Should you submit a unfinished MS?

Don't send it! You could do much more harm than good. Finish it, revise it till it's as perfect as you can get it, and THEN send it in.

Here's another vote for finishing it first. If you know you can finish a manuscript, are close to the end, and you have a very good synopsis or outline, I might say go ahead. But in this case (and in general), finish it first.

Short answer: No.

Sorry, I'm tired or I might elaborate.

torrentwaters said:

I was wondering what your take was on sending out unfinished MS. The publisher does take them, from what I read on their website.

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As a general rule, publishers only accept unfinished manuscripts from previously-published authors. At least, those are the only ones they tend to buy such manuscripts from. And I know that Anna (Genoese, the editor in charge of Tor paranormal) will NOT buy an unfinished manuscript from an unpublished author. I read either at Tor's website or, more likely, on her own livejournal that she won't make a firm offer unless the manuscript is finished.

If you don't know where the ending is, don't even think about sending out a query until you finish it. The publisher is going to be mightily pissed if he/she buys a story that goes "this" way and then you show up with one that goes "that" way.

Finish it and then query - that's all there is to it.

I have to agree with the above. It's always best to finish it up, polish it and make sure you've made it the best it can be before you send it off.

In an ageant chat I remember and ageant saying that an unfinished manuscript is one of her biggest pet peeves and if when she requests the full the author doesn't have it, she will strike the author off for further consideration.

Although your enthusiasm is to be commended, it just needs to be tempered with a little patience. I'd say a manuscript needs to be edited as a whole, rather than chapter-by-chapter.

This way, you can change the thread of the story (if you so wish) rather than merely correcting spelling and grammatical errors.

I'm submitting another "Wait 'til it's finished then revise, revise, revise," vote.

Same vote here. If you're unpublished, complete a manuscript and polish before you submit -- to agent or editor. My agent was just relating a story to me (sans names, of course) of taking on a client on the strength of three wonderful, perfectly polished chapters, only to discover later that the writer simply could not deliver the rest of the book.

One of her other clients had to tell her that because there are so many writer's groups and forums and whatnot offering advice and critiques these days -- to say nothing of contests for the "best first chapters" -- some writers polish and polish and polish their "submission chapters" for years instead of finishing the book.

Finish the book. Best for everybody.

torrentwaters, there are occasions where a writer can sell a romance novel on the strength of a partial (in fact, I know of one author who just last week sold a two book deal to a major publisher). But it's HARD, and you have to already have a great agent to manage it. Without an agent in your corner, you'll be hard pressed to sell on a partial. That might be your better bet . . . to find an AGENT on the partial.

Now, I HAVE sold on a partial to a small press. I don't recommend the process of finishing on that sort of deadline. I had only 30 pages written when the small press made an offer to fill a slot in their next spring calendar--IF I could deliver the full manuscript by the end of that same month. Yeah, I did it. But it wasn't pretty.

Speaking from experience with Anna Genoese, the editor of the paranormal line at Tor, she's going to want the full--in complete, polished perfection--before she'll make an offer. I'll agree with the others here. There's no hurry and you only have one chance to sell to them (with this particular book anyway,) so give it your all and finish it up with a bang before you send it! The paranormal romance line isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We're already selling our next books into the 2009 release calendar.

Try going to agentquery.com and searching for romance agents. My suggestion is to compile a list, visit their websites (if they have them), check Preditors and Editors (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors) and the Bewares and Background Check forum here. Here's a link to the index of agents.

ETA: Check out this website, as well. I've found it very helpful.

torrentwaters said:

So if I should find an agent first can you suggest any?

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Is paranormal the only subgenre of romance you write, or do you write in several schools?

Are you a member of Romance Writers of America yet? If not, you might consider joining. They have a list (members only) of ALL of the recognized agents (meaning those who have sold books to known publishers) in the romance field and what subgenres they specialize in.