Can I Have My Own Website Separate of My Publisher?
Background
I studied writing in depth before ever seriously trying it myself. I read a lot, and I looked at reputable books on the subject. Over the years, I combined what I knew into a formula which I then honed and perfected through years of trial-and-error. Now that I have that formula more or less in its final form, I want to share my knowledge with other writers who are where I was several years ago.
I think the best way to do this would be to have a website where I can have a community of budding writers. I would of course show them what I know and open it to discussion, but I'd also like to host contests (free and paid), and offer them opportunities to get started with agents and publishers, through my own connections (I myself am not yet published, so that will obviously come later). Having a community like this has always been my dream.
Question
I can't find it, but I remember reading somewhere (on this site if memory serves) that a publisher will want to create and own a website for the author and his book. It makes sense, as he then has a target he can point readers to, which most likely sends them to other books from the same publisher.
Is this true? And if it is, will there be a problem with me having my own site already/wanting to create one in the future? Will the publisher somehow own the rights so that I can't create my website, or he will own it if I do?
1 answer
The nice thing about websites is that there can be more than one. Publishers, being publishers, want to promote their books, which will of course include on the web, but that doesn't mean you can't. Subject to the terms of any specific contract, and the specific promotional language/messaging they want to use for your book, you can promote your book beyond the publisher's site. And I've never heard of a publisher trying to shut down a personal web site, like a blog. If you start blogging bad things about the publisher they might object, but that's different.
Here's one example of a pattern I've seen from several authors. (Disclosure: this author is a friend.) For the book I Remember the Future, the publisher (Apex Publications) has a product page, and the author (Michael Burstein) also has a page on his personal site (he's written other stuff too) and a personal blog. Each of those sites links to the other, so the publisher clearly doesn't have a problem with it.
Here's another example from a larger publisher. Baen Books has a page on its site with links to the personal (or sometimes fan) web sites of all of their authors who have them. It's not a short list.
These examples are drawn from SF&F publishers in North America. I don't have reasons to believe that publishers in other genres would be significantly different in this regard, but you should do some searching in the genres or with the publishers you're interested in to see what you can find.
0 comment threads
0 comment threads