I haven't finished my WIP, but I am anxious about finding a publisher. Do you think it’s a terrible idea if I send an excerpt to an agency now, even though I haven’t finished?
When should I start looking to publish?
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Finish the manuscipt first. Make it as good as you can make it. Then seek representation.
FYI, there are lots of threads in the Novels forum addressing similar questions.
Welcome to AW!
FYI, there are lots of threads in the Novels forum addressing similar questions.
Welcome to AW!
Nope, never start sending out queries until the work is not only finished, but has been rewritten and polished with in an inch of its life- then sent out to betas and rewritten and polished again - then write a query letter and polish that- maybe post that in the query letter forum until it is perfect- then write a synopsis, actually several synopsis- a five page, two page, and a one page one, polish that, and then, you can start to send out those query letters.
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I got a request within *hours* of sending my query. I had my novel ready to send them. What would you send?
Finish the book.
(Oh, my story was rejected, but at least the agent didn't have to wait for it.)
Finish the book.
(Oh, my story was rejected, but at least the agent didn't have to wait for it.)
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Several agents have actually said/written that it turns them off to a story when they get a query, ask for more, and then are told more is not ready.
And you usually only get that one shot at the agent - so my advice is not to send anything to the agent until you think the manuscript is as perfect as it can be.
~suki
Please, don't get ahead of yourself. Forget about sending out queries. Finish your work and when it's as good as can be you then compose a dynamite query letter.
You are anxious and you haven't finished the manuscript yet? Sheesh!
Yes, it's a terrible idea to send out part of an unfinished manuscript for the reasons given above.
My friend, still ahead after you 'finish' are months of revisions and editing and cutting and rewriting...then your manuscript might be ready for sending out.
Relax, and I do wish you well - I assume you are on the final leg of the story at this time.
Yes, it's a terrible idea to send out part of an unfinished manuscript for the reasons given above.
My friend, still ahead after you 'finish' are months of revisions and editing and cutting and rewriting...then your manuscript might be ready for sending out.
Relax, and I do wish you well - I assume you are on the final leg of the story at this time.
All I can say to this is add "And then polish it to a nice shine."
The same thing happened to me, only I had jumped the gun a bit. The MS was finished, but I was still in the process of shining - and under the mistaken assumption that it would be at least a week before I heard anything back. An hour later I was scrambling to send something off (and got so flustered I sent the wrong friggin' file
)Take your time. Check everything. Then send it. If you're getting antsy, you can at least start compiling a list of agents that rep your genre so you can check them out ahead of time. Then when your MS is all pretty, all you have to do is send those queries.
Not only finish it, but don't send out a first draft. Like mentioned above, it should be passed by a couple of beta readers at the least, and both line edited and read in its entirety looking for plot holes, inconsistencies, tone agreement with the intent of each scene, and a number of other things. For a free evaluation of your writing which can be done now, post your first chapter in the Share Your Work forum. If there are issues with your approach to the basic writing craft, it's much better to discover that here, where you'll get feedback, rather receive rejections from a number of agents and not know why.
You don't want to rush any part of the process and risk ruining your chances. Many a novel has been rejected because the author got anxious and sent it in when it wasn't ready. Your novel needs to be as good as it can be and as professional as it can be. I blogged about this very thing last month.
Take your time and do this right. You don't get many chances at a dream, and getting published is hard enough as it is. Don't make it harder on yourself by rushing into it
Take your time and do this right. You don't get many chances at a dream, and getting published is hard enough as it is. Don't make it harder on yourself by rushing into it
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Like some others have alluded to, if you're anxious to prepare for submission, there are lots of things you can do prior to sending out unfinished and unpolished work. If you're looking to take a break from writing, you can: research prospective agents and publishers, work on your query letter, work on your short synopsis, work on your long synopsis, get a perm, buy a puppy, create a wall mosaic, house train a pot-bellied pig, learn to roller skate, and study a foreign language. Any or all of those things are a priority over sending out unfinished work. But the Number One priority is, of course, finish the first draft, rewrite it, edit the hell out of the second draft (use beta readers, if required), rinse and repeat, and THEN query. Best of luck!
Thanks... everyone. I'm nearly finished; I'm closing it right now. Patience is my flaw. I've read time and time again how people send their manuscripts to agents and don't receive a response until months later, or worse never hear back from them at all. I'm just in hurry to either succeed or fail!
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We understand the hurry, but this is not an instant gratification industry (sadly).
Still I really have to echo the advice of finishing the novel first - not just draft-complete but revision-complete. One reason is simple, the number of people who never finish their first novel is huge and until you have finished one nobody else knows that you can actually finish a novel. Neither agents nor publishers have the resources to devote to someone who may not finish the novel.
Still I really have to echo the advice of finishing the novel first - not just draft-complete but revision-complete. One reason is simple, the number of people who never finish their first novel is huge and until you have finished one nobody else knows that you can actually finish a novel. Neither agents nor publishers have the resources to devote to someone who may not finish the novel.
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Ernest Hemingway said all first drafts are s***. He was right. There's still a lot of work to be done before it's ready to be shopped around.
Not to be a downer but there is tons of work to do after you write the words "The End". You have to edit it and rewrite it as necessary and you should have a group of people read it for you which will probably result in more rewrites.
With my first MS, I finished the first draft in September and wasn't ready to query until the middle of January - and I had edited as I went along.
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Ditto this. I finished the first draft of my first (complete) novel in October and am currently implementing edits on draft three as suggested by beta readers who read it earlier this year. I'm aiming to be querying by June.
I won't even tell you when I started the thing.
With all respect, you are just starting out, and not to know (as has been told to you by just about every PP) and accept that nothing happens fast in the publishing world, would be a fatal error. In fact, if you can't accept it, publishing may not be for you. Give it serious thought.
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Yup. If you're in a hurry, you're practically guaranteeing failure.
BTW, the agent who is interested in me, asked for the full the same day I sent the query and offered representation two days later, in spite of the fact he told me it would take a month before he got to it. You just can't count on somebody moving slowly. The rejections I've received also happened in less than two days. So you really do have to be ready when you start querying.
BTW, the agent who is interested in me, asked for the full the same day I sent the query and offered representation two days later, in spite of the fact he told me it would take a month before he got to it. You just can't count on somebody moving slowly. The rejections I've received also happened in less than two days. So you really do have to be ready when you start querying.
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Im in the same boat, I have no patience whatsoever. But I don't want to cut myself short when my writings done, because I've jumped the gun. Im taking my time, finishing what I've started (which I've done 3 times in my life, given birth) then moving on to the next step. Everyone here has great advice to give, when you're ready for it.
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I know it's been said before, and even by me, but here's the simplest take I can put on it.
Q. When should you start looking to publish?
A. When you have something ready to publish.
Q. When should you start looking to publish?
A. When you have something ready to publish.
Others have said it to death, but this is worth piling on: Finish it.
A huge huge huge huge trap aspiring writers fall into is impatience, getting ahead of themselves, and putting the cart before the horse. They worry about pen names and genres and which publishing house is best for them and if they should retain the digital rights ... all for something that isn't even written yet! We've all done it.
Best to break yourself of that sooner rather than later. Stay focused on the first and most important task: WRITING.
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