I've encountered a bump.
A brief perusal of the Search Forums section haven't found any threads that give me a satisfactory answer, so I apologize if I'm re-hashing previous questions to much.
I'm working on a manuscript. Er, obviously. Anyway, the total length, based on the work I've already completed and plot based projections, is probably going to be much larger than 120,000 words. Probably larger than 200,000. Maybe close to 300,000.
Anyway, given the comments I've read on the site about how difficult it can be for a new author to publish a mammoth manuscript, I decided to break it up into two or three subsequent novels. Similar, in a way, to how Lord of the Rings was initially divided into individual components. That being said, I'm nearly done the section that would be construed as my first novel.
So, on to my question; given the novels, while they could technically stand alone, still rely heavily on creating plot lines for the future installations and calling on character histories and established plot lines from the prior installations, should I write the entire manuscript before sending out queries?
Keep in mind that I have the synopsis for the entire story pretty much worked out. I'm just wondering if I should have the extra one or two subsequent novels written and polished before trying to sell the first.
A brief perusal of the Search Forums section haven't found any threads that give me a satisfactory answer, so I apologize if I'm re-hashing previous questions to much.
I'm working on a manuscript. Er, obviously. Anyway, the total length, based on the work I've already completed and plot based projections, is probably going to be much larger than 120,000 words. Probably larger than 200,000. Maybe close to 300,000.
Anyway, given the comments I've read on the site about how difficult it can be for a new author to publish a mammoth manuscript, I decided to break it up into two or three subsequent novels. Similar, in a way, to how Lord of the Rings was initially divided into individual components. That being said, I'm nearly done the section that would be construed as my first novel.
So, on to my question; given the novels, while they could technically stand alone, still rely heavily on creating plot lines for the future installations and calling on character histories and established plot lines from the prior installations, should I write the entire manuscript before sending out queries?
Keep in mind that I have the synopsis for the entire story pretty much worked out. I'm just wondering if I should have the extra one or two subsequent novels written and polished before trying to sell the first.
Unless it's non-fiction you do NOT query unless said story is done. The whole series doesn't have to be done, but if an agent requests a full you want to be able to provide a spit-polished full without delay. You don't have to have to mail them back saying "it's not done" it's unprofessional. 
