Do agents want your first 50 pages in a binder?

No binders, folders, or staples.

Just print out the pages, put your covering letter on the top, and stuff the whole lot into an envelope. You can, if you like, put elastic bands around the pages--one north to south, a second east to west--but it's not essential.

(Dalton) said:

Because none of these places really specify when they ask for fist xx pages. Should I just stuff them neatly into a manilla folder and be done with it? Staple them? Glue (no, I'm not serious...)? Binder? What?


Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Emphatically, No. No folder, no binder, no fasteners. Stick them in a close-fitting envelope or box and mail them. If you must use a fastner (for example, if the envelope or box is a little too big), then rubber band them and move on. But do not use a binder of any kind of tricky fastener.

~suki

It might go without saying but, because you don't bind agent submissions, make sure to NUMBER the pages. That is all.

Be sure to real all the guidelines, because most of them do specify unbound - and other things as well.

Good luck!

Yes! Number the pages and put some kind of identifier in the header or footer. If your book is called The Truth About AbsoluteWrite then use this sort of format for the page numbering:

TTAAW/page 1

If a heap of pages slides to the floor, it helps the recipient sort things into the right piles. This happens. Especially in my office.

Most agencies do not want paper at all these days. Make sure they want paper and not an electronic file.

What others said. Congratulations on the request and good luck!

What Old Hack said, except that I would include your last name/surname/family name in the header/footer text for absolute clarity.


The Truth About Absolute Write/Jones/p. {number}


Just on the off chance that the agent is reviewing two MSes with the same or similar titles.

Yeah, but your odds of actually getting it returned are iffy.

Considering printing costs and the cost of postage it's not really worth it anyhow.

SSAE were more important in the days when we were sending around original hand-typed manuscripts.

James also had to walk twenty miles through the snow (even in the middle of summer) to get to the post office.

Drachen Jager said:

James also had to walk twenty miles through the snow (even in the middle of summer) to get to the post office.

Click to expand...

Given where I live, that isn't too far off.

And photocopies! They were on slick paper, they came out as negative images (white on black), and they smelled funny. Plus the cost!

No, we used to have to iron our manuscripts when they came back rejected, so they'd look fresh and un-read for the next market. (Another trick was to re-type the first page, so it would be all fresh, with no coffee-rings or anything.)

Kids these days!

No staples. No binders. No packing peanuts. No saran wrap around the pages. No notebooks. No lace ribbons. No glitter.

Just an IOU for your kidney, your loinfruit and a twenty dollar bill.