about sample chapters on websites

About the first chapter--depends on the publisher. I do it with the full support of my publisher, and big name authors like Jacqueline Carey do the same thing. It's a great promotional tool.

As for the short story, I have no clue. My instinct tells me that if you put up a short story, you should be prepared to forego submitting it for publication. But, I'll let someone who actually WRITES short stories to chime in on that. The shortest thing I've ever written is my name.

Celina "Epic" Summers

Don't put a whole short story on a website that has open traffic. The only publishers I know of that might take it at that point are an online podcast group. Sometimes publishers will make an allowance if you have very, very few visitors to your website but why limit your submission possibilities that way?

A sample chapter should be okay, but I highly suggest that you go through the usual polishing, beta readers, repolishing, honing, obsessing, etc. before you put anything related to your novel on the web. It doesn't happen a lot but editors do sometimes Google to see what a potential author has been up to and if they're not impressed with the sample on your website it might give them an excuse to pass. Again, it's something that may not be worth the risk. That's my unpublished author opinion, though. Hopefully some wiser, published authors or actual agents and editors will pipe up and give you advice. Also, I'd search AW because I'm pretty sure this question has been asked before.

There is a certain amount of disagreement over this. I would say that a sample chapter is not going to spoil anything, since it is a good and common PR practice. Putting a whole novel or a short story in public view does fit most definitions of publishing.

Another thing to consider is, how much do you want to leave sitting around for unscrupulous content scrapers to walk off with?

And I second what kzmiller said about having unpolished work on view. Echh, I've seen some.

I should add that a certain time after your short story is published the rights revert back to you. How long that is depends on the contract. I believe a year or two is typical. At that point you can post it on your website. So sell that short story first and then you can have it dress up your website later with a nice little subtitle: Originally published in Big, Flashy Magazine, the October double issue!

I put up a sample of part of the 1st chapter on my blog, but then again, not a lot of people go there! haha! it was mostly to show my mom what I was doing and to keep some friends informed.
I wouldn't want to put any more than that, just because I'd be worried someone would use it or something (not that the 1st draft is all that great!)

If you put up a whole story, you can only sell it as a reprint.

If it's a reprint already, hey! No problem!

First chapters are fine ... everyone does 'em (do talk with your editor first, though).

There's even some evidence that putting up the whole novel just increases the sales of the paper version. Certainly Cory Doctorow's experience, coupled with the example of the entire Baen Free Library, points in that direction.

An author's biggest problem isn't piracy. It's obscurity.

Yeah, if it's already published, then it's a great idea. If it isn't yet, and you intend to get it published then hold off. Getting your work plagiarized is a big risk.

bkwriter said:

Know any good magazines that take sci/fi/fantasy?

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Analog, Asimov's, F&SF ... lots of magazines.

Which magazines do you read?

Sample chapters are usually okay. A whole short story would rule out the vast majority of magazines, except those that don't mind reprints.

bkwriter said:

Thanks everyone for the advice. Right now I'm holding off until I can revise my short story then really find a publisher. Know any good magazines that take sci/fi/fantasy?

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Duotrope has a comprehensive list of magazines (of all genres, but you can narrow down the search based on genre and payscale).

http://www.duotrope.com/

Don't post any of you writing on the net that's not copyrighted.

My chapters are quite short, so I'll probably post a few of them once the final draft is written. I've purchased books from unknown authors on the strength of online sample chapters. I think it would probably be a great way to generate buzz on MySpace, for instance.

And I'd put a little note at the bottom: "If you liked this, please tell a friend." Or something similar. Viral marketing.

Okay. Anthologies are a pretty easy market to crack. They aren't great for getting awards, but the over-all income and readership can be better.

Here's how to get into an invitation-only anthology:

Find an anthology. Note who edited it. Write to that person (with an SASE) asking if he/she is planning to do any more anthologies, and if so, may you submit? Odds are the reply will come with an invite (if the editor is, in fact, planning another anthology (and most of them are.))

Then: when the time comes, make sure your story is the best one in the anthology. This isn't too tough either.

The story by the big-name pro that the editor had to get in order to sell the anthology to the publisher won't be his best work. It may be a trunk story, or it may be something that he knocked off over the weekend. The stories by the editor's friends aren't going to be very good, but he can't turn them down after he asked them to write 'em. So that leaves you. You write something dazzling, and you either get slotted into the lead or the last position in the book (both good places to be). There you are, published in an anthology!

