Should I post my chapters on my website?

MoxieMoth · Dec 8, 2015

So a recent binge-listening of Sarah Enni's First Draft podcast has sent me into a rage of revising, querying, and overall self-promotion. I'm re-doing my blog/website, and have a question particular to agent attitudes towards what they find (or don't find) on an author's site.

Is it okay to post my query (or some sort of teaser) on my website, along with the first couple of chapters? Is there any scenario in which an agent would see this and think, "How flippant! Just leaving all these words out here in the open, covered in flies!"

Alternatively, is there anything I should be worried about in terms of thieving? Not when it comes to agents, mind you. Just in general.

Thanks so much!

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Aggy B. · Dec 8, 2015

I doubt you have to worry about stuff being stolen. (I mean, I suppose you would be open to plagiarists, but if you are only posting a little, they wouldn't find it productive in the first place to try and pass your chapters off as yours.)

Posting a chapter or two probably won't discourage an agent. I would be more cautious about posting the query. That's one of those things that tends to be more post-agent promo. (Like "I have a literary agent! Here's the query that caught their interest!") I wouldn't post big chunks or things from the end of the MS just because you want to make sure you keep First Publication rights intact. And also, spoilers.

I don't know if my blog activity influenced any agents one way or the other. I usually only post just one excerpt per project on my blog, but I talk about my process and (in general terms) how various plot points, etc are being resolved.

Best of luck!

lizmonster · Dec 8, 2015

MoxieMoth said:
Alternatively, is there anything I should be worried about in terms of thieving? Not when it comes to agents, mind you. Just in general.

I think you should be more worried about publishing something that you're trying to sell.

If you're going to query this book, putting an excerpt on the public, internationally-accessible internet - first draft or no - seems like a really bad idea.

Jamesaritchie · Dec 8, 2015

It does no harm at all to post a first chapter. . .unless that first chapter is poorly written. If it is, you're not only showing one agent that the writing is poor, you're showing every who visits your website the same thing. Publishing one chapter means nothing. Doing so does not take away any rights. For that matter, publishing the entire thing takes away no rights, it's just that agents and editors really don't want to represent or publish a book that tens of thousands of readers may have read. Why buy it if you've already read it? But the book can still be sold, if interest is strong enough. First rights are lost only if someone else owns them.

But if you do publish the first chapter, be certain that it's wonderful.

BethKLewis · Dec 8, 2015

What do you hope to gain from posting chapters or a query on your website?

An agent is highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, read the chapters and contact you. If you're querying an agent and they check out your website, you're showing them something they've already seen, which seems pointless. If you get the book accepted by an agent, then by a publisher, the publisher will ask you to take the chapters down as it's an unedited, early draft which will no doubt change. It could also damage their promotional plans for the book, for example, if they want to give the first chapter as an exclusive read to a newspaper/magazine/blog, they won't be able to as you've already published it and it's already been seen by everyone who visits your website.

Honestly, I don't see the benefit in posting query and chapters at all. It could cause far more trouble than it's worth.

Laer Carroll · Dec 8, 2015

I routinely post the first few chapters of books I've finished on my web site. Emphasis on FINISHED. You really do not want to get someone interested in a book and then say, Oops, that's all you can get. That would at least disappoint and maybe anger your readers.

I have modest success of people buying the books that I've self-published and publicized with sample chapters. So go for that goal if you want to.

Putting stuff out hoping your genius will be recognized by publishing professionals and you'll get even modest attention from them? Darned unlikely. It HAS happened, but it's very rare. (And if you got such attention, and what you sampled was all you had? Really a bad move.)

Jamesaritchie · Dec 8, 2015

BethKLewis said:
What do you hope to gain from posting chapters or a query on your website?

An agent is highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, read the chapters and contact you. If you're querying an agent and they check out your website, you're showing them something they've already seen, which seems pointless. If you get the book accepted by an agent, then by a publisher, the publisher will ask you to take the chapters down as it's an unedited, early draft which will no doubt change. It could also damage their promotional plans for the book, for example, if they want to give the first chapter as an exclusive read to a newspaper/magazine/blog, they won't be able to as you've already published it and it's already been seen by everyone who visits your website.

