How many drafts does it take to get an agent?
What I’m reading: A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen
What I’m watching: Hustlers
What I’m listening to: Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
When I started revising my first manuscript, I wondered how many drafts was the “correct” number. I tweeted at authors with this question. I never got an answer. Spoiler alert: There is no answer. However, it helps to see stats from other people’s books! I’m going to share mine in hopes that it helps you find the answer that’s right for yours.
As of this post, I’ve written four full manuscripts (including my debut novel FIRE TO THE STARS).
Here are my books in chronological order. (*I can’t publicize other titles at this stage, so bear with my code names!)
Submission ready:
PRETTY DANGER*
FIRE TO THE STARS
EVIL CINDERELLA*
Fully drafted:
ITALIA MAGIA*
Partials (First 20-50 pages):
CRAZY PLANES*
SPACE SADNESS*
WOLF MOM*
MAGIC SQUID GAME*
Every single one of these books came out with a different process, including the incomplete partials. To start, let’s review the number of drafts it took to make the first three books ready for agent eyes:
PRETTY DANGER: 27 drafts.
FIRE TO THE STARS: 14 drafts.
EVIL CINDERELLA: 6 drafts.
See how the number of drafts decreased significantly as I gained more experience? The first two had major conceptual flaws when I first drafted them, but I didn’t catch those flaws until many drafts later. I had a lot more to learn about that. Today, the books are nearly unrecognizable. PRETTY DANGER underwent the most conceptual changes. FIRE TO THE STARS retained most of the plot, but the emotional arcs (aka how the scenes occurred) changed dramatically. Interestingly, EVIL CINDERELLA underwent the most dramatic structural changes, despite the plot remaining largely unchanged. It started as first-person present, single POV and ended up as third-person past, five POVs. I also aged it up from the Young Adult age category to Adult.
ITALIA MAGICA remains stagnant at draft one—not because I’m giving up on it, but because I realized the world building isn’t based on a social structure that best amplifies the themes. Changing the world will cause major ripples that affect characterization, themes, and scene order. Until I do further research, there’s nothing to work on. I can’t force a story to work for aesthetic purposes. It must unfold naturally.
Takeaway 1: Best practice is to draft the books in full to recognize the flaws.
Takeaway 2 electric boogaloo: Takeaway 1 is a terrible take. lololol
Let me explain: After drafting the first four books, I lived by Takeaway 1—for a short time. Attempting the subsequent books taught me it was a complete coincidence that that “rule” had worked for me four times in a row.
Now, I like to consider drafts as “iterations” or “passes” that alter the manuscript to varying but impactful degrees. This can involve anything from changing POVs, combining characters, adding/deleting scenes, altering the ending and/or opening, and even line edits. One pass can involve one or many of these things, depending on how much the author chooses to change in one go. Part of the reason my first two manuscripts underwent so many drafts is because I hadn’t learned how to succinctly change multiple things in one pass. A bigger reason is one that was hard to accept: I avoided big changes because I was impatient to finish and didn’t want to revise again.
Spoiler alert: Shortcuts don’t fly. If I can’t finish a draft, it means something is wrong.
How did I know I something was wrong? Writer’s block. I ran out of steam! Rapid-producing new stories made me quickly realize that when I get stuck mid-first draft, it’s because I haven’t planted enough “ingredients” for me to draw from. Ingredients can be characters, setting, inventory, world building, motivations, etc. Anything that adds tension to the pressure cooker that is my story. Without enough of these ingredients, my foundation is too thin. So, I build a stronger foundation with new tension sources that ignite into bigger flames and carry me to the end.
So, where am I with my unfinished books?
CRAZY PLANES: On pause. Still need to tease out the weaknesses in the foundation.
SPACE SADNESS: Draft 2 in progress. I’m implementing a new history/relationship for my MC in the initial chapters that will serve as the core of her goal.
WOLF MOM: Draft 2 complete (first 40 pages). Draft 1 opened too positively and delayed the inciting incident. I anticipate another pass to alter a POV character’s backstory, but I’m waiting on feedback.
MAGIC SQUID GAME: Draft 2 in progress. I’m switching it from first person to third. Third person better reflects a POV character’s emotionally avoidant behavior and enables me to build intrigue into his mindset rather than kill the intrigue with too much transparency.
Takeaway 3: The denser the foundation the opening pages provide, the less likely I run out of steam before I finish. Even if it means I make substantial changes afterward.
Drafting is a wiggly process, and what defines a “draft” includes tons of factors that no one can set for you. That said, hopefully this offers some perspective. Getting a book agent-ready is about what you require to improve this specific book.
TL;DR: How many drafts does it take to get an agent? Answer: As many as the book needs.