the craft. preparing the manuscript.
How do you know you're ready to submit to an agent? | 9.28.20
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Writing books is hard. Let’s start with that fact. If there is some kind of easy way to do it, you be sure to let us know when you do. The reality here is, most people, especially when working on their debuts take time! In this post, I’m going to focus on preparing a fiction manuscript because non-fiction is a different process. We’ll talk about that one later. They include a proposal and the book doesn’t have to be finished before submitting to an agent. But I digress. In fiction, your book needs to be in the best possible shape before you start doling it out to agents.
First thing’s first, your draft. The very first draft of your book is certainly not what you should send to an agent. The first draft is for you quite honestly. Some of the hardest work as a writer is getting what’s in your head onto paper. So, a draft is meant to do just that. But I know that trying to tell writers not to overthink it is literally like asking a fish not to swim. But you have to try. Write out everything you’re thinking because editing is really where it is.
Once you have a draft that you’re pretty set with, print it out. There is just something about editing with a pen in hand that I don’t think will ever change. Reading on a screen it seems like there are inevitably things that you miss. It’s easiest enough to go to a copy and print center and have them print it for you for a few bucks.
After you’ ve made those edits and updated your draft. Give it a good read once more. You will be sick of your story by the end of it, but that’s just how it goes. You will read that thing over and over and over again. So hopefully, you like the story you’ve written. After you’ve taken the draft as far as you think you can on your own, I’d suggest beta readers or workshopping it with a writing group. These should be people you trust or have some type of interaction with. You want to ensure that the feedback you’re getting is objective, but at the same time, this is your baby and you don’t want to hand it over to strangers either. So strike a balance and it’s helpful to include a note that they agree that any feedback they give does not warrant a co-author credit or anything of that sort. (I know it seems pretentious, but good to be on the same page. I also password protected my PDF and I think disabled the printing feature.)
When you get more feedback, there will likely be other things you want to change. So go ahead and make those updates as well. And remember that you are the captain of your ship. So suggestions are great, but ultimately, you need to be in charge of what you think is best for your story.
Then, and only then should you consider starting to query agents. You just want to make sure that you are putting your absolute best foot forward. Your book is likely still not in its final form, but taking the steps to ensure that its polished shows an agent that you take yourself seriously. If we are going to expect someone else to, we have to show up for ourselves first.
Lastly, make sure those first 10 pages are really tight. A lot of times agents might ask for 5-10 pages along with your query. You want to make sure that the story begins in a way that makes a person curious about what happens next. Oh, and one more thing, make sure to spellcheck! It’s a simple thing, but spellcheck on a 70k document can be like a week’s worth of work. lol. Take it one step at a time and keep the faith because querying can truly be a daunting task.
Writing/Job Opportunities
Bradford Literary Agency is looking for an Agent Assistant to work under Natalie Lakosil. (Remote to San Diego, CA)
The Gottman Institute is looking for a Social Media Community Coordinator.
Spotlight PA is looking for a Newsletter Editor/Reporter.
Tri Quarterly Mag is looking for a Fiction Editor.
Linkwell Health is looking for freelance health and wellness writers.
Elite Daily is looking for an Experiences Writer.
Meredith is hiring a beauty writer.
HelloGiggles is currently looking for lifestyle pitches for November. They mostly cover work/money, relationships/sex, mental health/general health, politics, and friendship. If you have any ideas, Email raven.ishak@meredith.com.
VerywellHealth is looking for freelancers to pitch and cover health news stories! 700-1000 words: $200, 1001-1500 words: $250, 1501-2000 words: $300. If interested email writeforus@verywell.com with “news writer position” in subject line. Please include your resume and a link to your portfolio/clips!
Alex Besen is looking to assign pieces on health/relationships in the coming months to freelancers. $500/article.
To Be Read
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