Honestly, I don't see the benefit in posting query and chapters at all. It could cause far more trouble than it's worth.

None of that is really true. There is no way posting the first chapter can possibly damage promotional plans for a book. If the books gets accepted, and if the first chapter changes a great deal, which does not have to happen, and which very frequently doesn't happen, then you take down the old and put up the new. Nor are you showing an agent something they've already seen. Whenever possible, it's good to include the first three to five pages of your novel with a query, but that's it. Most chapters are a good deal longer than this, and many agents don't want any pages at all with a query.

It
s certainly true that posting chapter one on your website may not help, but it is not going to hurt. If you believe in beta readers, which I do not, posting the chapter should make it even better.

Luzoni · Dec 8, 2015

I'm going to second James. I have put up segments of my chapters on my blog often, and I actually need to go there and cut out the outdated or less than perfect ones I've posted. My first chapters have changed drastically in all three books I've had with an agent. And the one that's sold could still change with the editor. I never posted anything from that novel on my blog, but I don't really see why I couldn't have if I wanted. It's harmless and my goal is to self-promote which means generating content. I might have to tear it all down but some presence is better than none, or so my agent told me.

I also put up short stories I've written for college courses. Again, if it showcases my abilities and entertains some potential readers then there's no harm. I also put up some queries that proved successful for me on my blog. Would I do that if I didn't already have an agent? I don't know. Probably. I don't really see much harm in sharing short stuff like that, as long as it's a good example of you and your writing.

Treehouseman · Dec 8, 2015

Where I've seen problems is the DATE of the query. If it starts to get long on the tooth, say, over six weeks old for querying and over six months for publisher submissions, it behooves the question...

"Why has nobody picked this up yet?"

If you're fully querying multiple agents, keeping five queries out there and rotating as the rejections come in, after about 6 weeks you'll start to figure out interest for the book or whatever, and the query can come down. But if it's still up, it becomes like the rotting For Sale sign out the front of a house. You can see the house has been on the market for ages and nobody's buying. which suggests that there's something terribly wrong with it.

That is a consideration you may want to take into account.

BethKLewis · Dec 9, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
None of that is really true. There is no way posting the first chapter can possibly damage promotional plans for a book. If the books gets accepted, and if the first chapter changes a great deal, which does not have to happen, and which very frequently doesn't happen, then you take down the old and put up the new. Nor are you showing an agent something they've already seen. Whenever possible, it's good to include the first three to five pages of your novel with a query, but that's it. Most chapters are a good deal longer than this, and many agents don't want any pages at all with a query.

Its certainly true that posting chapter one on your website may not help, but it is not going to hurt. If you believe in beta readers, which I do not, posting the chapter should make it even better.

It is true in my experience. I'm a senior editor in a trade publishing house and we've had to ask writers to take down early draft chapters of their work due to it clashing with our promo plans. We've also had them take down their draft work and put it up again, under agreement, when it's edited and proofed so they are showing their best work. It can be very frustrating for an editor if the world has seen part of the book before it's ready. It's also a problem if, for example, we wanted to do an exclusive extract of the first chapter, we can't because it's already been seen.

From a publisher's point of view, there is no benefit in doing this. If you want to go down the trade route, I would advise against it. If you want to self publish, that's a whole different story.

In terms of agents, US agents only request 5-10 pages, but UK agents ask for the first three chapters so you would be showing them something they've seen. Plus if agents want to read more than your first 5 pages, they'll ask for it, they won't go to your website to read it there.

Posting short stories and bits of writing is great and should be encouraged but I wouldn't recommend posting the first three chapters and query of a novel you have on submission to agents.

Quickbread · Dec 9, 2015

I agree that posting so much might be too big of a reveal. I have one short story--the best I've ever written by far--that my agent won't submit to journals (yes, she submits my short work if I ask her to) because it's based on a chapter from my novel in progress. She feels that if it got published now it might hurt the novel's chances.

