Hi

I have just received an request for the full manuscript from a publisher about nine months after submitting. The thing is, I have recently sent the manuscript off to a critique agency, after which I was planning to do an extensive rewrite. I am not expecting the critique back for another couple of weeks and am in two minds as to what to do. Should I send the original draft out now or spin it out for a few months to make sure that I am sending the very best I can out there? What do you think, guys?

Thanks in advance,

Anna

I would wait and send it out once it has been rewritten and is at it's very best, it could make the difference between a yes or a no, so you do have a lot riding on it.

I would always try to send work in its very best form, i.e. once it has been edited, rewritten and polished to be the best it could get.

Kat

Anna, that's exciting news! Well done.

You could always email the publisher and say that you're very pleased that they're interested, but that you have just sent the MS off to be professionally edited (I think I'd say that, rather than critiqued). Ask if they'd they prefer to see the version you originally submitted, knowing that you'll be revising it, or wait for the new version.

Emma

<Added>

Realise I wrote that on the assumption that it'll be months before it's ready, and you don't want them to lose interest. Could you hurry up the editor and your revisions, and reduce the wait to a few weeks? Then it might be worth waiting and sending that, though I'd still tell the publisher what's happening, not just not answer.

That's great news, well done! I agree with waiting - send them your best effort whenever you can. I know the waiting is hell, but you'll feel that much more confident of your options.

JB

Totally agree, wait until it's perfect. I had a publisher ask me for a full manuscript just MINUTES after I emailed the synopsis and query. Then the full script sat on his desk for 6 months. I finally received an email saying they were going to get round to it...Meanwhile I'd gone through 4 more drafts since then and it was SUBSTANTIALLY different. I begged the publisher to take the later version - they must have read just a few pages of the script because minutes after I sent the email offering to send the latest draft, I got a REJECTION!

So only send the very best you have! And best of luck!

(Meanwhile, I did find an agent to take me on, who explained why the story SUCKED RAW EGGS and I'm now in the process of a radical rewrite!)