Elated and terrified-an agent has asked for my complete manuscript!!!

[Karlee A. Etter]

Today during an annual conference, I made a pitch to an agent -- which I originally decided I shouldn't do since I have done little to NO work on my manuscript in the past 2-3 months (actually I have been feeling VERY frustrated with regard to it) ---- not to mention that LIFE has very much stiffled my poor MUSE!

But goodness gracious, today,;actually about 8 am this morning, she suddenly reappeared when least expected! WOW! And I guess the star's were aligned right because after making my pitch, the agent has asked not only for a five page synopsis but has also asked for my ENTIRE manuscript -- I was hoping for a partial (at best).! So .................. now what do I do?

That is, how much editing do I do before sending it off? What is an acceptable amount of time to "tweek" it before sending it off?

[Anne Whitfield]

Hi Karlee.
Congratulations for having the courage to pitch, and I'm sending my best wishes to you regarding the request.

I've no answer to how long you should take to tweak it. If it was me...I would pull a few 'all nighters' and live in a bubble until I had it done, but I'm crazy that way. :o)

One good thing is that since you've not worked on the ms for a couple of months you'll be coming to it with fresh eyes, which will help the editing process.

Good luck!
Anne.~

[Celia Yeary]

Dear Karlee--congratulations, and good luck with the agent! On the editing? Edit and clean the ms within an inch of its life! I know two people here in town who were editors in their past lives, and both of them have said repeatedly "do not send anything to an editor or agent until you've done everything you possibly can to it. Like Anne, I would be obessed with it day and night until it was ready--but don't take too long. You don't want the agent to forget about you. Celia Yeary

[Karlee A. Etter]

Thanks for the advice -- but how do I know when it has been edited/tweaked enough? I tend to be a perfectionist, no, worse, anal when it comes to my writing -- I could tweek it forever and NEVER recognize that it has been done "enough". So, when do I know when to stop, that enough is enough?!

And unfortunately, I have to work full/part-time while continuing to work on my manuscript, so I cannot stay up all hours or do a marathon until it is "good enough" for the agent. How much time is "too long" to send it to an agent?

Karlee

[Wendy Laharnar]

Hi Karlee,
I gather you told the agent your MS is finished. Is it? I'm a bit late with advice. Have you sent it off?
If not. and time is important here, I'd put it on two computers in the same room and get someone to read it with you, taking it in turns to read out loud. Two pairs of eyes pick up discrepencies better than one and you can fix them on the spot. I'm all for staying with it till the ordeal is over. This is serious business now and a wonderful opportunity not to be missed. Congratulations! Wendy

[Douglas W. Jacobson]

"Strike while the iron is hot", goes the old saying. If the manuscript is done, send it in! There's probably no chance tweeking it now will make it better, especially since you'd be doing it under some pressure. Go for it!

Doug Jacobson
Author, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two

[Bonnie Toews]

Karlee, if you are a perfectionist, you have probably been "perfecting" your manuscript as you have been writing it. Your total involvement may have been the reason why the mss became stale to you. I agree with Douglas. Send it in. The agent who requested it will see its true potential and often agents help authors develop their careers by showing them what needs to be fixed and guiding them to let go when the book has reached its best presentation. Don't let the fear of not being perfect hold you back from this wonderful opportunity. That's self-sabotage at its worst. Go for it, gal!!

Bonnie Toews
Author of "Checkmate Treason," a novel of WWII

[J. R. LaGreca]

Greetings Karlee,

You must be so excited and rightly so. If I was you I would purchase Read Please where you can listen to your manuscript to find errors you might otherwise miss. Then I would stick with revising between 3 to 5 chapters a day which equates something like a week to two weeks. This is reasonable and managable. Good luck! Best, J. R. LaGreca