Can you sell an ebook first, and then sell to a traditional publisher?

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Can you sell an ebook first, and then sell to a traditional publisher?

Thursday, May 24th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

I received this interesting question today: “Can I sell it as an ebook first?” from a writer who’s in the middle of writing a book.

She’s been trying to interest an agent in the project, without success, so far. She’s also sent out a number of queries to publishers, and hasn’t received any responses at all.

It’s a hard question to answer, because it depends on how proactive this writer wants to be, and how much she wants the cachet of being published by a “real” publisher.

My inclination would be to write it and sell it as an ebook, and if a publisher’s interested, they can get in touch. Many writers self-publish, and are then made the proverbial offer they can’t refuse by a publishing house.

There are also many writers who’ve had the traditional publishing experience, and would never go that route again. They know what’s involved, and once bitten, etc.

Here’s what I suggested to the writer:

* Sell several chapters as an ebook, so she can get some numbers and some reader reaction;

* Develop a blog, on which she discusses her book’s topics, so she can build a platform and a community.

Once she’s done this, she’s going to be in a much more powerful position. She’ll have more information, and will have build an audience as well. Whether or not a publisher comes calling won’t matter at that stage, because new doors will open for her.