Is it a good idea too...

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

To send submissions (i mean three chapters and synopsis) without having finished the rest of the book?
I really want to be rep'd by wade and doherty, what if i kept sending submissions until they wanted to see more? Then even if i don't manage to finish it in time, i know at least that they want it, and can send it again?
Any thoughts on the matter would be great.

P.S I've finished and redrafted five novels so i have a pretty good idea how long it will take me, i just can't stand to go on writing books that no one wants.

illiterwrite · Mar 13, 2010

It's easy to finish three chapters. Not so easy to finish and polish a novel.

Finish the book. Then query.

heyjude · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium! Yes, finish the book, polish till it hurts, then and only then can you submit. It is considered unprofessional to query for an unfinished fiction work.

In the meantime, start learning all you can about the business side of publishing. You came to a good place!

Danthia · Mar 13, 2010

It's a very bad idea. Agents want completed books they can sell. They have no way of knowing if you can finish a book (they won't take your word on it) or if that finished book will be any good.

Anything you submit needs to be complete, and polished til it shines.

kaitie · Mar 13, 2010

Just popping in to say the chances of getting picked up by a single agency that you like are incredibly slim, and I'd hope you're sending to more than that. And by more, I don't mean five, I mean fifty or a hundred (my list is twice that long). If you aren't getting manuscript requests, it likely means that there's a problem with your query letter.

It's not unusual to not have your first book published. Writing is a skill that takes time to develop, and most of us take at least a few books to produce something that's actually publishable.

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

kaitie said:
. And by more, I don't mean five, I mean fifty or a hundred (my list is twice that long). .

The thing is, i struggle to believe that that much rejection is really necessary. I have a list of ten , if they don't want it, i start again, but that routine is getting tiring. I think i'm going to ignore all your advice and give this way a go. Thanks anyway!

scarletpeaches · Mar 13, 2010

There aren't fifty to a hundred agencies in this country anyway so sometimes it just isn't possible to sub the same book that many times.

Most of the people I know with agents only subbed to 5-10 places.

In answer to the OP: BAD IDEA. BAD BAD BAD.

Perks · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
The thing is, i struggle to believe that that much rejection is really necessary. I have a list of ten , if they don't want it, i start again, but that routine is getting tiring. I think i'm going to ignore all your advice and give this way a go. Thanks anyway!

If you do it your way, you will blow your opportunity at landing your first-choice agent. You don't get multiple chances at the same agency with the same manuscript.

You get one.

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

Perks said:
If you do it your way, you will blow your opportunity at landing your first-choice agent. You don't get multiple chances at the same agency with the same manuscript.

You get one.

This is persuming i don't manage to write it in time, i'm unemloyed , so i like my chances.

Chris P · Mar 13, 2010

Not for fiction. Put yourself in the agent's shoes: Would you go through all the paperwork of signing with a client who is perhaps six to twelve months from delivering something you can work with? Or perhaps having some sort of crisis and not delivering at all? I wouldn't.

ETA: You seem confident that this will work. Of course you can go ahead and try it. But many others have gone before and met with the same (unfavorable) results. Publishing is a business while writing is an art. That's an important distinction that us writers would do well to never forget. Further, I don't see how getting an agent now puts you ahead of the game; the book still needs to be written.

CAWriter · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
I think i'm going to ignore all your advice and give this way a go. Thanks anyway!

Hey, good luck with that.

Couple minor observances (that I'll put as nicely as I can and more nicely than some here would):

If you don't really want advice, or only want to hear what you want to hear, don't ask.
There's a lot of guidance out there on agent's blogs, etc and the consensus is DON'T query a novel you haven't finished.
Almost as much as agents won't rep people who write badly, they don't want to rep people who can't/won't play by the rules or take direction.
If this attitude comes across is your query and such, it may not be that they aren't interested in the novel itself.

To be honest, the question and your reply sounds like a joke. I don't mean to make light of it if this is a serious post, but there's an echo in my mind that keeps saying "You've got to be kidding."

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

I wouldn't expect them to sign me without seeing the finished book , of course not. I don't expect them to invest in me in anway at all.

scarletpeaches · Mar 13, 2010

Agents also tend to only sign clients who can spell.

Perks · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
This is persuming i don't manage to write it in time, i'm unemloyed , so i like my chances.

Huh?

You said this -

To send submissions (i mean three chapters and synopsis) without having finished the rest of the book? I really want to be rep'd by wade and doherty, what if i kept sending submissions until they wanted to see more? Then even if i don't manage to finish it in time, i know at least that they want it, and can send it again?

