SiteYou ask, we answer: How much do I want to show?
Chaka says, “I am currently getting my website built. I am very happy about finally have a space where editors can read my work. But I was wondering should I have my entire clip available on the site or an excerpt with a note stating that they can request the pdf or hard copy sent to them it they are interested in reading further. I’m concerned about protecting my work. What do you think?”
I think posting excerpts of your stories is a smart idea. It gives editors a taste of what you can do and, yeah, if they want to see more, you can always offer the PDF or hard copies. You can also link to stories that are already posted online.
You could also put your PDF files on the site and password-protect them. When you send queries out to editors, just send them a login name and password and they can download as they please. Your web site designer can show you how to do this.
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6 Responses to “You ask, we answer: How much do I want to show?”
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Elaine Grant
Said this on June 4th, 2007 at 9:37am:As a freelance writer, I think this is a great question, and one that I wrestle with — I don’t have my own web site, partly due to my ambivalence about showing everything, partly due to laziness. However, as a former editor for a national business magazine, I do not think password-protecting your clips is a good idea at all. Editors have very little time to devote to looking at the work of a potential new writer, and anything that makes us work harder puts up an additional barrier — one more reason not to use that writer. It’s not out of hostility — “oh my gosh, that ridiculous writer actually thinking I care” — it’s due to time constraints. I simply don’t have the time to fish around for a password in my hundreds of emails and go through that extra step. As an editor, I want to see the entire clip online or have clips sent as .pdf attachments. I *might* be willing to read excerpts and then ask for more, but I’d have to really love those excerpts.
It’s the writer’s job to make it as easy for the editor as possible to say yes, as unfair as that may sound.
Kara Williams
Said this on June 4th, 2007 at 10:02am:What do you mean “protect your work”? Anyone can steal words, whether it’s by retyping from a print magazine or cutting and pasting from a website. Yes, with the proliferation of bloggers, stealing copy verbatim without a source is much more prevalent these days, but plagiarism has been going on for centuries!
Just post your pdfs or word dox or links to websites. I agree with the above. If I want to read someone’s clips, I want them NOW. (I edit a regional parenting magazine.) Don’t put your entire portfolio up. A select few.
Kara Williams
Said this on June 4th, 2007 at 10:04am:ETA: You *may* have to get permission from some publications for putting up full documents on your web page. Depends on your contract, I suppose.
Melissa Barton
Said this on June 5th, 2007 at 9:19am:Most of my clips are online already, which is handy since I can just link to them. There are a couple I don’t have the rights to fully repost, but I have a PDF of those to send when appropriate.
I tend to prefer HTML to PDF because PDFs can be slow and problematic for some people’s computers, while HTML loads quickly. I figure it goes back to the ‘editors have limited time’ issue, so if I offer a PDF, I try to offer a quick-loading HTML version as well.
Erin Gifford
Said this on June 5th, 2007 at 2:28pm:I was thinking the same as Kara. Are there any legal implications in posting a PDF of your article from a magazine? Or should each article posting be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on your contract? And what about work you’ve done not under contract, maybe for regional parenting publications, that you’d like to post on your site? I’ve yet to develop a web site, I think in large part because I’m not sure if I’d be legal in displaying my clips.
DianaBurrell
Said this on June 5th, 2007 at 2:37pm:I do believe there are legal implications to posting a PDF or the full text of an article, esp. if you don’t own the rights. When I decided to go the PDF route, I checked with the publication and explained that I’d be password-protecting the clip and it would only be sent to editors who wanted to see my clips. The magazine was kind enough to send their own PDFs of the spread for me to use.