<p>oasis, thanks for clarifying the misunderstanding. I wasn't sure how much to explain before I started to sound condescending. ;)</p>
<p>our head girl published a shortstories book last year.
She had her photo on the back and everything.
But she's mega brilliant - went to egyt with the prime minister, youth of the year, 500 awards, director of a production. she's PERFECT</p>
<p>Write the first 7, 500 words (3 chapters...) then submit to various publishers and literary agents and if you get a deal for your book it will be an incentive for you to finish it.</p>
<p>No way. Don't even begin querying until your book is completely finished, proofread, and polished.
If you're writing nonfiction, than that path is fairly common (submit an outline, get an agent, write the book).</p>
<p>But if your first 7,500 words are good and the concept is great the publisher will pay you MORE to get it finished and polished.</p>
<p>Amystrangelove, I fail to see how a publisher would pay more for a finished book than an unfinished one. If that's truly the case, write the entire story to begin with, but only send the first few chapters as a start.</p>
<p>I am writing a book right now---a fantasy one to be specific. To be honest, it's mega hard to write and publish a novel. The process of writing it requires an immense amount of determination and natural instinct. And the act of publishing could be just in the hand of luck itself.</p>
<p>How many words is the average novel?</p>
<p>Being published has always been a secret ambition of mine, despite the fact that I am a pre-vet student. lol</p>
<p>100,000+ words, I think.</p>
<p>That article may be of interest regarding the number of words in a standard novel. "The Art of Story Writing" (the larger publication which this passage was extracted from contains other publishing tips as well (click the "table of contents" at the bottom of the page)</p>
<p>This yearsgirl publishers do not have the time to READ the whole manuscript and it saves time and effort on both sides to first strike up a deal so then you know you have a purpose with your project.</p>
<p>Amystrangeglove--</p>
<p>There are 3 cases where someone would do what you've been suggesting:
You're writing nonfiction; your name is Stephen King; you don't want to get published. </p>
<p>You MUST complete a manuscript before sending it off; to hope that your first 7,500 words will be good enough to merit a deal on the spot is laughable. That's not the way things are done in the industry. Why do you keep saying that? Is it just what you 'suppose' to be true? It's completely wrong, and if you do a search on 'amateur writers' mistakes', guess what you'd find?</p>
<p>Novels are more than 50,000 words; anything too much over 100,00 will be a tough sell. Generally, around 80,000 words.</p>
<p>scee3,
[quote]
The average novel ... is 100,000 words, which works out to 400 pages.
[/quote]
<p>In all other regards, I agree with you completely.</p>
<p>I think you should have a completed manuscript but i'm just talking in general terms really. For example to get a literary agent to sell your manuscript to a publishing house. I agree you should have a completed manuscript. Enough said.</p>
<p>How much do literary agents cost?</p>
<p>The agent receives a commission of the sales of your work; other than that, there are only minor administrative fees.</p>
<p>Ooh, I read somewhere in a magazine, that it costs like $600 to make your writings a book.</p>