Aruna - are you saying that an agent (a solid and seasoned pro) can't judge whether you can write, plot and execute a successful commercial novel from 50 pages and a plot synopsis...that an agent needs to see the whole m-script to do that...?
What Dave said. A lot of writers give a lot of care and attention to the first 50 pages, polish thos pages till they shine - and the rest of the book goes downhill from there. I have read several published books that do this. If I were an agent I would certainly want to read the whole thing.
And the reality is simply there: agents - 99% of them - DO want to read the whole manuscript before taking on a client.
Nah. Not one of those conferences out there, not one workshop where solidly performing agents speak and hold court with hordes of aspiring writers, had an agent insist he/she needs to see the entire novel to decide whether he/she should take it on or sell it. Most agents in these workshops and conferences state that first FIVE pages will tell them all they need to know - which is whether or not to give the writer a contract.
Yes, an agent can tell in the first five pages - but in practice, they ALL insist on a full manuscript. I have never heard an agent say anything else, and I've done a lot of researching. I've had agents read partials, ask for fulls, and then decline; that's because the rest of my ms, in their opinion, did not live up to the beginning. Agents who will
routinely offer representation on a partial are few and far between. In fact, I've never heard of one. (Though there may be exceptions)
Frankly, I'm suspicious of agents who ask to see a whole manuscript having read a plot synopsis and 50 sample pages.
Then you must be suspicious of ALL agents, even those at the very top - because they all do it.
Your method - start with an ebook and work up - may work for you, but it's not something I would choose to do or eveen COULD do. I am notmuch of a business person, and I am really, really not into marketing. Yes, I will do it, but only on the shoulders of a strong publisher. My way is to start at the top and work down - first the big publishers, then, if nothing else works, look around for other alternatves.
I have a manuscript under the bed that was turned down by top agents and one top UK publisher in 2005. I know a small publisher that would certinaly snap it up - its a regional publisher for the Caribbean, and as a previously pubpished author with good sales I have no doubt they'd love my historical novel on Guyana. But I did not submit it there. I am waiting to see what happens with my NEXT book - again, aiming for the top first, and working down, building sales for that, and THEN resubmitting.
Because I am not much of a businessperson, I want an agent. An agent can get me a better deal, with a better publisher and a better advance; she can sell foreign rights and maybe even film rights. Sure, if you work hard you can get all these things on your own, but you as the author would have to work your ass off to get the deals s that an agent can get you with right off the bat, and the distribution, publicity and sales a big publisher can get. If you're young and dynamic and full of self-promotion skills - which, frankly, many writers aren't (we tend to be an introspective lot) - go ahead, but at the age of 55, with dependents and bills to pay, two mortgages and an ill husband, I simply do not have that kind of time and energy. Apart from the fact that I am selling my book in the US, and I live in Europe!
I also noticed that majority here are in awe of agents...but agents are just middlemen, what they do is business and if any other small business treated its potential customers the way literary agents treat theirs, they'd be in bankruptcy in a matter of weeks. Conform to what agents want, bend backwards to accommodate them lest they label you difficult...as if the agents were the ultimate gatekeepers to the great publishing dream.
(my bold)
Writers are not the customers of agents. We are the
suppliers. As in every business, it's a question of supply and demand; there are far more writers and manuscripts than agents so the agent gets to call the shots. Any business with an oversupply of raw products will pick and choose for the very best. It's up to the suppliers - ie authors - to offer products - manuscripts - the business thinks it can sell.
So yes, agents have every right to make demands as to how they want to receive manuscripts. Most of the stuff that gets thrown at them is crap, so who can blame them for trying to make their own lives easier?
Agents can afford to be choosy and in fact HAVE to be choosy simply because they are swamped with manuscripts. They ARE the gatekeepers; big publishers want them there because otherwise THEY would be swamped. That's just the reality.
And many of them are not, indeed, small businesses but powerhouses in themselves.
Of course, the moment a "hot" manuscript pops up out of the slush the tables are turned... then it's the author who has the power to pick and choose, make demands, and bestow favours.
So that's what it all boils down to: either write a manuscript that everyone wants, play by the rules until they discover you - or do it all yourself, up the rock face, as you are doing. Very few writers can or want to do the latter.
I do not worship at the altar of agents; but I've had three great ones and I respect them immensely for what they can do and have done for me.
By the way, in most European countries authors do not have agents. There, it's a different set of rules entirely.
But I love WCP -- they're a great group, very professional and dedicated to their authors.
