How many lines does it take to stop reading?

[jackokent]

Hi John, I've got another one.

They say, and i think there's a lot of truth in it, that the first few seconds of an interview are vital and everything that comes after that simply reinforces the interviewer's origional opinion.

Is this similar to a new manuscript. After the first few lines do you kind of know right away. How many lines does it take to stop reading.

Or, is it the other way round, do you read the covering letter, synposis and character biographies first and then, if you are still reading, go onto the manuscript.

Do you always have an order to this.

Sorry, this seems to have turned into a number of questions. I guess the main thing is what do you start with and at what point do you stop reading.

Thanks again
J

[John Jarrold]

Jack

Personally, I always start with the typescript. With 99% of the scripts that arrive, you know on the first page that it isn't good enough, but you read at least ten pages.

When I took on Ken MacLeod's first novel, THE STAR FRACTION, at Random House, eleven years ago, I knew from halfway down the first page that he had it - a terrific writer. So much of publishing is the pricking of your thumbs!

[John Jarrold]

Incidentally, you can read the opening pages of THE STAR FRACTION on amazon.com