Seeking An Agent Without A Manuscript?

mshean

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Hello there!

I'm an established author who has four contracted books through a small publisher. My third is about to launch in April, leaving my fourth to be completed mid-year. My fifth work is slowly in progress while I work on the fourth, but it will not be completed until the end of the year. What then? Given a platform of three published works under my belt and the fourth to follow, I thought that it would be time to get myself an agent - however, should this be done without a completed manuscript to shop around? Given the connections and resources that agents can bring (to say nothing of the time it can take to get a response!) it would seem logical that now is the time to start, although I have zero experience with agents having gone straight to developing a relationship with my publisher. Does anyone have any advice to share? Thanks very much in advance.
 

Cyia

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You have to have a complete manuscript before you go looking for an agent. You might get a request the same day, and if you don't have a MS to send, you're up the creek.
 

Chris P

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Welcome to AW!

Wait until you have a completed manuscript to show the agent. The publication credits are good to include in the query letter, but without something ready to hand over, she or he will have nothing to go on. You would be lucky to get so much as "query me again when the book is done."

Go to the Share Your Work forum here, and look for Query Letter Hell, read the sticky threads, and read the ongoing discussions of the query letters. Querying is HARD! I hate it, but it's necessary and the sooner you get your head into how it's done the easier you'll make it for yourself.
 

waylander

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I am inclined to agree that most agents will be interested in your next manuscript (which needs to be complete) rather than the exisiting series. However, if you have impressive sales numbers for the existing books (and I mean thousands) then some agents maybe be interested in trying get a major interested in them.
 

sheadakota

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I'll join the others by saying that you need a completed and edited manuscript. I have six books published between two small houses and I am also seeking an agent. Now your writing and sales may very well blow me out of the water, but from my experience unless you sales are in the thousands, agents won't be impressed with your small house publishing credits. (My experience, not saying it will be yours.)
 

Persei

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Joining the choir here... Get a MS first, then worry about the agent.
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Only query an agent without a manuscript to show them if you're writing non-fiction or are a big name writer. And even then, it's better to have an ms to hand over.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Jamesaritchie

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You need a manuscript. And sales numbers will determine whether your already published books attract or repel an agent. The one thing worse than not being published is being published and having low sales numbers.
 

MandyHubbard

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Clarification: Many agents will request, read, and sign published authors based on proposals. I've done it twice, and gone on to sell mulitple books for those authors.

qualifications to go this route:
1) Your proposal is in the same market/genre/age group as your published works
2) Your published works are via a major publisher or very well known, large(ish) independant.

It can also help if the book you have is an option book-- those sales are often easier to make if you have an established relationship with your publisher, and your previous books are doing well.

So while I agree that in your case, the book must be complete, I would not say that every single published author needs a full MS. Many authors, once published, can submit books to publishers on proposal and thus don't finish their books until they are sold.