I was wondering if it is good for me to first put my book up on my author website through a POD like Lulu, in order to help develop my online presence before approaching an agent or publisher. Or is it better to just wait? Will putting my book on my website limit my options later?
To what I've been told by a sci/fi and fantasy agent, publishers will not touch a book that's been self published. That goes for the squeals to and spin offs of the book as well. Successful novelists say that money should only flow in one direction, to you. If you're paying to have something published it's probably not ready for publication. An online presence isn't important for mass market publications. Your publisher makes money by selling books so he will do all the promotion necessary of both you and your title to make sure that it sells.
As long as it's only small excerpts and not the full thing. Otherwise why bother publishing it when someone can read it for free online?
Isn't the point is to generate interest with publishers/editors and agents, if you're seeking a publisher? They don't surf the interent seeking self published books online. They have enough to do cosidering what's in their slush/submission pile. There will be plenty of time to generate interest in your novel once you have it accepted and signed a contract with a publisher. Posting your novel online is electronically publishing it, even if it is done through your own website and/or blog. Why would a publisher pay a writer for what they are already giving away for free? I am sure one can find a few examples where it did work, but compare that with many free novels are out there attempting the strategy? If you want to find a publisher, either go the agent route (find one who will represent your work to publishers) or submit to publishers directly (that take unsolicited submissions--submissions not represented by an agent). Publisher/agent websites list their requirements in their submission guidelines. Be sure to research agents/publishers before you submit to them. And while you're waiting for responses (it can take a while), work on completing your next project. Good luck!
first, is this a novel, or non-fiction? self-published novels don't sell well, though e-versions may be a different story... if you have a how-to, or other non-personal non-fiction book to offer and have a built-in professional base of buyers, you can do well enough on your own, but if you don't have a name that's known in the field you're writing about, then you'd do much better seeking a paying publisher... if it's a non-fiction book, then having 'an online presence' could be a plus in approaching agents/publishers, but only if it's a fairly major one... just a personal website that gets no traffic won't do a thing for you... and having your book available in a self-published version will definitely not interest agents or publishers, unless it's selling like hotcakes... as noted above, it would be nonsensical to post your book on the internet, to be read for free, if you hope to sell it to a publisher...
Hi, My thought would be that in general publishers wouldn't touch something thats already been published by someone else, even if its only on their own website. Partly its probably the idea that they could go to a lot of effort to publish and promote a book and then find out somewhere down the road that its freely available from a website, but partly it must also be legal concerns about copywrite and who has the right to publish the work. I know that when you publish on the kindle, there is a contract that you have to sign which specifically forbids you from selling the book to another publisher for a certain time period. So if another publisher wanted to publish your work, they'd have to negotiate with Amazon for the rights. I can't see that happening often. Cheers.
copyright [copywrite is something else, entirely] doesn't enter into it, really... only the 'rights' you assigned to the other publisher and the details of your contract with them matter...
