Hi,
I'm 1/3 through the final draft of my manuscript.
I was thinking of sending out query letters to agents but I'm unsure if i should!
Do I need to complete the manuscript up to its final draft stage?
or is it best to start sending out my query letters now while I continue to finish the final draft stage?
Any help/ advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
D.E.Mayall
I think its worth taking your time before trying to find an agent. They will be able to help with redrafting to get the finished draft to publishable stage, but at the moment there probably isn't enough for them to take you on as an investment.
Good luck!
Arike
David, you're rushing it. An agent usually wants to have the whole thing available. Supposing you're the next greatest thing (and why not!): they need to make money out of you, so want to send your work on immediately to a publisher. Can't do that with only 1/3 of the book written. The number of authors who get that far and then something comes up, or they lose faith, or they have a computer disaster, would put agents on their guard.
The process usually involves you sending out a synopsis and 3 chapters, or the whole thing if they say so on their website; in all cases, check out their rules and regs, and follow them to the letter.
Bear in mind that you may get to a point later in the novel and think, 'Oh no! This changes something I wrote in Chapter 3! I'll have to re-write that part.'
It's good to be keen, but you've got to do the work first!
Lorraine