From Manuscript to Agent to Publisher

[WannabeWriter]

The time to complete a manuscript can vary from one writer to the next. But what about the next steps? How long does it take on the average for a submitted manuscript to be accepted by an agent? From there, how long does it take on the average until a publisher agrees to print the book?

This is assuming that there are no denials.

[JeanneTGC]

It's impossible to answer, because, first off, the assumption of no denials is, sorry to say, pretty much ludicrous. Yes, there are those rare cases where the first book is grabbed by the top agent immediately and goes into a bidding war and it's all roses. They prove the rule. And they are few and SO far between.

You're asking for absolutes in a business that's built on hurry up and wait. What it is for one is NOT what it will be for another. Ever. Each book is different. Each agent is different. Each editor is different. And those are just the initial three variables. Add on market trends, as well as a host of other things, and you've got a question that has no answer.

What will it be for YOU? Only you are going to be able to tell...and after the fact, not before. Learn patience and get a sanguine attitude -- it will pay more dividends than a timeline.

[Ziljon]

Hi Wannabe, I asked a similar question a while back and received some helpful posts:http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67326

[ORION]

In my case LOTTERY is my third book but first published novel.
Started writing book January 2006. Queried May 31, 2006. Got agent July 20, 2006. Sold book December 2006. Done editing Feb 2007. ARC published for reviewers April 2007. Hardback released August 2007. Trade paperback release June 3, 2008.

hope this helps but every single path is different

[GJB]

Dear WannabeWriter,

Orion buries the secret in three little words: "my third book". Her third was a rocket from manuscript to agent, bit more normal to sale at auction. Ms. Wood's average time from finished manuscript to bookstore for all three of her finished books is (infinity x 2 + 1 x 1.3)/3 years, or in layman's terms, for ever, assuming she does not now after the great success of her third sell her first two. So even a superstar on average takes slightly less than for ever to get there. If it were any easier, it would be so ordinary, so little fun. See what you have to look forward to. g.

[Garpy]

in summary: a bloody good book = far quicker than a not so good one.

[Bruzilla]

I sent four queries out and heard back from one agent within a couple of days... but after doing some snooping it turned out to be a vanity publisher. I got a response back from a real agent about two months after I sent my initial query.

[James D. Macdonald]

Answer one:

It varies.

Answer two:

Keep writing.

[Michael Davis]

From the day the MS was finished on my first novel TAINTED HERO (http://davisstories.com) to the date it was published and showed up at BN.com, amazon, etc, was 18 months, and I've heard thats on the low end.

[windyrdg]

Here's how things have gone for me to date.
Started writing (third novel) 12/07
Began querying (Sent 38) 7/07
Request for Partial 9/07
Request for Full 10/07
Revsions for Agent 11/07
Contract w/Agent 2/08
Final polish 3/08
Went out on Submission 4/08

[David I]

in summary: a bloody good book = far quicker than a not so good one.

I'm not so sure about that as a generalization. Some books I think are pretty good--Frank Herbert's Dune, or James Lee Burke's Lost Get-Back Boogie--were rejected repeatedly, and waited some time before finding a publisher. (Dune had a couple dozen rejections by publishers, and Boogie may have set a record by being turned down by 111 editors.)

And the length of the path to publication is no indicator of sales. Neither Hunt for Red October nor Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone were snatched up by the first agents or editors to see them.

[Dana-Lynn]

And the length of the path to publication is no indicator of sales. Neither Hunt for Red October nor Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone were snatched up by the first agents or editors to see them.


I bet some of those agents/editors wish they WERE now!

:roll::ROFL::roll:

[blacbird]

The time to complete a manuscript can vary from one writer to the next. But what about the next steps? How long does it take on the average for a submitted manuscript to be accepted by an agent?

4 dam ever.


From there, how long does it take on the average until a publisher agrees to print the book?

The fifteenth power of the above numerical quantity.

This is assuming that there are no denials.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiight.

caw

[Feathers]

I haven't shopped any novels around *cough yet cough*, but from what the others are saying, it sounds like there's an average 2 year period between finishing the novel and getting it published. But I think it usually takes longer than that. I know getting published - aka, signing a contract to out in bookstores - can take between a year or two, and most people shop their stuff around for a year or two. So maybe a general average is 3 years?

-Feathers

[Straka]

Answer one:

It varies.

Answer two:

Keep writing.

I'd add to that; in the meanwhile don't quit your day job

[WannabeWriter]

Obviously, the timeline varies, but it's still nice to have people share their experiences on this path. I have some time to go, because I'm in the second draft of my novel. I plan to spend several more months on it.

