Will excerpts of a work now hurt publication later?

July 28, 2009 3:54 PM

If everything goes magically and a publisher is interested in my book sometime in the future, is it damaging to post excerpts on the Internet now, while I'm shopping it around?

I'm querying agents right now. That's all going fine, thank you for asking. If, hypothetically, I hooked up with an agent and a publisher, would there be huge problems stemming from me posting parts of the book in question right now?

I would love to create a little energy around the book up front using my site, but I don't want to create any unnecessary kinks.

Thank you for your help!

(In case it matters, this is a intermediate reader/young adult fantasy novel. No vampires are involved.)

posted by bobbyno to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Best answer: Both an agent and a publisher are going to bristle at an author doing their own (possibly half-ass, possibly damaging) promotion.

That's their job.

It sounds like you've got some things in motion. Hold off for a while longer and talk to the professionals about it.
posted by wfrgms at 4:11 PM on July 28, 2009

Best answer: wfrgms is 100 percent right. You can go the vetted print publishing route or the self-published online route, but not both. The latter will ruin your chances for the prior.
posted by thecolor12 at 4:14 PM on July 28, 2009

Response by poster: What? My promotion wouldn't be half-assed. Ha ha. Just kidding. Might have been, unintentionally.

These are the answers I needed!

(Indeed, a good rule of thumb for anything might be to ask "Am I trying to have it both ways?")

Thanks again!
posted by bobbyno at 5:01 PM on July 28, 2009

It....depends. I work at a major trade publisher in the US.

We buy and republish self-published works frequently. Not all the time, but once or twice a year. If what you plan to do with your work will actually create a following and demand, go for it. Try to use no more than the first chapter (which is commonly provided on publisher's websites as an excerpt anyway). You could also create additional content to set the universe, which might help you build a following better and wouldn't alienate a future publisher/agent.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:33 PM on July 28, 2009

It probably wouldn't be damaging in the sense that an agent or editor would see that you've posted bits online and immediately think "oh HELL no" or anything like that. If they like the book, it won't matter, really.

But. I'm having a hard time imagining a situation where it would help, either. If you have a high-profile enough website that posting excerpts would really build any sort of buzz, then you're better off just citing your site stats in your query/cover letters before selling the book, and then just mentioning on your site that you've sold a book once you've sold it. Then you've got real buzz.

A few things to keep in mind is that if you sell it, the very soonest from selling it that it will be available to buy would be one year. Probably well more than that. And it may take a long time to sell it. So posting excerpts would be very premature, in terms of prepping the public for it. And, especially in children's and YA, if you sell it, there will be revisions, often substantial revisions, between now and the version that gets published. So it would be premature in that sense as well.

But it wouldn't hamper a publisher from buying and publishing it if they wanted to, no. You're more in danger of looking just a little amateur.
posted by lampoil at 6:11 PM on July 28, 2009

It doesn't sound to me like you're talking about posting the whole book, right?

Speaking as an editor (the sort who acquires novels), seeing that someone's posted excerpts is almost never off-putting to me. We're talking about the first chapter or two, or several short (1000 words, say) excerpts.

If I'm put off by the posted excerpts, it's usually because the submission would have been rejected anyhow--it's poorly self-edited and full of grammatical errors, say.

I'll also admit that on more than one occasion, I've invited authors to submit a manuscript on the strength of excerpts that they've posted to their sites. It hasn't happened frequently, mind, but it's happened.

On the other hand, if I'm reading your post wrong and you're talking about posting the entire novel or substantial portions of it online, then yes, I'd find that problematic.
posted by MeghanC at 6:20 PM on July 28, 2009

I'd talk to an agent if I were you. Mine has told me that a big selling point for authors is their ability to market themselves. But timing is what's important there. In my case, we've currently guaranteed an exclusive first look to one particular publisher. If I started posting excerpts before they've had their turn, it would seriously harm my relationship with that publisher, especially because I'm a new author (children's novels). So, yeah. Seek out an agent if you can.
posted by katillathehun at 6:34 PM on July 28, 2009

If what you write is good (is it fiction or non-fiction? Fiction is probably easier to get away with than non) then a forward thinking publisher would be psyched to see that you already have a built in audience for what you've written, however if you've given away more than 20% (let's say, at the outside) they are going to have to be very forward thinking indeed. I'd suggest trying to get an agent and proposing that you give away x amount on the web beforehand as a major part of your publicity/marketing effort when the agent goes to the publisher. However, I work for a book publisher and I'm hopelessly conservative in this regard, even though my job, in part, is to figure out how to use the web in a productive way.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:04 PM on July 28, 2009

I'd also say, just to counter myself totally, that there are people who have released several of their novels on the web and then got print contracts, like David Wellington who released Thirteen Bullets and other novels. Genre fiction is a special case though, I think.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:14 PM on July 28, 2009

Both an agent and a publisher are going to bristle at an author doing their own (possibly half-ass, possibly damaging) promotion.
That's their job.

This is probably good advice in terms of a) posting significant extracts and b) posting them at this point in the process. But more generally you will be expected to do a lot of your own promotion, and if your author-agent relationship is anything like those I know personally, having a website with serious traffic and excited readers will be a big plus. "Leave it to the professionals" is an ethos that has largely not survived the current economic climate in book publishing. Most books, even successful ones, sell in surprisingly small amounts: a few hundred highly motivated fans, who follow your site and who are willing to buy the book and tell friends, can make a really significant difference.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 12:46 AM on July 29, 2009

i am not a publisher - but i am a bookseller and talk to publishers often and from what i hear they love love love when an author comes with a built-in audience - add to this the fact many publishers are slashing their staff these days, and that definitely includes staff that deal with publicity & promotion - you most likely will have to do some (if not most) of your own promotion

just be conservative with your excerpts, and limit them to the first chapter

if you're really that close to hiring an agent, tho, it can't hurt to just wait & discuss your ideas with them

good luck!
posted by jammy at 6:02 AM on July 29, 2009

I keep hearing of these podcasters who put their entire novel online (in mp3 form, not text) and then gee, they end up selling it.

So, I'd look up those people's publishers and write to them, 'cause clearly they don't mind too much.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:05 PM on July 29, 2009