This question is mostly for the agents here but others can chime in with their theories too: do most agents prefer longer or shorter chapters in partials submitted to them? From what I've read about it, lots of people seem to like shorter chapters better in general, but would longer chapters have an advantage from giving an agent a chance to read and evaluate *more* of a work? I'm asking this because I write long chapters, but have been considering splitting them up in shorter ones before doing the query thing again; do longer chapters have any benefits worth keeping?
Preferred chapter length in a partial?
- Thread starter glutton
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Hmm, I wouldn't worry about the length of your chapters. If they ask for three, send 'em three - usually it's between 30-50 pages. I used to think that I wanted to make sure they saw as much as possible, but now I just want to make sure that there's a nice cliffhanger or a great scene that the sample ends on.
I just got an offer based on three chapters alone - so that should tell you something! It's not about number of pages in a chapter, it's about what's going on in there.
I just got an offer based on three chapters alone - so that should tell you something! It's not about number of pages in a chapter, it's about what's going on in there.
Forget that you're submitting to agents for a moment. You're writing your book for readers. Agents just happen to be the first ones you'll be coming across. Just do what needs to be done for the story.