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changling said:Somewhat on topic, When should you start shopping your work around?
First-time novelist?
1. I have 30,000 words in on my current project-bic nightly- and am curious to know if I should dig into my copy of Writers Market '05 to try and match it with a possible publisher-agent?
For-sure, start researching. What publisher would you most like to see with this novel? What's your number two choice? Your number three? Who would be your ideal agent? Who's number two? Number three?
2. Should I wait until the project is finished? I have read that one should not write another work until the first is sold. The thinking being that you may give up on the previous work.
Yes, if this is your first, wait until it's finished. This falls under the heading of "never bet against yourself." What's the best outcome you can imagine? You send off a query to your number one choice publisher or agent, and you get a reply: "Please send the entire work."
What are you going to say? "Ummm... wait six months"? For a first novel, have it in the bag and polished.
The day after you finish your first novel, start writing your second novel.
3. If I am to send out the work, I am under the impression that it be run through the ringer of re-writes, my best edit?
You don't want to send out first draft, if that's your question. Get it to the point where it's the best you can make it. (If you're putting in a comma in the morning and taking it out in the afternoon, you're at -- you're past -- that point.)
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