cutting; and size limit on chapter outlines

Hello,
I am a newbie who has just completed a creative nonfiction memoir that clocks in at 127,000 words. From all I have read, this is far too long.

My questions are:

1. --> is it not better to send out a proposal now, state the current length of the mss, and leave it to the editor/agent to suggest which parts to eliminate?

Or should I cut down to 110,000 and then send out the proposal?

The cutting process will take me a while (a week or two?) and I'm still polishing prose and creating my proposal. I am trying to save time by multitasking ;-) but not sure what the best order of action is from here on out.

2. --> The chapter outline currently clocks in at 6 single spaced pages, in which I briefly mention what happens in each "chapter". (I have 25). One of the agents I intend to query requests a "brief chapter outline". I am sure that 6 pages is not brief. What sort of detail am I to delete from such an outline? I've read 2 pages is ideal but I cannot cover the detailed points in my mss with only a two page outline.

Many thanks in advance for any help with these questions.

Wayne and Joyce,

Thank you so so much for your replies. I really appreciate this help.

Hmm. I am numbering my chapters randomly. I supposed I could put the info from what is currently chapters 1,2,3 and 4 all into chapter 1. And do that throughout the mss. That would minimize the number of chapters I have, but I'm 10 chapters for my book is going to be really hard to do, just given the plot lines. I wonder if that is a breaking point for most agents? I guess we can only try and see?

I have another question about format. The book I referred to, "Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript" (By Cynthia Laufenberg) says that the Chapter Outline should have one chapter per page. (resulting in quite a lot of white space). I wonder if you can submit a single spaced Outline that just lists the chapter contents one after the next. For example:

Chapter 1. In the process of washing his car, Mr. X accidentally sprays the neighbor's dog. As Mrs. Neighbor comes racing out onto the porch...blah blah. Maybe three more sentences here.

(skip two lines and then) Chapter 2. With the dog now in the hospital, Mrs. Neighbor is wracked with grief. Mr. X arrives with flowers and the two come to an understanding. Although Mrs. Neighbor is angry, she finds Mr X charming in an odd sort of way. b lah blah blah.

(skip two lines) Chapter 3.

In that way you'd have many chapters on just one page.

Thoughts?

__

I'm glad you mentioned the economy. Although I've just been laid off (which is a huge blessing -- I now have time to work on the book!) I hadn't stopped to think about the fact that it would make selling the book to an agent or publisher that much harder. I'm in no rush to query although I would like to do so sometime in April or May. Before that I want to polish the proposal and get some beta readers. I'm sort of juggling that right now.

Thanks again for your help. This forum is such a valuable resource!

Thanks Joyce. I have found 2 agents that I think will like my work, based on the genre and what they usually deal with. And, as you note, they each have difft requirements. One wants a snail mail one-page query letter. The other one wants the query plus a list of items (including a "brief chapter outline"). I still worry that however many pages I give, it won't be brief enough. I guess I can just hope her "brief" is the same as mine!

Hi Platinum,

The reason I didn't query first is because

1) this is my first book
2) i was not sure what the book's ending would be since it is based on a five year period in my life (which is only ending now). without the ending, I couldn't really fully pitch the book to anyone.
3) I dont want to come off as unprofessional even tho i am a newbie
4) with the ending shifting, that would make the proposal and slant of the pitch also shift, accordingly. i want to pitch only once I know where the story will go.

But the biggest reason is
5) I have heard that you should not pitch/query until you know you have the full manuscript. what if they ask for sample chapters or the full mss after you query? then what? a one year delay in your reply? (worst case) so i have to have something that is polished and "ready to go" when they say Jump. at least i feel better that way.

With the chapter outline, I still have mixed feelings. I've also read elsewhere what you alluded to, that the purpose of outlines is to show that you have the meat with which to fill the literary pie. HOWEVER I've also read the outline is meant to tease and intrigue the agent/publisher who is reading your query and prove you can *write*. Those are two very different approaches. I'm not sure how much info to give away in this outline.

MY "short" outline is 6 single spaced pages (one paragraph per "chapter"). That would be about 12 pages once I double space it. Seems long to me. Double spacing is a killer!

I dont really know how many chapters I have bc to me chapter numbering is an arbitrary division of prose made to help the reader. I could have 65 chapters or I could have 6...depends on how you divide them up. The chapter outline is really the same length bc the book's content is the same, no matter how many chapters there are.

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it!