The Internet has given writers more options to get their work to potential readers, and writers are increasingly publishing their books in ways other than the traditional print journals and book publishers. Many writers are now putting their work on Facebook, MySpace and their blogs. Whether stand-alone stories or serialized novels, authors are using the Internet in new ways to reach their audiences and interact with readers. "Blooks" are happening, but what next?

All this information and free access to stories can be a good thing. Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing and columnist for Locus, explains why free e-books help print sales. One thing aspiring writers should note: he didn’t put the text online until after he had a publisher.

When you're deciding whether or not to put your work on the Web, consider what your goals are. Do you want to get critiques, or have people to read your work, or eventually get paid for it? While you can get feedback quickly on the Web, you don't have a context for the critiques. Fluffy93 says you need to work on your characterization, while Michael, who claims to be an editor for an ezine, says you need to work on the plot. How much can you trust what they say when you don't know who they are? At least when you're rejected by someone at a publishing house you have the reassurance that whoever read it has some experience and expertise.

Then there's the legal issues and the question of whether your work is published if you put it on your blog. Well...once it's up for public consumption, it's considered published. The "is it published" question has been discussed over at Poetic Asides, and while they're talking about poetry, much of it can be applied to fiction.

While a few lucky individuals are getting book deals after publishing online, it's still a much smaller number than the ones who get published using the old fashioned query method.

You can go the ebook route, or just write on your website, or get published the traditional way, or some combination thereof, but before you start to post all of your hard work, ask yourself what you want to get from it all.