Another potential risk is that posting the title to your unsold novel can lead to one of those grubby Internet companies registering the domain before you do. Someone did that for mine last year. Sure publishers change titles all the time, but if yours is the perfect one, then you lose it. Not the end of the world for sure, but it's certainly annoying.

What do you hope to achieve in sharing it with the public?

Cicak · Dec 11, 2015

You don't believe in beta readers

Jamesaritchie said:
... If you believe in beta readers, which I do not...

Perhaps this should be the subject of a new thread, but I am very interested in seeing why you do not believe in beta readers. I am sure that your response will result in opposite viewpoints. As a newbie (me, that is) you probably see how this may affect my thinking.

Filigree · Dec 12, 2015

A writer needs to have a base level of skill and confidence before they can benefit from - and should rely on - beta readers. The quality of beta readers is important, too. They need to be able to offer the right kind of help at the right time. And the writer needs to be able to choose how to use that help, or set it aside. So many new writers end up chasing their tails over conflicting beta advice.

MoxieMoth · Dec 13, 2015

Quickbread said:
What do you hope to achieve in sharing it with the public?

First, I'm sorry that someone heisted your domains

I build websites for a living and that is always super discouraging to uncover with a client.

As for my intent: I wanted to showcase writing to a broader audience in tandem with larger social marketing efforts. You know, share bits of process, samples, that sort of thing. I love reading drafts of things that go on to get published. It's a big part of why I love beta-reading.

But posting samples wouldn't be a fly-trap for agents. Sure, the vain and immature part of me will forever hold out hope of a passive discovery, because I'm a millennial and that was essentially the plot to every tween movie for a while, but I know better. I swear I know better! I was more thinking that I'd put up up a few short stories that I'm not really doing much with so that, should someone visit my blog, they can read something other than....blog posts.

Treehouseman said:
Where I've seen problems is the DATE of the query.

Yeah, this is a great point. Thank you!

BethKLewis said:
Posting short stories and bits of writing is great and should be encouraged but I wouldn't recommend posting the first three chapters and query of a novel you have on submission to agents.

Got it! Yeah, I think I'm leaning towards this approach. I think I'll keep away form posting excerpts of a current MS or WIP, especially since I'll be querying in a bit. But short stories seem like a safe, fun way to share work without bankrupting other stages of a traditional process.

And btw, I liked your cupcake story

MoxieMoth · Dec 13, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
Its certainly true that posting chapter one on your website may not help, but it is not going to hurt. If you believe in beta readers, which I do not, posting the chapter should make it even better.

How do you mean? Have you ever crowd sourced feedback for a draft? I personally love critique; it's the main thing I come to AW for. But I'd never thought to seek it from a general audience online that wasn't...you know...an audience of other writers.

Tromboli · Dec 14, 2015

I did have an agent "stumble" upon my blog and request a MG I'd been querying based on the query alone. I have no idea how she found it but she did. The agent was new at a great agency. I didn't end up submitting because I'd recently sold my YA contemporary and decided to put MG fantasy to the side for now to focus on branding.

As for my currently published work, I found a decent amount of support from entering contests where my pitch and first page was posted on a blog for agents and anyone else to see (I got requests from that too). This was helpful 1) for confidence 2) meeting supportive friends. This has been VERY helpful 3) creating a following (not that it was very big but I did have a good amount of people excited for the sale and excited to read it.)

The book did change a lot from pitch to publication but that was never a problem. Especially since people saw only a small amount. Just enough to get an idea of the book without too much detail.

I don't think there is anything wrong with posting small amounts of your work on your site, it will be a good way to catch the attention of people who pass by your site. People may remember you later. That can only be good (so long as you take care to post your best work)

That's my take

Should I post my chapters on my website?

MoxieMoth

Curtis was supposed to LOVE ME

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

Jamesaritchie

BethKLewis

not sure...

Laer Carroll

Aerospace engineer turned writer

Jamesaritchie

Luzoni

Toddler wrangler

Treehouseman

BethKLewis

not sure...

Quickbread

Cicak

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

MoxieMoth

Curtis was supposed to LOVE ME

MoxieMoth

Curtis was supposed to LOVE ME

Tromboli

Hopelessly Hopeful