Submitting

by Mary Lewis
11th March 2015

Is it possible to submit the first three chapters of your book despite the fact that you haven't actually finished writing the book? I know where my book is going and I know the ending. I have the chance to submit my work, but I am not sure if I should. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Replies

I shall wait. I'm sure there will be other chances and you're all right with your advice. Thank you very much.

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Mary
Lewis
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Mary Lewis
11/03/2015

I would wait until you have completed your manuscript and thoroughly edited it a few times.

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Adrian
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Adrian Sroka
11/03/2015

What do you mean by you've 'got the chance to submit' it? If someone has asked to see it, unfinished, then submit away.

In the game of agents and publishers, you don't usually submit until you've finished. If they ask you for a full mss, they want it yesterday. They'll then take forever to get back to you, but that's not the point: when they say jump...

So you need to have the full mss ready. What if you had some unforseen problem that meant you couldn't finish it for three months? They wouldn't wait for you. And no matter how hard you think you've planned it, there will always be those trip-you-up scenes that won't work however you squash them or beat them; and characters have a habit of taking on lives of their own and doing the damnedest things that you didn't expect. It isn't finished until you've written The End on it!

Good luck!

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Lorraine
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Lorraine Swoboda
11/03/2015