I promise I won't do thisstephenmatlockDecember 4 2010, 19:58:15 UTC
I *PROMISE* I won't do this when I submit my query.
1. I will follow the guidelines 2. I will address it to an actual person and spell his/her name correctly' 3. I will keep the query short and interesting 4. I will be polite and engaging at the same time 5. I will not turn in a first draft hoping its brilliance will stun you into accepting it sight unseen. 6. I will eat healthier in 2011 (OK, the last one is a freebie of something I should be doing anyway)
* Those 37,000 words from NaNoWriMo are not a finished novel.
On behalf of all NaNoWriMo participants who are actually aware of such things, I apologize.
I mod the Reference Desk forum over there, and earlier this week I had to move a post into the Writing 101 forum. Said user posted asking about publishers of YA fantasy novels. The "completed" MS was only 22,000 words.
I added a note to my post saying I was moving it, just to point out that (1) 22,000 words is not a YA novel (50,000 could be, but not 22,000); and (2) those 22,000 words are going to need to be edited and rewritten multiple times before it's ready for an agent or a publisher.
Someday I will have some completed novels to submit. When I do, I will read all of the guidelines carefully and follow them to the letter, and I will ensure that everything is spelled and punctuated correctly.
22k is short even, iirc, for a Middle Grade novel - whereas 37-40 could be acceptable (were it, you know, a polished ms and not a first draft). 22k is a novella. T_T
I know, I said it might be okay for Middle Grade, but definitely not YA. Hey, it could be okay for Early Readers! ;)
My novels are 50k, but they are Inspirational YA - 100 pages long or so, final published copy. (Think Lurlene McDaniel-type stories only people don't usually die in mine.) Given that I've only actually completed first drafts on all of them (they're all in various stages of first edit/rewrite), I won't be shocked if they get longer. :)
Comments 19
You know, I've heard that people do this, but I hadn't actually seen *proof* before. Wow.
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1. I will follow the guidelines
2. I will address it to an actual person and spell his/her name correctly'
3. I will keep the query short and interesting
4. I will be polite and engaging at the same time
5. I will not turn in a first draft hoping its brilliance will stun you into accepting it sight unseen.
6. I will eat healthier in 2011 (OK, the last one is a freebie of something I should be doing anyway)
Reply
Dearie, dearie me. That would even fall in to the novella category.
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Reply
On behalf of all NaNoWriMo participants who are actually aware of such things, I apologize.
I mod the Reference Desk forum over there, and earlier this week I had to move a post into the Writing 101 forum. Said user posted asking about publishers of YA fantasy novels. The "completed" MS was only 22,000 words.
I added a note to my post saying I was moving it, just to point out that (1) 22,000 words is not a YA novel (50,000 could be, but not 22,000); and (2) those 22,000 words are going to need to be edited and rewritten multiple times before it's ready for an agent or a publisher.
Someday I will have some completed novels to submit. When I do, I will read all of the guidelines carefully and follow them to the letter, and I will ensure that everything is spelled and punctuated correctly.
Reply
Reply
My novels are 50k, but they are Inspirational YA - 100 pages long or so, final published copy. (Think Lurlene McDaniel-type stories only people don't usually die in mine.) Given that I've only actually completed first drafts on all of them (they're all in various stages of first edit/rewrite), I won't be shocked if they get longer. :)
Reply
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