Submitting to agents

[AuthorInTraining]

I've finished a middle grade book and have done a couple of rounds of edits on it. I'm almost at the point of submitting it to agents. I've got one big reservation though, and that's all the agencies I've looked at specify 1st 3 chapters to be sent. In my book the real action doesn't begin u til chapter 4. The idea is it's the first book in a series so there's a fair bit of scene setting required.

I guess my question is, am I better to rewrite to get to the action faster, or explain in the synopsis and cover letter? I'm assuming ignoring the rules and subbing 4 chapters would be bad form? Any advice very welcome, I'm totally new to this. Should also say I've had feedback from target age middle grade readers and they didn't say it was too slow to get going, I think the writing is quite pacy it just doesn't get to main events til ch4.

I don't write the same genre as you, but I would always say that action needs to happen as soon as possible and if an agent is going to read the first 3 chapters of scene setting they may well be wondering if something is going to happen. Can you bring the action forwards, then drip the scene setting in as and when it's needed?

Thanks @LouisaMayAlcott I appreciate the advice. And even though it's not what I wanted to hear I think you're right. The trouble is the scene setting isn't just lots of detail, there's plenty going on, but the thrust of the book doesn't kick in til chapter 4. And if I try to bring it forward it opens up a whole can of worms to explain the how and why if the situation. Urgh, looks like another big edit is needed.

Seconding what @LouisaMayAlcott said. I've heard agents talk about this, and would strongly advise against submitting something that needs any sort of 'it gets better after the first three chapters' disclaimer. That probably sounds reductive, but you have to think about how an agent is going to be viewing your submission. Lengthy scene-setting is usually seen as a negative, so you're essentially flagging up a problem before they've even opened the manuscript. Given the number of submissions agents receive, and what a tiny proportion of them lead to full requests, it might well mean that you get auto-rejected on the basis of the covering email.

A lot of opening chapter material finishes up being edited out at some point. It's often the author writing themselves into the story. Readers are also more willing than we might think to take on faith things they don't understand, as long as there's a promise of understanding at some point - and as long as what is happening in the opening pages is gripping. A lot of that comes down to the authority with which the writer handles the unfamiliar. Not all world-building has to be explained, and an 'of course you already know and understand this because we're in this together' type style can be really effective. I once read something about one of the opening scenes of the TV series Firefly, in which the main character is eating with chopsticks and drinking from a battered tin mug, which said far more about the setting (government is a China/US alliance, and many of the worlds have a frontier-style feel) than you'd expect from such small details.

If you haven't already, have a look at Save the Cat Writes a Novel, particularly re inciting incident.

Good luck!

I’d second everything @LouisaMayAlcott and @InfiniteTeas said. Whether your novel eventually becomes the first instalment in a series or not is irrelevant to how this novel works as a novel in its own right — bluntly, it’s unlikely to bag you an agent and be published if it’s frontweighted down with too much worldbuilding. You almost certainly needed to write it, but now you definitely need to cut to the action, and drop in the worldbuilding as needed while it is happening. Think what the reader absolutely needs to know at any moment. (I think this is objectively hard for some of us — it doesn’t come naturally to me, either!)

And trust the reader, too!

Thank you all so much, really appreciate the wisdom. I was being resistant to chopping out some lovely passages of writing, but it definitely needs doing and what's been mentioned about trusting the reader to fill in gaps is so sensible. I also agree that I probably needed to write it in order to get to this point so I'm sure it's all part of the process.

Don’t get rid of them, keep them in a separate document! Your agent or editor might say ‘I think we need a bit of something in chapter five to explain the background to why X did Y’, and there you go.