Talking about WIPs

On several of the loops where authors chat with one another and hope readers are listening, and on every loop I've found where the readers actually talk*, there's a phenomenon I'd never seen before venturing into e-:

Sharing excerpts, publicly!, of unfinished work. Not only the traditional "unedited" excerpts used as pre-release promo, but bits and pieces of things that haven't been fully written yet, let alone polished, subbed, and signed.

How soon is too soon to share WIPs** with the world?

I may not be the standard model of writer, but I'm the kind I know best; to me, a work in progress is just that. It's in progress, in flux, almost guaranteed to change! It's not ready to be shared. That doesn't mean I can't polish a few paragraphs into readability if I have some reason to, it's just...that excerpted section may not make the final cut. If there is a final cut. There may not be.

I write much, much more than I ever submit. Even assuming that everything I sub finds an eventual home (hasn't happened yet, but let's assume), that's maybe one piece in three of the ones I finish? And I don't finish everything I start. Sharing WIP-bits might seem a little pointless given those stats, but it's not really all that different from the uncontracted-work situation; could take the disclaimer, even. Enjoy at your own risk. This work may not ever be available. In the event this book reaches the world, the following excerpt may or may not appear in any way, shape, or form.

Do readers notice if this happens--if a WIP-excerpt never becomes anything more? Does it bother them? Do they ever feel let down, led on, betrayed? Does it seem like a tease? Cut to the chase: Would it keep them from buying the author's published work?

How do publishers feel about it? I assume that once I've signed a contract, I'm limited to the published-excerpt terms; before that, it's my own look-out. Great, yippee. But... How would a publisher react to a submission including an excerpt s/he'd seen on one or more loops? More or less favorably? What about a submission obviously related to that excerpt but not containing it?

And what happens later? I tend to write novella-length fiction, which means a fairly low word-limit for excerpts; it's tempting to use this apparent loop-hole to post something more comparable to other authors' offerings. But how would that affect reader-reaction later on, assuming that WIP became a contracted work due for release? Would loop-folks feel as if they'd already read the thing, having seen so much of it?

What's the protocol for WIP-excerpt sharing? Is there some primer for the practice, as there is for released works? What makes an author decide that yes, it's time to share--and which shared excerpts are best received? What would readers really like to see?

Is fiction like sausage, best enjoyed if you don't see the process, or more like "display cooking," where watching it happen is part of the fun?

Your humble sea-lily needs to know these things! She's got a character tied in a pretzel who's longing to show himself off a bit...

As always,

peace and x-rated joy

pxj



*And if you know any of those that accept erotic fiction, let me know! Please?

**Okay, so properly that's WsIP, but I don't know how to "say" that in my head, and I'm one of those readers who hears text. Besides, it looks funny!