How Do You Know When Your Work Is Ready To Send Out?

I was talking to someone yesterday who said they felt sick to death with their work. I said that probably meant it was ready to go out. There's no point in hanging onto work and editing it into the ground while you feel more and more fed up with it. If you can't think of anything more to do with it then get it out there and see what happens!

However, if you've got any inkling that all isn't well, then you should wait until you know what it is and have fixed it. I've sent work out that I've had a nagging suspicion wasn't quite right, and hoped that magically someone wouldn't notice but sure enough, it's come back with feedback that nails my nagging suspicion.

I also think you shouldn't send out if you've only just finished writing. Leave it for a week - a month if you can bear it - and then have a read. The longer the gap between writing and reading, the more you'll be able to see it with new eyes. When I do publicity for a new book it's usually been a year since I've last really looked at it, and boy - can I see things I'd like to change! Too late, of course, to do anything about it, but it's taught me that you really do see more if there's a long gap.

But if you've left it, come back and done another edit, and now you're sick to death of it - send it out. A half way house is to send it to friends or even to buy in some professional feedback. But get it out there and see what feedback you get. It's the only way you'll know.

When Is The Right Time To Send Your Novel Out?

This is a piece of string question - the answer being, when it's ready. But how do you know when it's ready?

1. When you've done everything you can think of to the novel.

2. When you honestly have no niggling feeling in your stomach that there's something wrong somewhere.

3. When your writing critique friends are telling you to get on with it, it's good to go.

4. When deep down you know you're putting off the moment because you're worrying about rejection.

5. You're sick to death of it.

This is of course assuming:

1. You've finished it.

2. You've put it away, then come back to re-write with fresh eyes.

3. You HAVE come back to re-write - at least once, if not twice, thrice....

4. You've done some research on suitable agents and have a target list to send out to.

5. You've asked for feedback from writer friends.

6. You've had some professional feedback (if you can afford it, you really should get professional feedback).

You don't want to send it out too early, before you've re-written it, but on the other hand, don't wait until the right moment, or when it's perfect. The right moment will never come, and no novel is ever perfect. If you've done the work, let it go...

3 Reasons why you should hit the Slush Pile Now

Are you going on your summer holidays? I'm off in September, but lots of my friends are away now, and will be over the summer. The publishing industry is pretty much the same as the rest of the country; many have children so have planned their holidays to coincide with the school holidays. Staffing levels are low, so you might have thought it was the worst time to hit the slush pile.

Wrong! This is perhaps the best time ever to hit the slush pile!

1. For every member of staff who have children, there are as many - if not more - who don't. Publishing is stuffed with people in their 20s who are as yet child-free. But, perhaps because it's a female dominated industry, there will be many senior editors who will be taking time off. Things do slow down in the summer because people are away so there's less work to do, but lots of staff will be at their desks throughout the summer months - and even if they go away, it's only for a couple of weeks. Time to hit the slush pile.

2. What do you do when you're about to leave for a couple of weeks holiday? It's only human nature to want to leave a tidy/empty desk. Editors and agents often make a big effort to clear a slush pile back log before they go off on holiday. Take advantage of it.

3. Going through the slush pile is a nice occupation for a literate young student on work experience. They can't do too much harm, and are quite capable of weeding out the complete no-hopers. When do students do work experience? Yup - the summer holidays.

If you're ready to go, don't wait until September when agents and publishers start getting ready for the Frankfurt Book Fair at the beginning of October. Get in there now!

Should I send my novel out now?

I was asked this question recently by someone who was 40,000 words into their novel and itching to send it out. I asked my agent what she thought, and her response was along the following lines...

You receive through the post some great opening chapters. There's a space on your list, and this author might be the one to fill it! With the thrill of potentially having discovered a wonderful new author running through your veins, you call up and ask if they could send the rest. No, they answer. It's not written yet. Oh. Disappointment starts to set in. When will it be ready? In a few months. Oh. Then, a few months later, you receive the rest of the manuscript. You vaguely recognise the name, remember there was something disappointing about them and, with a grudging feeling of anticlimax, start to read. Worse, you then realise it's in a similar style/genre to the author you took on two months ago, and you don't have room for two novelists of that type. You put the manuscript aside.

If that isn't enough to put you off sending your novel out too soon, then I'd suggest a couple of other ideas that might, coming from a writing viewpoint. You've written 40,000 words. A novel is usually 80,000 - 100,000 words. Is it not possible by the time you come to The End you may:

a) have improved your writing style with regular practice so the beginning is now not as good as the ending.

b) have changed your original ideas, so the beginning you started with is no longer appropriate.

c) having written the whole thing, you've now got a much better idea of where you need to start.

I'd also add that I think it's much easier to write a synopsis and covering letter when you've written the whole novel and know exactly what it is you're trying to sell. In other words, the answer to the question is no!