Include the prologue in a query letter?

Most agents say no, from what I've read.

For one thing, except in a very few genres (which you're not writing), a prologue is frowned upon, so you're leading with something that's inherently a negative instead of a positive. For another, if it's a true prologue (happening at a significantly different time and place from the rest of the story), you may well not be starting with the main character (or at least the main character in his/her present incarnation, as opposed to in his/her childhood), so it won't give a good representation of the actual story.

They want the FIRST ten pages, ie: the first thing the reader will see when they open the book.

If your first ten pages are a waffling horror of a prologue that nobody sane can wade through without flinging the book away in disgust, cheating by skipping the prologue into chapter one serves no purpose!

If the prologue is not your strongest writing, dump it, try and give the reader information another way.

And yes, Agents dislike prologues generally as they are not story, but you can't cheat by pretending it doesn't exist. Eventually you'll have to put it back in when they ask for a partial manuscript. Best to have no surprises.

(ETA: a short one sounds reasonable, if it's only a page or two. If it was longer, consider calling it Chapter one)

My prologue was short enough that I could include both it and the first 3 pages or so of the first chapter in my 10 pages. So that's what I did. For agents who only asked to see the first 5 pages, I believe I sent the first 5 of the first chapter - not the prologue.

In my case the prologue was one of only two chapter that have both my MC and her father, and much of the plot revolves around her attempt to find him and rescue their somewhat estranged relationship. In relation to the overall story the prologue was crucial, but it did not introduce the central conflict so when faced with only having a few pages to show an agent, I went with the first chapter. YMMV.

Ah, the prologue debate. I asked this question, too. I ended up sending the prologue because, as Treehouseman says, it's the first thing the reader sees about your MS.

I didn't, even though the full novel does have a prologue.

If you can start with chapter one and understand everything that happens in the story, do you really need the prologue at all?

iamvaliance said:

I recently saw it done in Stephenie Meyer's book New Moon, but it was titled as a preface. It was also counted as the first two pages. It foreshadows, but it's subtle so it's not like a spoiler. .

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You might find that sequels or new books by established authors don't have the same rules of trying to hook a new reader. I don't remember a prologue/preface in Twilight (Book One) though? I guess it started straight to the chase of the story.

Debbie V said:

If you can start with chapter one and understand everything that happen in the story, do you really need the prologue at all?

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I have a prologue in both books, and will in the third, so I have no philosophical problem with them as part of a story's structure. A good prologue has a hook, which would work nicely to get an agent to ask for more than the first 10 pages.

So I'm with Debbie here. If you can present the beginning of the story without the prologue - if, in fact, you think it will be more compelling to the reader that way - then it's possible the prologue is superfluous, and whatever purpose it's serving can be instead solved within the main text.

Which was not OP's question. To which my answer would be: Include it. It's the beginning of your book for a reason.

I get this question all the time... but I don't understand why. I mean... I want the FIRST TEN PAGES OF THE BOOK. Just how long IS your prologue? Most are quite short. If it is more than ten pages... have you considered the idea that maybe it is just a *chapter*?

Presumably you think your prologue is important and interesting and compelling enough for it to be the first thing a reader sees when they open the book. If that's the case, of course, I want to see it.

If you DON'T in fact think your prologue is important and interesting and compelling enough to be a representative for your writing and the book in general... then why is it in your book at all?

I would include the prologue, even if they just want five pages, especially if it's an attention-grabber. Agents want to see the first five or ten pages because they want to see whether your writing pulls them in. If it's good, it will make them want to read more and they will ask for more.

Treehouseman said:

You might find that sequels or new books by established authors don't have the same rules of trying to hook a new reader. I don't remember a prologue/preface in Twilight (Book One) though? I guess it started straight to the chase of the story.

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Nope, it had a preface. A flash forward to the bad guy (James?) cornering Bella in the ballet studio, about to kill her, and her thinking back to how she got there.

The prologue is the first thing in your work. If you're afraid to send it in a submission, maybe it shouldn't be the first thing in your work.

caw

Let me just clarify, since folks have raised the question of why one wouldn't include a prologue as part of the sample pages.

In my case the prologue was written in the same style and voice as the rest of the book, it had my protagonist in it, and it set up her personal conflict for the book (though not the larger plot). She was also only seven in the prologue and nineteen in the first chapter. When read back to back there was no issue, but when comparing the contents of the prologue to the synopsis/summary it created a problem. One rejection when I was just showing the first five pages of the prologue indicated the agent thought I had miscategorized a YA/MG book. So, I started only sending the prologue when I could send the first few pages of Chapter One as well.

Because it felt like the right thing to do with that book. YMMV.