Query letter before book is finished?

Yes. You should wait.

Imagine if you query your dream agent today, and she's so excited about the concept that she asks for the full MS tomorrow. But you're only four chapters in. Do you want to take that risk?

Querying unfinished work in fiction is generally not considered poor form, it is considered extremely bad form.....

We are talking fiction, right? If so, then yes, you wait until it's finished, and rewritten, and polished, polished, polished, before querying. If that dream agent wants a full tomorrow, not only had it better be finished, but it better shine like the sun.

Non-fiction is different, and involves proposals before the book is finished. Or so I hear. I'm fiction girl, so I am not a non-fiction authority.

Do not send a query letter unless you have a manuscript you are willing to show the person you are querying.

However, if you want to try to write a query letter now, it can be a helpful way to organize your priorities about your WIP. Plus when you do finish writing, editing, and polishing your MS, you'll have a rough query to work from, which can be much less stressful.

corey,

something else to consider:


Generally, you only query an agent one per book. That means you have a single shot per agent to get this right. So even if you think your query is awesomesauce spiked with MSG to make it even more awesomer, you should probably shop it through Query Letter Hell here; you'd be amazed how many folks do this after burning through their top 50 agents, only to discover they're making obvious, embarrassing mistakes....

noranne said:

Do not send a query letter unless you have a manuscript you are willing to show the person you are querying.

However, if you want to try to write a query letter now, it can be a helpful way to organize your priorities about your WIP. Plus when you do finish writing, editing, and polishing your MS, you'll have a rough query to work from, which can be much less stressful.

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QFT. Many people find it helpful to work on their query throughout the drafting process. I've started writing queries after I get to the inciting incident in a new piece--I find it very useful in organizing the writing. You can certainly write it and even workshop it in QLH while you're still finishing the book; just don't send it anywhere.

Coreyt0304 said:

Do I have to wait until the book is 100% complete before sending in query letters?

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1) The book won't be 100% complete until publication.

2) You don't have to even have a book to send in a query letter.

3) No agent I have ever known, met or heard of would bother with an unfinished book, UNLESS you have a specific exposure or platform. If you are the Vice President, yes. Just landed a plane in the Hudson River with no casualties, yes. Killed Bigfoot and have a verified carcass, yes. Slept with Kim Kardashian, well, stand in line.

Jeff

A few weeks back I taught a YA summer writing camp at our local library, and one of the kids asked if it was okay to query an agent or publisher with an unfinished novel. When I answered with a very strong no, you had to have that book finished first, an audible gasp went through the room. Kind of a funny moment because it was literally such a loud gasp that I stopped talking. Then I felt bad, but I also wanted these kids to know the truth: it pays to be professional. I guess many people hold a romantic idealism that novels write themselves and any and all work can be done after a sale is locked in place. I'm picturing my class attendees going home that evening and part of them thinking, I don't want to be a writer now, and the other part thinking, I'd better work my a$$ off.

I hadn't thought about it quite this way before, but you all make some very good points. My initial answer to Corey would have been, "Yes, of course you have to finish the book before querying. Period!"

But you can work on your query now. As you work on finishing the novel, you'll have time to alter and polish the query, run it by others, even Query Letter Hell it.

Then you'll have a finished novel and a polished query, and you're off!

Agree with everyone. I've found that working on my query letter while I'm also writing the book can help me focus my writing. When I can keep the major concept/themes/arcs in the back of my mind while I'm writing, I think I end up with better story telling. But, good gods, do NOT send the query letter to anyone until the novel is done-done-itty done! I've seen a few horror stories here of someone querying and getting an enthusiastic response in a day or two then having to explain to their dream agent why they basically need another 6 months. Not a good way to start any relationship...

There was someone on AW that had sent off a query letter before the book was done. And he got a bite. And ended up seriously burning his bridges because he freaked out and handled things very badly (like ignoring the agent).

You could start writing your query letter whenever, just don't send it in until your book is complete and well-polished.

I agree. I love writing the query during or even before I write the novel. But never send it. Don't do it.

Yes. Yes, please God, yes, wait until you've not only finished the novel but polished it to perfection (or as near as you can). As others have said, you could shoot yourself in the foot by querying when the book isn't ready. (I know of cases in which an author garnered interest informally at a conference and ended up represented with an unfinished book, but that's rare and interaction-based--not a cold query situation.)

But don't take my word for it...here's what some agents have said:

http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-is-my-fault-but-im-going-to-yell.html

http://litreactor.com/columns/ask-the-agent-a-review-of-when-to-query-agents

http://www.rachellegardner.com/should-you-write-the-whole-book/

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor...-letters/can-i-query-before-i-finish-my-novel

It may be helpful to draft a query letter before you finish just for the practice, but don't send it!

Derail:

Coreyt0304 said:

I have four chapters down, in my book. I was bored and looked at my horoscope last night (i know ha ha) and it said

If you are enthusiastic about writing a book or screenplay, or hope to become a columnist in a major consumer magazine, you must act quickly and send a treatment or query letter to a top editor or producer for TV. Jupiter will leave Cancer and your communications house on July 16, not to be back for more than a decade.

So I was like uhoh I better get writing quick. I was half joking, but it did make me think. Do I have to wait until the book is 100% complete before sending in query letters?

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Are horoscopes really this specific now? I remember reading one, years and years ago, that basically said: "Sometime, somewhere, something will happen with someone; this will either be a positive, negative or neutral experience for you. Hope for good things; prepare for bad things; though most things will likely stay the same."

Coreyt0304 said:

I have four chapters down, in my book. I was bored and looked at my horoscope last night (i know ha ha) and it said

"If you are enthusiastic about writing a book or screenplay, or hope to become a columnist in a major consumer magazine, you must act quickly and send a treatment or query letter to a top editor or producer for TV. Jupiter will leave Cancer and your communications house on July 16, not to be back for more than a decade..."

So I was like uhoh I better get writing quick. I was half joking, but it did make me think. Do I have to wait until the book is 100% complete before sending in query letters?

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When I first started writing, back in the stone age, I didn't know you weren't supposed to query an agent before you wrote the novel. I sent the query, along with three or four or five hastily written pages of the manuscript, all I'd written of it, expecting to wait for months. From what I'd read, I was sure I'd have time to write the novel before hearing from the agent. I also expected to have to go through several agents before finding one who wanted to see the manuscript.

Nope. The agent called only a few days later, saying she loved those pages, but needed the novel right now becaus eshe knew an editor who had a slot to fill, and wanted a novel just like mine to fill it.

Instead of admitting I hadn't written the thing, I asked if I could have enough time to write one more draft. The agent said sure, but that she had to have the manuscript in her hands by the first of the next month.

I wrote the entire novel in exactly three weeks, on a manual typewriter, she sold it immediately, and all ended well, but that was the roughest three weeks of writing I've ever done. I do not recommend it.

I tried to query a novel before it was finished. Very bad idea because the more I wrote into that unfinished story, the more the plot changed...good thing I never sent that query letter to anyone.

Little Ming said:

Derail:

Are horoscopes really this specific now? I remember reading one, years and years ago, that basically said: "Sometime, somewhere, something will happen with someone; this will either be a positive, negative or neutral experience for you. Hope for good things; prepare for bad things; though most things will likely stay the same."

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Here's mine for today:

Your business sense is much more impressive than usual today -- which could be saying a lot! It's a great time to make deals and ask for more than you thought you could get yesterday.

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I want an agent TODAY and I want a six-figure...SEVEN...TEN! TEN-FIGURE deal within in the next hour! Otherwise, I'm gonna hold my breath until I turn blue and pass out!