Is it ever okay to begin querying before your manuscript is finished?

texas_girl · Aug 11, 2011

Hi! I have a manuscript I have been writing for a while now. It's at about 35,000 words and my goal is 60,000. Is it ever okay to begin querying before it is finished? I was thinking since I have a good idea of how it is going to end that I could get a head-start on the querying process. Thoughts? Chastisements?

thothguard51 · Aug 11, 2011

For fiction, agents and publishers don't want a story idea, or half finished story, they want the finished product. Unless you are Stephen King...

Now, think on this, why would you query a story that you only have half finished in the first draft? The story could change by time you edit 2, 3, 10 times. How would you write the query when you don't even know the ending? How could you write a synopsis of a finished product when the product is not finished.

Now if you are writing non-fiction, then sending an agent or editor a proposal with all the particulars is the normal before you finish, and in many cases, before you begin.

Hope this helps...

Uncarved · Aug 11, 2011

I remember someone on here that sent in a query and they immediately got word back to seen the full mss.

They were only half done with it.

Yea, just don't do that. Wait til the book is done if its fiction. Nonfiction you can send book proposals without the mss being done with no problem.

BjornAbust · Aug 11, 2011

It probably isn't a good idea. The last thing you'd want to happen would be for them to request your manuscript in full, and for you to only have it half done.

Hbooks · Aug 11, 2011

Not a good idea. If they ask for the full manuscript and you don't have it completed to send right away, you'll have to admit you queried before you were ready and that will look unprofessional. Then you've messed up your chances of submitting to that agent again.

Plus, you're only about halfway done with the first draft. After that needs to come several rounds of edits, critiques, more edits, and then querying. It doesn't make a lot of sense to query when you're only 30% of the way to your finished product.

texas_girl · Aug 11, 2011

BjornAbust said:
It probably isn't a good idea. The last thing you'd want to happen would be for them to request your manuscript in full, and for you to only have it half done.

That's what I'd be most worried about.

texas_girl · Aug 11, 2011

Hbooks said:
Plus, you're only about halfway done with the first draft. After that needs to come several rounds of edits, critiques, more edits, and then querying. It doesn't make a lot of sense to query when you're only 30% of the way to your finished product.

The thing is that I've been editing along the way, so it would be more like a second draft by the time I'm finished. You do make an excellent point though. I'm not planning on querying it just yet. I'm mostly curious as to what the opinions are out there.

quicklime · Aug 11, 2011

can you think of a single benefit to pitching early, other than that you're antsy?

Because if there is no real benefit but numerous or significant risks....

soullesshuman · Aug 11, 2011

Good idea to avoid it, methinks. Wonderful pleasures await those who are patient. A story can change drastically while you're writing it, multiple times a romance tale devolved into that of horror by the time I got to the end. Besides, two drafts aren't as good as three, or five, or twenty!

CACTUSWENDY · Aug 11, 2011

And with that /\ /\, I believe the nos have it.

texas_girl · Aug 11, 2011

soullesshuman said:
Good idea to avoid it, methinks. Wonderful pleasures await those who are patient. A story can change drastically while you're writing it, multiple times a romance tale devolved into that of horror by the time I got to the end. Besides, two drafts aren't as good as three, or five, or twenty!

You have a great point! I'm probably just antsy.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

RyanLKing · Aug 11, 2011

Agreed, querying without a finished MS is a bad idea. It's just not worth the risk, especially for a novella.

dgiharris · Aug 11, 2011

I just also wanted to add that the hardest part about completing any work isn't the first draft.

The first draft is glorious, a honeymoon with words when the ideas are fresh, novel, and exciting.

Its that 3rd or 4th draft/revision that is the nightmare of tedium, gruntwork at its most unfabulous-- slow going, like a slug running a marathon or trying to swim in a mile through maple syrup.

But its that last draft that separates the men from the boys (or women from the girls)

I invite you to bottle this antsy-ness that compels you to start subbing before you are even done. Bottle it and set it on the shelf for later. Becuase I guarantee you on that 3rd, 4th, or even 5th revision you are going to need a stiff hard drink

good luck

Mel...

Susan Coffin · Aug 11, 2011

Do not query until your manuscript is written, edited as much as needed, and polished. Not one day before.

blacbird · Aug 11, 2011

If you're James Patterson or Stephen King, sure.

Oh, wait . . . those guys don't even need to query.

Otherwise, no.

caw

Brutal Mustang · Aug 11, 2011

soullesshuman said:
Besides, two drafts aren't as good as three, or five, or twenty!

Yes. Yes. And yes.

dangerousbill · Aug 11, 2011

texas_girl said:
Hi! I have a manuscript I have been writing for a while now. It's at about 35,000 words and my goal is 60,000. Is it ever okay to begin querying before it is finished? I was thinking since I have a good idea of how it is going to end that I could get a head-start on the querying process. Thoughts? Chastisements?

Bad idea. If things move, they'll move quickly, and you should be ready.

Also, the course of the story may change. You're only halfway through.

