Posting part of novel for online critique - will I still get offers?

liritha

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Sorry if this is the wrong thread, I wasn't sure where to post my question. I have recently joined a few online writing critique groups, and I was looking forward to sharing my work there and on the forum.

I have a novel that's complete and has been beta-read but I wanted to get the first few chapters critiqued to make sure they were strong enough to capture an agent's interest. However, I've seen a couple of agents specifically saying that they don't want the work to be published anywhere else. I thought it meant don't publish your work on reddit or wattpad or something like that but someone told me that by posting even the first chapter of my MS online, I'm essentially losing any chance of getting published the traditional way (as it shows lack of professionalism and introduces copyright issues).

I don't plan on posting the whole novel, of course, just the first 20-30 pages or so, or even the first chapter. Do you know if the above is true - if any part of it is shared online, it basically diminishes my chances of getting an agent and getting it published? If not, how much can I share to be on the 'safe side', and does it make any difference if it's posted on forums like AW or querytracker, or on online critique boards such as scribophile?

Thanks in advance!
 

lizmonster

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I don't have a definitive answer for you, but yes, if you're looking for representation by an agent, I'd suggest caution at least.

Share Your Work here on AW is password-protected, and is therefore not googleable (as I understand it). I'd be comfortable posting there. I don't know about querytracker or scribophile, but users there should be able to tell you.
 

Marlys

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Anything posted in the SYW section of AW is fine. It's password-protected and doesn't come up on Google searches, so it's not considered published. I don't know about other sites, but check their terms or ask their mods to see if they have some protection in place.

Posting a single chapter or two in public is unlikely to cause copyright issues or reduce your chance of getting an agent or published later. But do keep in mind that anything you post in public is likely to be able to be churned up from the dark underbelly of the Internet in later searches. Think before you post: do I want this representing me forever? If it's not in great shape, stick to protected critique sites.
 

Qwest

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Good point, I haven't thought of that.

However, the SYW (Share Your Work) forum here is truly excellent. The writers who give advice have good suggestions. You might not always agree with the advice, but there's lots to think about.

Perhaps also send the opening to a few more Beta readers too? There are paid services who do critique and assist - I can't afford them, but if you can, it might be worth it if you're concerned about copyright issues. There's also something that the MSWL Academy have started: http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/2017/02/want-to-spend-10-minutes-with-an-agent-now-you-can/
It's a paid service, though.

Good luck with your book.
 

liritha

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Thank you all and good thinking - I didn't realise that the password-protected section of the forum won't come up on a Google search. I'm currently having the whole MS beta read again, since I've trimmed some of the subplots, and waiting to hear back from some potential betas, too but I wanted to get some specific critique on the first chapter, rather than the whole thing. Unfortunately, I can't really afford paid beta readers so I have to rely on the generosity of the ones who offer to do it for free.

I just checked scribophile's ToS and they say that publishing to a members-only critique site (you need a password and a login to access any of the content) won't hurt one's chances of getting published... but I'm not too sure about it.
 

Laer Carroll

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There are actually several kinds of rights, including several kinds of first rights.

https://www.thebalance.com/north-american-publications-rights-1360551

It's rare for an author to publish all of their work online. In fact, it's almost standard procedure to post the first few chapters of a book online. These excerpts act as an ad for the completed work. After you've sold the book to a publisher, Amazon and B&N do this for you, and as long as you don't publish any more than they do on your or someone else's web site they won't come after you. (I made that mistake & got a warning from Amz. After I cut back my excerpt to match theirs they approved my practice.)

Even if you use up your first right by posting the entirety of your work it on your web site, you still have all other rights. John Scalzi did this with his first two novels. They were discovered by Tor Books, who bought the two books. They launched his career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scalzi#Fiction

Drafts of parts of what eventually became Fifty Shades etc. were first published as fan fiction. Reworked into complete works they were published by a small publisher. They could not meet all the demand for the work. It was resold to a trade publisher, which could meet the demand. Details are at the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey#Background_and_publication

Some agents might have problems with either of the practices described above. But I suspect most would be willing to put up with any pain if they felt that a book would meet a wider and higher priced market if they worked through any problems. Wider markets include translation rights and film adaptation rights.