When Pitching, Be Ready To Submit A Full That Day!

When you submit a project to an editor or an agent, your story needs to be finished. 

Period.

End of story.

No exceptions.

And, when I say finished, I am not saying that you got to the point that you have typed THE END. Finished means that the story has been written, you aren't planning on reshaping sections of the story, The story has been edited. The story has been through your critique partners. I think you get the idea. 

I do think I understand why many of you feel you can submit a project that isn't finished yet. You have the assumption that it is going to take a long time for the editor or agent to get back to you. While this might be the case, you cannot gamble on that. When we read projects, we are already thinking about where we would place the story. As agents, we might be out looking for projects for editors and know of an immediate demand. When this happens, we will jump on a project and want to see it right there, and right then. 

I think it is also important to realize, if you pitch a project that isn't finished yet, that story could go through a lot of different changes by the time you finish it. A lot can happen in those final chapters and that will certainly have an effect on what we want to do with the story.

I will be very honest. Rushing to submit a project is not going to help you a whole lot. Take the time to make sure the story is good and ready to go. I promise, if the story is good and the premise is awesome, there will be someone out there who will want the story.