[TrishD]

Here are my stats for my upcoming YA (which is my first completed novel):

Started writing: November 2006
Started querying: Early October 2007 (sent out a total of 20)
Signed with agent: Late November 2007 (we had a verbal agreement until she hung her own shingle in February 2008, so I was in limbo for a couple of months)
Started subbing to publishers: Early February 2008 (subbed to 4)
Sold: Late February 2008 to RH/Delacorte

My timeline from manuscript to sale was pretty fast, but having spent lots of time on these forums and others like it, I know my situation is the exception, rather than the rule.

[Straka]

That is pretty good Trish. Hope it does well when it hits the shelves.

[funidream]

Here are my stats:
-3 years to write and polish my manuscript
-Query process begun Jan 2006
-Agent landed August 2006
-2-book deal offer April 2007
-Galleys arrived Jan 2008
-MIDWIFE OF THE BLUE RIDGE being published August 2008
-Book 2 due to editor August 2008
-Book Two being published April 2009

I write historical fiction. MIDWIFE OF THE BLUE RIDGE is the second novel I've written. I'm still working on the third. The first novel I wrote resides in a dusty box under my bed.

[job]

Leesee ....

You got some unknowns and you got some guesstimates.


1) A positive response from an agent on a query -- a week to four/six months.

Once the qurey is read, it will probably be acted upon within the hour.

You can get an email response -- 'send me the full' -- virtually as soon as your query lands on her desk.
Or an agent might take 4 to 6 months to get around to reading the query.

Let's say 8 to 12 weeks is mid-range on response to the initial query.


2) A positive response from an agent on a submitted full manuscript -- a week to six months.

The turnaround speed on a full manuscript can be very short -- ten days or a week. That means the agent kept an eye out for it and read it at once.

Turnaround can also legitimately take six months. Agents have six-foot stacks of mss and yours may go on the bottom instead of the top.

The determining factor on this step is how soon the agent reads it.
A decision to represent or not represent is probably made in a day or two, at most, after the ms is read.

Do not give long exclusives on your manuscripts.


3) The agent works to improve the ms. --- zero to six months.

Some agents require authors rework mss extensively before they submit them. Some agents don't touch mss at all the slightest bit.


4) The agent sends her query to the publishers --- call it a week.

This process starts more or less immediately after the agent is satisfied with the ms. She'll have to acquired any bio or other information she needs from the author, but basically, once she has the manuscript in her hot little hand, she can start querying it.


5) The editor responds to the agent's query and asks to see the full. -- Two weeks.

This should happen rather quickly. If your agent is a good one (and why would you sign with a bad agent?) she will get positive editor responses within two weeks on virtually all her queries.


6) The editor reads the manuscript. -- one to six weeks.

A full manuscript submitted by a trusted agent should land on the top of the editor's pile. Editors are busy people, but there should be only a few mss in line before yours.

The length of this step is why you get a good agent.
With a good agent who has a stable of good writers and who brings editors the manuscripts they want, the lag before reading will be as short as the editor can make it.
If the 'agent' is unknown, the ms he submits goes to the bottom of the pile. Six months ... eight months ...


7) The editor sells the manuscript to the publishing house committee. -- 2 months for this.

Your agent may hear the manuscript is under serious consideration much more quickly.

Here, the in-house acquisition process moves forward, with your future editor fighting to get your manuscript approved. The process involves many people who must read the manuscript. And a committee meet-thing.


8) The manuscript is acquired and the contract is signed. -- A week to 3 months.

And here having an agent slows things down. On your own, you'd sign on the dotted line. Your agent takes a while and negotiates. It is time well spent.


9) The book is edited and printed -- nine months to one year.

After acquisition, the physical process of printing the book is scheduled. This printing date rules the advance of all other activities.

During this year or nine months ...
The title will be determined.
Release date will be set.
The acquiring editor will read and edit the book.
The writer and editor make necessary changes to the ms.
The book is sent to a copyeditor.
The writer approves copyedits.
The art department designs and creates the cover.
Marketing writes the cover copy.
Writer provides bio, pictures and acks page.
The book designer choses font and presentation.
Galleys are printed.
The author does page proofs.
The ARCs are printed and distributed by Publicity.
Minor typos are corrected in the page proofs.
The book is printed.

10) The printed book is sent to stores and put on the shelves. -- 3 months

[Velociryx]

:( It's a wonder anything gets published at all.

-=Vel=-

[job]

Most of this is invisible to the writer.

The writer just writes.
Sometimes she drinks coffee.
Sometimes she prints stuff out and goes to the UPS and mails it.

But mostly she just writes.

The rest of this stuff happens off in New York someplace.

[WannabeWriter]

But why do we write? Because we love it. :)