“Overheard” a publisher say this on twitter:

Beginning to form competition concept based on newspaper experience. Get ARCs from competitors, then beat them to publication on same story.

Please react…

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I google authors when they query me so I can determine how many people read their work regularly.

Q from @——-: @———- So if u can’t find them online, do they still get read?

Depends. Novels, probably not. Nonfiction, I also do a google search of the topic or category.

About a week ago I found this tweet written by a relatively new publisher.  A week later and it has still left a bad taste in my mouth.  I’m not sure if it’s the practice of actually googling and author to determine if they are good enough to even have their query read, or the fact that the publisher is so new, people should be googling HIM.

Yes, I know that sounds really harsh.  But it seems that a lot of people have had the same reaction.  I understand not pursuing an author who although has written a GREAT book, does not have any web presence (although if the publisher really likes the book, shouldn’t they help with the promotion and marketing?) if you already have hundreds or thousands of other authors signed up.  What I find absurd is that if an author has minimal web presence the query isn’t read AT ALL.

So if you are one of the big 6 publishers, I understand why they wouldn’t take any chance on someone that has no huge web presence.  Their entire existence is based around best-sellers and huge household names. But someone who is new to publishing? Someone who is classifying themselves as indie?  The same indie whose point it is to find the best work that everyone else ignores?  Seems a little lame to dismiss what could potentially be a great author simply because they don’t have web presence.  Web presence can be built.  Web presence is built every day and is an ongoing process.  In the time the author is signed and the book is edited and finally published, the author could have built an awesome following and hyped themselves up.  Yet, this isn’t good enough for this publisher.

What do you think?  Is it okay for a new to the business (or any) publisher to essentially throw away an unread query because the author doesn’t have a presence up to his standards?

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