Please, does anyone know if, when literary agents and publishers ask for something like "...three sample chapters (50 pages or fewer)...", it means as single-spaced text (as in my main master copy) or as the agent / publisher would prefer to read it (typically 1.5- or double-spaced)? The reason I ask is that, if it means fifty pages of your single-spaced text, then however you present your text to them (i.e. single-, 1.5- or double-spaced) it is still fifty pages worth of work; however, if they mean fifty pages once you've converted your single-spaced text to 1.5- or double-spaced text, you get to showcase less and less of your work.
I always do the same as Laura. Everyone seems to want your MS 1.5 double spaced. I even sent my short story in the same format.
Good luck
Hi, Laura.
Thanks for your answer, which I think you're right about, and it is what I have been practicing before I asked the question today (it's been niggling at me for some time now).
"Funny thing, the harder I work, the luckier I get!" (Lord Thomson of Fleet)
Good 'luck', Laura (and everyone!),
Dawud
Hi Dawud,
Good question. I have limited knowledge in this area but I would assume that it is the latter, in that you only showcase 50 pages of your double spaced work.
I would automatically assume that if you were to submit a piece to an agent they would want it to be 1.5/double spaced so therefore they would only want 50 pages of your work once you had double spaced it.
I could be wrong, but from what you have written, that is how I would interpret it.
Good luck,
Laura