Scrapping a manuscript that an agent request pages of

clek25 · Apr 19, 2017

So long story short, I went to a writing conference, pitched my novel, and the agent said to get it closer to 90k works, then send her an email with my query synopsis and first 50 pages.

Since I met with this agent, I realized there are so many underlying issues with my manuscript. It's my first novel, and my gut is telling me to scrap it or at least set it aside for now. I'm not sure when/if I will ever go back to it at this moment.

So my question is, do I reach out to the agent that requested the materials and tell her this, thanking her for her time? Or do I forget the request ever happened and not bother her?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Myrealana · Apr 19, 2017

When a very similar situation happened to me, I just let it drop.

In talking to other people at the conference, that particular agent seemed to have requested pages from everyone she spoke to, if their book was complete, so I figured she had so many pitches and queries, she wouldn't even notice one request never materialized.

mayqueen · Apr 19, 2017

If you haven't sent the pages yet, I'd just let it drop. If you have, just wait and see what happens.

clek25 · Apr 19, 2017

Thank you both, that's what I figured was the best option, I just wanted some validation I suppose. Appreciated!

cmhbob · Apr 19, 2017

I sort of get the idea of letting it drop, and I know agents tend to be busy, but I hear the ghosts of my parents telling me that you should always thank someone for their time and effort, and not leave them hanging. Even if it's three lines in an email, what can it hurt to say, "I've realized this will take too much work right now, but thanks for your time. I hope to contact you soon with a more suitable manuscript."? That might give you a foot in the door later when you're ready.

JJ Litke · Apr 19, 2017

You might just let it go for a while and leave yourself the option of going back over this later. If a rewrite was supposed to happen, the agent will expect that should take some time. So in a couple months you could take another look at your ms and see if you still think it's trunk-worthy or not.

Scrapping a manuscript that an agent request pages of

clek25

Watching Disney movies

Myrealana

I aim to misbehave

mayqueen

practical experience, FTW

clek25

Watching Disney movies

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats