Website Tomfoolery

[Coolhand]

Hey all.

I’m an unpublished urban fantasy writer seeking an agent, and was thinking of a putting up a website to showcase my work. Now, this is obviously going to involve time, expense and money, and I don’t yet even yet have an agent, let alone a publishing deal and a product hitting the shelves.

So is it even worth it?


Would putting the url in the submission letter get me any brownie points, or would most agents/editors just ignore it and concentrate solely on the paper submission?

What are the odds of an agent/editor finding my website and wanting to know when I can sign the contact for a million plus film rights? (Slim to none I'm guessing)

Can I whip up enthusiasm for my work and the world it’s set in without actual novels available to readers on the shelves of bookstores, and exactly what can I put online without blowing my first volume rights or other such legal concerns?

And, indeed, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Any and all help appreciated. Especially with the woodchuck issue.

Cheers dudes.

[John Jarrold]

Unless an agent LOVES your writing, nothing else matters. So it's interesting if you have a website, but won't make a difference between an agent taking you on or not doing so. Charlie Stross has put an entire novel up on the net, which has also been published in print form in the US and the UK, so that isn't a problem - but that obviously is a discussion for much later on...

Good luck!

[Coolhand]

Cheers John.

So, I guess a website isn’t going to help me with the actual business of getting published.
Might it help me build a waiting audience for the material? Some pre-emptive marketing, so to speak? Perhaps raise my profile as a writer amongst the SF/F community even if I’m unpublished?

If not then it seems that a website at this point is pretty much a waste of space.

[I, Brian]

I came to the net in 2000 originally as an aspiring writer looking to not simply build up a website, but also prove I had an audience and take that to publishers. I figured it could be a feather in my cap if successful, and also weight my own manuscript's chances of acceptance - presuming it was of a high enough standard in the first place.

I think if you consider that as a motivation, and you really stick to it, then you may just be able to build something - but it'll probably take years and a lot of blood and sweat and tears.

In fact, the chronicles forum here was originally a support forum for my own writing, but when I realised I'd have to go back to the drawing board with the writing, and it could be years to get the books polished, I figured on turning the support forum loose as a generic SFF forum.

Ironically, I now have an audience, but I'm still nowhere near finishing writing.

Bottom line is, if you're prepared to invest in building up an online reputation and audience with it that suggests real marketing potential, then it may be worth considering - but do be very clear from the start it will be a time sink and oftentimes expensive, too, and doesn't offer any guarantees of being published.

[StoryMask]

You can set up a professional looking site for under $10. Just get a free blog at Wordpress.com and purchase a domain name at GoDaddy.com. Next, forward your domain name with masking enabled to your free site. Wordpress is an excellent site with a large community and in-house search engine called Tag Search. Simply write once to twice a week and soon you'll find yourself with a large website and a growing audience. I use it for my StoryMask.com site. Hope this helps. ~ Ben Marroquin

[littlemissattitude]

On the Woodchuck issue: It's a variable thing, you know, and if you're only planning on getting wood that way for personal use in your fireplace, it doesn't really matter so long as you can get a few pieces of wood per day. However, if you're planning on going into the firewood business, he had best be able to chuck at least several cords a day, especially as winter is approaching and everyone is in the market for their wood supply for the winter. It is also best if he works cheaply; otherwise your overhead is going to be too much to bother at all.

Welcome to the forums, by the way. Sorry, but I have no expertise on the publishing and website issues.

[Coolhand]

Thanks for your help dudes. Really appreciate your thoughts on this.

And it looks as though my army of woodchucks will indeed dominate the logging business...mwa-HA HA HA HA!!!!!

[Andrew Hook]

A publisher will want to publish your novel, not publish your website. At the end of the day nothing will sell the novel other than the novel being good enough. Having a website might well be useful once the novel is accepted, but I doubt it would mean anything at all prior to acceptance. Hope that helps!

[SpaceShip]

Originally Posted by StoryMask

You can set up a professional looking site for under $10. Just get a free blog at Wordpress.com and purchase a domain name at GoDaddy.com. Next, forward your domain name with masking enabled to your free site. Wordpress is an excellent site with a large community and in-house search engine called Tag Search. Simply write once to twice a week and soon you'll find yourself with a large website and a growing audience. I use it for my StoryMask.com site. Hope this helps. ~ Ben Marroquin

Thanks for this info StoryMask - and welcome to the Chronics.