Now as to magazines:

Abyss & Apex, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Apex Digest, Asimov's Science Fiction, Aurealis, Boys' Life, Brew City Magazine, Cosmos Magazine, Cricket, Doorways Magazine, Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), Futurismic, Grantville Gazette, Interzone, On Spec, On The Premises, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Paradox, Serpentarius Magazine, Strange Horizons, Transmitter, Writers of the Future Contest, Wrong World,

That should keep you busy for a while. Remember, VERY IMPORTANT, get and read the guidelines and several sample copies before you submit anything to any market. You do not get a prize for submitting material that isn't within shouting range of what they publish. Each of them has a style. It's up to you, young Jedi, to understand the markets.

*Sighs in admiration*
*Hands James his Worth Your Weight In Gold award*

James D. Macdonald said:

Here's how to get into an invitation-only anthology:

Find an anthology. Note who edited it. Write to that person (with an SASE) asking if he/she is planning to do any more anthologies, and if so, may you submit? Odds are the reply will come with an invite (if the editor is, in fact, planning another anthology (and most of them are.))

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This really depends on the type of anthology, of course. It's not likely to work if the editor is someone like Sharyn November or Ellen Datlow

James D. Macdonald said:

Okay. Anthologies are a pretty easy market to crack. They aren't great for getting awards, but the over-all income and readership can be better.

Here's how to get into an invitation-only anthology:

Find an anthology. Note who edited it. Write to that person (with an SASE) asking if he/she is planning to do any more anthologies, and if so, may you submit? Odds are the reply will come with an invite (if the editor is, in fact, planning another anthology (and most of them are.))

Then: when the time comes, make sure your story is the best one in the anthology. This isn't too tough either.

The story by the big-name pro that the editor had to get in order to sell the anthology to the publisher won't be his best work. It may be a trunk story, or it may be something that he knocked off over the weekend. The stories by the editor's friends aren't going to be very good, but he can't turn them down after he asked them to write 'em. So that leaves you. You write something dazzling, and you either get slotted into the lead or the last position in the book (both good places to be). There you are, published in an anthology!

.

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This is what happened to me.... I was invited to submit to the anthology Tell Tales IV The Global Village and my story (the first I'd ever "written", and is actually an excerpt from a trunk novel) was accepted. It is coming out in October. Payment is £350.

This is a good place to submit for the next edition, Tell Tales V; I think there is one every year, so keep this in mind for 2009 and get writing!
http://www.telltales.co.uk/

As well as producing a successful publication, Tell Tales acts as a platform encouraging new talent and providing exposure to writers who may previously have found it difficult to get a step-up in the literary ladder.

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Michael Murphy said:

Don't post any of you writing on the net that's not copyrighted.

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Isn't it ALL copyrighted the instant you write it?

My publisher was happy for me to put up an excerpt of each of my first two books on my site; a short story I have in an anthology is partially excerpted on that publisher's website. A "sneak peek" is good marketing. Just be sure you run it by your publisher first, mostly to make sure you're all on the same page about the format and how much to offer.

Do you think it would be a good idea to post a chapter or two (my chapters are not long) even before finding a publisher or agent?

James D. Macdonald said:

If you put up a whole story, you can only sell it as a reprint.

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Is this true of the SYW section of AW or only open websites?

Judg said:

Do you think it would be a good idea to post a chapter or two (my chapters are not long) even before finding a publisher or agent?

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My personal guess would be no -- though it is only a guess, and not backed up by any agent or publisher authority. But I know I tinkered with my book straight through to the day that I discovered it was sold, changing a few words here, a scene there, or even ripping out a whole chapter. Why increase pressure on yourself by posting chapters that you might have to amend/repost/delete/etc.?

That's the magic phrase: open traffic. I often take my blog posts and develop them into essays, but when I prepare to rewrite and sub those essays to publishers, I pull down the blog posts that gave birth to them. Also, typically, by the time a blog post becomes essay, they are radically different and more polished. So, no to keeping a finished, polished story/essay on your website if you want to publish it.

kzmiller said:

Don't put a whole short story on a website that has open traffic.

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