When To Submit Your Manuscript

How do you know when it is time to submit your manuscript to an agency or publisher?

With the eons it takes to get replies back from agencies and publishers (up to 6 months in some cases), it is quite tempting to circulate queries based on the completed first three chapters alone of your novel. After all, for most writers, the book is already laid out like a movie reel in our heads and all we have to do is transfer what is in our head down onto the paper. Simple.

Not! In that bridge from our head to the paper all sorts of things happen: characters do not always behave like they are supposed to, new characters pop up out of the blue, the plot itself can jump off the bridge and then there is the whole host of cracks i.e., typos, misspellings, and dodgy sentence structures that require quite a bit of repair.

Before you submit, make sure the following is done:

• Complete the manuscript. If you tempt fate and send your queries out based on having written 3 chapters, it is almost a guarantee that someone will request a “full” and because it is not done and cannot be done (properly) in a short period of time, it becomes an opportunity lost.
• Use the spell check and grammar check. In this day and age, there is no excuse for misspelling. And if you question your computer’s spell checker, by all means, consult a dictionary.
• Read the entire manuscript out loud. You would be amazed at the amount words left out. Little words like a, the, in, on, etc. When reading it silently, your brain is skimming and automatically puts in omitted words that need to be there.
• Hook your audience in the first chapter. First line is even better. Make sure something happens. If you are describing something at length in the first pages whether it is your character’s appearance or the weather or the setting, you need to go back to the drawing board.
• Avoid the dreaded, sagging middle. I find this the most difficult. This has to do with pacing and plot. Something needs to happen to keep the reader turning the page. Loose ends need to start making their way to getting tied up. It needs to flow and all start coming together.
• Do not ask your friends or your family to critique it because they like/love you too much. Instead join a writer’s group and get some honest feedback. Is the plot plausible? Is the main character likeable and sympathetic? Does it flow? Are there any confusing parts? Does it do what it is supposed to do: make you cry, make the hair stand up on the back of your neck or make you laugh out loud?
• Do your homework. Describe what genre your book fits under, and then research any literary agent that is currently accepting submissions for that genre. Cross reference Writer’s Digest or Writers & Artists Yearbook (for those of us in the UK) with the actual websites to make sure that the information listed is current.
• Find out if they accept email queries as opposed to snail mail. It is a lot cheaper in the long run.

If it is done properly, you have just as much chance at success as the next guy. It is one thing to be rejected because your novel did not grab the agent but it would be a sin if it was rejected over something avoidable.