bradbury, and Picasso in quick succession.

[Mr Nobody]

I'd love to read some of these things, regardless. But as the writer he has to have final say. What I/we want doesn't really enter into it. The stories are his; they wouldn't exist without him - even if he's right about stories being discovered things, they wouldn't have been discovered his way.
Equally, I'm always fascinated by the way other writers' minds work, especially the successful ones. It's not a surprise that they don't always want to share - and who among us wouldn't relish even a quick chat with the man himself? - so it's another case of 'you can't always get what you want'.

[Timmy]

This is an interesting intersection between what we fans want and what SK is willing to give us.

I would like -- for my own reasons -- to read all of his stuff. Whether or not he's published it or not.

SK may feel that some of his work isn't up to his own expectations, or (like Rage) is just inappropriate to publish.

When do I, as a fan, have the 'right' to read his stuff. When does he as the writer have a 'right' to not share his written work with me or anyone else?

This reminds me of Ray Bradbury's story "In a season of calm weather" I love me a thread that makes me think of SK, Ray Bradbury, and Picasso in quick succession.

I think the author has "the right" to share (or not share) whatever s/he see's fit. Part of talent is being able to judge your own material and determine what makes the cut... Conversely, I think the fan (or audience) has "the right" to critique work that is put out through publication. Fans are constantly comparing and contrasting. "I thought this was good, but such and such was better..." If the author, for whatever reason, does not want to listen to that for a particular work, then they just keep it to themselves.

[CCAL]

if I have the option to view a few pages or nothing-I'll choose nothing every time! I cant stand to just get a few pages & then suddenly the story just stops! its like checking out a book from library & too late discovering the ending is gone! see what I mean? please SK-no teasers please-we want the whole cake or keep it for yourself.
I never liked cliff hanger shows either...now I sound like Annie Wilkes!! lol

[Patricia A]

People have teased me by saying I'd read Stephen King's grocery list if I could, and I'd say nobody can write frozen peas like Stephen King.
I think that may be true but I wouldn't want to read anything he didn't want to share.... ok that's not all the way true but the sentiment is.
Let me put it this way, I'd hate to be left alone with an unpublished SK manuscript and asked not to read it.

[GNTLGNT]

People have teased me by saying I'd read Stephen King's grocery list if I could, and I'd say nobody can write frozen peas like Stephen King.
I think that may be true but I wouldn't want to read anything he didn't want to share.... ok that's not all the way true but the sentiment is.
Let me put it this way, I'd hate to be left alone with an unpublished SK manuscript and asked not to read it.

You think peas are great...ya oughta see what he has to say on a bag of frozen Okra...

[Hagie]

Just a thought, but if copies are being sold through eBay, the stories must have been published one way or another. Not by a 'big' publisher like Doubleday or Simon & Schuster, but Stephen has spreaded these stories in school-papers etcetera. What's wrong with these stories being published on his website as well? At least this would stop these photocopies (!) from being sold on eBay, which - I think - is only profitable for the dealers selling them (at far too high prices).
Ofcourse, the stories that Stephen REALLY doesn't want published only exist in his drawer / locker.