If you plan to traditionally publish your work, don’t post it all online for everyone to see! By doing so, you’ve given up your “first publication rights” which is what majority of publishers are interested in. They want to be the first to show your work to the public, and unless they can really see the potential for sales, they won’t want to pick it up if it’s already out there. If you’re looking for a critique, use one-on-one contact (like emailing it to a friend), find beta readers, or find a trustworthy site or group for workshopping.
This is interesting but then how do you explain Fifty Shades of Grey or The Martian or before the phenomena of widespread fanfiction and E-books, the success of author E. Lynn Harris (RIP)? All these books/authors’ had their debut outside of the mainstream publishing apparatus and achieved great subsequent success through the traditional routes. This reads to me like a scare tactic by the publishing establishment to discourage indie authors. I wonder if the truth isn’t closer to -if your property is good enough, you’ll get a book deal whether or not you debuted it unconventionally elsewhere.
From the original post: “Unless they can really see the potential for sales”
Notice how I didn’t say “good content”, I said “sales”. (Though they tend to overlap, but 50 Shades is a great example of a “selling” book over a “book with good content”.)
And you don’t really hear about failed books, do you? Traditional publishers are businesses, business aim to make money, and the popularity of your online work plays a huge part in any potential offer. Even if it’s well written, if nobody is looking at it, then it failed the market test and publishers probably don’t want it. Unfair yes, but they want things that sell and even if your piece is just unlucky thanks to a chosen site, there’s plenty of other people to move on to. Plenty of other writers to find.
Good writers fail to get book deals commonly, so you should be really careful when banking on the idea of “I’m sure I’ll be discovered” when you should be taking a much more proactive role if you really want a book deal.
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