You will only get one chance to send them three chapters and a synopsis. If they reject you once, you're done with them for that manuscript. You don't get another shot at it. If you send it before the book's finished, that necessarily means that first three chapters have not been edited as part of a whole. So, not only will you not have a finished product if they call you up the following week for the rest of it (and, no, they won't wait for you to finish it), but it will also mean that you haven't edited the first three chapters thoroughly. Ergo, they're not ready for submission either.

No one will stop you from doing it this way. It's in all our better interests to have people behaving unprofessionally to get themselves out of the loop as quickly as possible. That way they don't clog up the works for other people taking it seriously.

If your writing and your story is good, though, it's a shame to shoot yourself in the foot out of impatience.

What did you ask for if you didn't want honest advice from people who've been there?

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

Chris P said:
Further, I don't see how getting an agent now puts you ahead of the game; the book still needs to be written.

I want to write a novel knowing the original idea is a good one, and that how i've wrote the first chapters is good.

Chris P · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
I wouldn't expect them to sign me without seeing the finished book , of course not. I don't expect them to invest in me in anway at all.

So are you looking for someone to say "I like this so far, send it to me when it's done and we'll talk"? I've never heard of that happening (short of having an "in" with an agent who owes you or a friend a favor). Agents have enough work to do as it is, and I seriously doubt that they will take the time to read an unfinished work. They have to manage their time somehow.

And once again, how does this put you ahead? You are likely to finish the book in the same amount of time anyway and will only have to resubmit it.

Perks · Mar 13, 2010

CAWriter said:
To be honest, the question and your reply sounds like a joke. I don't mean to make light of it if this is a serious post, but there's an echo in my mind that keeps saying "You've got to be kidding."

Yeah, that's what I thought as well. I caught a whiff of Old Spicy Troll.

Wayne K · Mar 13, 2010

I can't read this whole thread, but if no one has mentioned the "Too To Two" thing, it would remiss of me not to

Chris P · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
I want to write a novel knowing the original idea is a good one, and that how i've wrote the first chapters is good.

Post samples in the Share Your Work forum here. Granted, not all of the input you will get will be from professionals, but you will have a better idea of what is going to work. It's a great forum and I have learned more in just a few months of SYW than in the previous five years of active writing on my own.

stormie · Mar 13, 2010

Everyone here gave you accurate info on this business we call writing. Yes, we like what we do, but ultimately if you want to get published, it's a business and you have to abide by what agents want to see--and that's a finished and polished novel.

ETA: As Chris said, post some of the first chapter in the Share Your Work section.

desperadium · Mar 13, 2010

Perks said:
What did you ask for if you didn't want honest advice from people who've been there?

I do want advice,just because i've decided to give it a go doesn't mean i don't want to hear what people have to say.

CAWriter · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
I want to write a novel knowing the original idea is a good one, and that how i've wrote the first chapters is good.

Then you might be better off finding a local critique group or attending a conference that gives you the opportunity to get a critique from agents/editors/published authors. Or submit your chapters to a contest. There are other ways of getting feedback on your writing and idea than ticking off a lot of agents who won't want to see anything else from you.

mscelina · Mar 13, 2010

Before you submit anything--anything! even a query letter-- it needs to be polished until it shines. Write the whole book, rewrite it, rewrite it again. Double and triple check your spelling, punctuation and grammar.

In the end, if you can't present a professional product, it doesn't matter if you query one time or one hundred. And, if you're going to ignore any advice you get, why even bother to ask? Your chances of succeeding in this venture are, as far as I can tell at this moment, exactly zero. If a writer flooded my inbox with the same query over and over for their book (and it has and continues to happen), those emails get deleted without even being opened. And nothing makes me write a rejection faster than seeing a spelling error in a query letter.

Just my two cents. Feel free to ignore it, though, since it doesn't say what you want it to say.

Perks · Mar 13, 2010

Wayne K said:
I can't read this whole thread, but if no one has mentioned the "Too To Two" thing, it would remiss of me not to

Ah, Wayne. We were trying not to be jerks and give a newb a free typo. But it's wonderful for you to be our heavy.

Perks · Mar 13, 2010

desperadium said:
I want to write a novel knowing the original idea is a good one, and that how i've wrote the first chapters is good.

Yeah, you really don't want to find this out from your dream agent. There are many ways to determine if what you've got is any good without burning up your one and only first impression with the agent-of-choice.

Is it a good idea too...

desperadium

illiterwrite

heyjude

Making my own sunshine

Danthia

kaitie

With great power comes

desperadium

scarletpeaches

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

desperadium

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

CAWriter

desperadium

scarletpeaches

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

desperadium

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

Wayne K

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

stormie

storm central

desperadium

CAWriter

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower