Does an agent tolerate grammar errors?

Not speaking from experience, but rather, what I'm read:

Agents aren't 100% intolerant of some grammatical errors. Obviously, writers should do our best to steer clear of them, but if there's only a couple and the agent enjoys the story otherwise, he may list out what he doesn't like and suggest edits be made.

People who've been through this song and dance before, please correct me where I'm wrong.

They are as tolerant as any reader giving a story a chance. It's fine if you have a few problems here and there, but if it's unreadable or shows you didn't spend a second at least proofreading it can be as good as dead in the water. Take your time to edit it to the fullest of your abilities before querying or submitting and you'll widen your chances.

My experience with reading manuscripts and composition class assignments is that people either have very few grammatical errors, or a hell of a lot of 'em. If you understand grammatical construction, you're unlikely to make many mistakes; if you don't, you're very likely to make a lot. And a lot shows up very quickly.

I'd venture than any agent or editor worth being one or the other will view a lot of grammatical errors as just plain sloppiness, and an indication that such lack of care probably affects more than just the grammar in a story.

caw

This site has some interviews with different agents about a number of things, including their tolerance for errors (check out the list of names under "query question posts" on the right. They're agents who are interviewed with questions about their preferences). Turns out they're not a hive mind, though most feel that more than one very minor thing in a query letter is a bad sign.

I suspect in manuscripts most think there's a difference between occasional random typos or missing words or punctuation marks or occasional misplaced modifiers (the kinds of things someone can miss even after extensive proofing), versus repeated or consistent errors that suggest that the person doesn't actually understand the basic rules of grammar and punctuation (like someone who uses apostrophes with plurals or someone who clearly doesn't know how to use semicolons properly).

I'd say make it as clean as you can, and have beta readers who can point out errors too (especially ones that are repeated) but know that at least a few will sneak through.

Skabr said:

Thanks everyone! That helps a lot! Of course I'm editing my novel but I was just wondering how cautious one has to be.

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Cautious enough not to be using excuses.

caw

You make your manuscript shine to the best of your ability and if that means first learning grammar then that's what should be your first priority.

Skabr said:

Thanks everyone! That helps a lot! Of course I'm editing my novel but I was just wondering how cautious one has to be.

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No one minds a grammar error here and there, but that's about it. You'd better hope your agent is intolerant of a lot of errors because editors are definitely intolerant. Editors, not agents, are the ones who have to get the novel ready for publication, and they have very little time to do so.

Not that it usually matters. Writers who aren't pretty darned knowledgeable about grammar and punctuation usually can't write very well, either. Good writing and such knowledge go hand in hand, which is why writers are kidding themselves when they think they can have someone else fix their grammar, and all will be fine. It won't be. Bad stays bad, even when someone else makes the grammar and punctuation perfect.

We all make a grammar error here and there, but if you make very many, if you really aren't very knowledgeable about grammar, it's time to stop writing for a couple of months, and spend that time learning grammar.

Where most agents, and just about all editors, are highly intolerant of grammar and punctuation errors is in query letters. If a writer can't write one or two pages that are error free, what will a one hundred thousand word manuscript be like to edit?

The first several pages of a manuscript are much the same. Errors slip into almost any fill manuscript, but there really shouldn't be any in the first several pages.

Though blackbird nailed it. The great majority of writers either make extremely few mistakes, or they make mistakes on every page or two, and don't even realize it. Those who make a number of grammar mistakes invariably do other things that aren't technically wrong, but that are simply bad writing, such as passive voice, poor sentence construction, etc. The two always occur together.

Anyway, we all make a mistake here and there, but there's a difference between a very occasional mistake, and simply not having a solid grasp of good grammar and punctuation.

This aside, be extremely careful about mistakes in query letters, and in the first chapter of the manuscript. These two places are where any mistakes can kill everything. Get past them, and the agent or editor is probably hooked. At this point, they'll overlook more, though a bunch of mistakes can still stop them from reading more.