| Re: Good advice from Iain Banks
I know you don't think that is what they really mean by a 'completed' maunscript, but for other readers' benefit, I'll say that they are talking about the story being complete, running through to the end, not just a partial novel. Editors are not allowed to commission an unfinished novel from a new writer, everyone has to be sure that said new writer can keep up a wonderful prose style to the end of the book, not just for the opening chapters.
Iain Banks has proved he can do that over twenty-odd years, so he (or any other well-known and successful novelist) can get a deal on a brief proposal. This is not true of someone who has not had novels published successfully by the major publishing houses. You have to prove yourself. |