[Steve Jordan]

I also went to the web (where I already had experience), when I could not find a publisher who would even look at my work, much less consider it for publishing. My goal was to make sales of finished novels in e-book form, as well as gather strong reviews of that material from e-book sites, reviewers and readers, to take to a publisher or agent. My hope is that if you could demonstrate that you've made sales and received quality kudos, it might convince an agent or publisher to at least look at your material, where they otherwise might not give you the time of day.

After a year of running my site, I am collecting my reviews and comments now. I was hoping for higher sales, so I have to decide whether I will wait much longer before seeking out an agent.

But considering how hard it is to get in the door, I believe any positive material can help.

[BUSHLEADER]

As I live and work in Africa, I was looking on the web for a Literary Agent who would accept enquiries and even submissions by email, and I found the New York Literary Agency.
Does anybody out there know anytyhing about them... I have heard that they might not be as good as they advertise. Any ideas?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hook

A publisher will want to publish your novel, not publish your website. At the end of the day nothing will sell the novel other than the novel being good enough. Having a website might well be useful once the novel is accepted, but I doubt it would mean anything at all prior to acceptance. Hope that helps!

Actually, this is not quite true these days. There is a new style publishing house here in the UK, directed by Scott Pack, (who used to be the senior book buyer for Waterstones) that are looking for alternative and modern publishing sources - in particular blogs and the like. The name of the company is The Friday Project. They have already had a few success stories publishing blogs. Their website is down at the moment, but Wikipedia has this to say about them The Friday Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scott Pack's blog makes most entertaining reading, as he's notorious for sparking controversy within the book trade. He is certainly a prolific blogger - I couldn't keep up the sort of pace he does.

[Andrew Hook]

Mark: Hadn't heard of The Friday Project, but that's most interesting! Maybe times are a changin' after all.

Bushleader: I don't know anything about that agency, but you're posting on the wrong thread for such a question so might not get an answer.

[John Jarrold]

Originally Posted by BUSHLEADER

As I live and work in Africa, I was looking on the web for a Literary Agent who would accept enquiries and even submissions by email, and I found the New York Literary Agency.
Does anybody out there know anytyhing about them... I have heard that they might not be as good as they advertise. Any ideas?

I think if you google them, you'll find you're right - I've seen various threads from disgruntled authors...

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hook

Mark: Hadn't heard of The Friday Project, but that's most interesting! Maybe times are a changin' after all.

Bushleader: I don't know anything about that agency, but you're posting on the wrong thread for such a question so might not get an answer.

I have not seen much good on my own research (as noted by John above)

I will tell you that if an agent asks for large amounts of money up front (I've seen 200 dollar reading fees), more than 10-15% cut, they are probably not on the up an up. There is a difference however, between a reading fee and an editing fee---most agents will not charge you to read an excerpt to see if you are worth thier time, but they will charge you if they like the story but it has so many grammatical errors that it needs strong editing---or they will give you the option to edit it yourself. Also be wary of agents that promise too much--Guaranteed publishing within a month, for example.

If it looks too expensive and has too many promises that are improbable, don't waste your time. an agents job, in my understanding, is to be the writer's network and communication medium to publishing companies, many of whom will now only take submissions from registered literary agents...

John, feel free to correct me on any of the above if I am wrong, this is just based on my own readings and personal opinions.

Now back to the original post---

A web site with text/blogs to document your writing or experience that reads like a resume with excerpts and mabye some hobbies, life stuff, is actually a good idea. If you do it yourself you can get very inexpensive hosting and nowadays they are fairly easy to make. What is hard, however, is getting people to see your website. If you approach it as a "this is who I am and this is what I do" way I think it would be a good way to get people interested in who you are and what you do. If you approach it in a "please dear god someone read me and publish me so I can be rich" manner you will probably not get very far. Actually people would probably laugh at you. Many writers, published and unpublished, have get to know me and what I do type websites. This is a good medium for publishing an online resume type thingy.

and yes, "thingy" is very technical Internet terminology.