Hi writers,
I have a question. Six weeks ago I finished a first draft of a novel that took me a good three months to complete. The amount of chapters came to eighteen and it reached a lengthy 40k. Now, six weeks after, I have done a new outline for a second draft and have broken the 18 chapters into 51 instead. Now these chapters are smaller in size but still play vital to the story itself. I'm happy with it and only thought of what the reader-me would want, but the question is what would an agent be expecting when they ask for the first three chapters of a book? A lot of pages or would my few still count?
If you could help that would be great and I'd happily repay the advice :-)
Great advice here, Thank you both Shah & khai!
I should have been clearer. I would not advice you to submit the first 10 000 words to an agent who only wants the first three chapters. If the option is available to choose, then choose what you think would be more beneficial to you.
If the option isn't available and you're satisfied that your first three chapters tell enough to make the agent want to ask for the rest, then great. But if you feel like its the fourth chapter you really want to send off as well, perhaps rewrite just the start to try and fit it in three chapters?
So to answer the question, I don't think agents look for a lot of pages. I think they look for enough to be interested and if your short first three chapters are interesting, then that's enough.
This is a great question! Given that the chapters in a lot of contemporary fiction are so short it makes me wonder how the writers approached agents in the first place.
Personally, I would strictly adhere to the submission guidelines stipulated on the literary agency's website. If I had short 1000 word chapters and they only accepted the first three chapters (not the first 10,000 words), I would make sure my first three chapters were well and truly polished.