AlishaS · Aug 11, 2011

I think this questions been answered

So I'll just say, that yeah this is a total no-no also, just because you have a novel idea, your 35K in doesn't mean you will actually finish it. There are lots of writers who start novels and don't finish them (I'm not saying this is you but it is a possibility)
Also, your novel is only in first draft stage, it could change a whole lot by the time you are done edits and it's polished.

tko · Aug 11, 2011

no

Not in any circumstances. Once more, don't query when your book is finished. Don't query after it's been beta read. Don't query after you've read it aloud twice.

If you're a first time author, query after it's been proofed, beta'd, read aloud, beta'd again, grammar and spell checked, and read again. Even then you're probably not done.

Hesopen Laway · Aug 11, 2011

dgiharris said:
I just also wanted to add that the hardest part about completing any work isn't the first draft.

The first draft is glorious, a honeymoon with words when the ideas are fresh, novel, and exciting.

Its that 3rd or 4th draft/revision that is the nightmare of tedium, gruntwork at its most unfabulous-- slow going, like a slug running a marathon or trying to swim in a mile through maple syrup.

But its that last draft that separates the men from the boys (or women from the girls)

I invite you to bottle this antsy-ness that compels you to start subbing before you are even done. Bottle it and set it on the shelf for later. Becuase I guarantee you on that 3rd, 4th, or even 5th revision you are going to need a stiff hard drink

good luck

Mel...

Personally, I disagree. To me the first draft is what kills me. To me, the first draft is like practicing tennis strokes. True, they are much easier than playing actual matches. But when you are there, out in the open, and feel "alright, no "I'll fix this later" anymore, this is the real deal!" and step into the court, it just feels so much more rewarding.

It's a matter of opinion though, so of course that varies from person to person, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out if I was in the minority who preferred editing over writing the first draft.

Monkey · Aug 12, 2011

I've been there, Texas_Girl!

I, too, was excited and antsy, and ready to query before I was even finished. I edited as I went, and figured that was pretty much all the editing I needed--I was ready to get published, already! I held back, though, hard as it was.

Thing was, that first novel--as much as I had high aspirations for it--just wasn't publishable. Most first novels aren't. Second novels are usually slightly better, but many are still not publishable. Thirds...thirds are better. And a dedicated writer can continue to grow with each new story.

So yeah...I was over-anxious. But now I agree with Hesopen. I get the first draft down, and THEN the real work starts...and I've come to love that. Writing is hopeful, it's creative. But editing makes me happy. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something, and now I'm making that something as good as it can possibly be. I'm very content when I edit, very happy to have gotten to that stage. It's like running a marathon, seeing the finish line ahead, and feeling a new burst of energy.

Becky Black · Aug 12, 2011

I know it's exciting when you're new to the game and want to get done as soon as possible, but you have to learn to accept that this is a very long game you're playing. You don't start a marathon by sprinting as hard as you can, you pace yourself.

Writing takes time. Editing takes time. Querying to agents and publishers takes time. More editing with the agent and the publisher all takes time. The bigger the publisher the more time it takes after they buy it to get it out on the shelves. All this time can be very annoying, but it's just the way things are. Good work takes time to produce.

If you act on impatience then you risk sending out half-baked work, taking shortcuts. Which will only result in querying taking even longer as the book comes back to you over and over. And you open yourself up to exploitation by those who offer you a shortcut to supposed publication - if you just pay them this small (for "small" read "large") fee.

Accept that things take as long as they take and concentrate on making your work as good as you can - which is probably the best way to maybe shorten the query process!

seun · Aug 12, 2011

Think of it this way: would you offer to make dinner for someone you really liked, then serve them uncooked food?

You've got one chance to get a publisher or agent to notice your work. Don't serve it uncooked.

Anne Lyle · Aug 12, 2011

I got about 20-30k into numerous novels before running out of steam each time - and yes, I used the "edit as you go" approach.

Once you have a few books published, you can getting away with submitting a proposal (sample chapters and a synopsis) for an unfinished novel, even a series. But no agent or editor is going to touch a newbie who hasn't proved they can finish even one book yet.

The nearest I've come to doing this is that I started querying when I was about to go off to a convention for the weekend and wanted to get my snail-mail partials in the post (I don't live close to a post office). At that point I still had about half a chapter left to polish. That's "final polish to eliminate any last typos or rough sentences, will take me an hour or two at most", not major revisions. I figured that in the unlikely event I got an immediate request for full (which I didn't!), the agent wouldn't object to waiting overnight.

shaldna · Aug 12, 2011

texas_girl said:
Hi! I have a manuscript I have been writing for a while now.

This is a very telling statement.

The fact that you have been working on it for a while and are only half done, so take the time you've been writing it and add that again, then add a couple of weeks for rewrites etc. That's roughly how long it's gonna tkae you to finish.

Now, if this figure is 3 days, then fair enough. If it's three months then don't query now.

In fiction, especially for new and debut authors, editors and agents want complete ready to go works. Not half works or ideas. This means, if they like the query they will ask for more, and what happens if you haven't finished it?

Is it ever okay to begin querying before your manuscript is finished?

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