Fourth Time Lucky. How Many Drafts Does It Take To Interest A Literary Agent?

How many drafts of a novel do you have to write before a literary agent says yes? In my case, it was four.

The original version was written several years ago and I submitted it to the RNA for a critique. The reader adored it and couldn't praise it highly enough, so it was put forward for a second read. Well, you wouldn't have thought the two readers had been presented with the same book, because the second reader didn't like it at all and spent several pages telling me so.

It was always my intention at that point to put the book aside to write two or three more, my long-term plan being to get three or four novels written in order to have a body of work to offer. Two novels and two critiques later, I returned to the first book and spent that summer producing a second draft - and, yes, I did use some of the ideas from the crushing critique. Three, to be precise.

The second draft was set aside while I worked on another book. I also read various books about writing. In particular I wanted to nail viewpoint writing. Some months later I was ready to write draft number three.

When I thought it was as good as it could be, I started submitting it to agents. I had two or three standard rejections, but mainly I received personal letters - rejections, yes, but including positive comments and encouragement. It was while I was in the middle of this process that I realised I had started the book in the wrong place, so I stopped submitting and started rewriting - using the agents' comments and also another book on writing which helped enormously.

At last I had my fourth draft - the one that generated requests for the full MS and which led to my now being represented by Laura Longrigg at MBA, the wonderful agent who was top of my wish list.

But my point is this. When I sent off the first draft for its RNA report, I thought it was ready. Okay, that was naive, but I believed it at the time - or I wouldn't have sent it. Likewise, I submitted the third draft to agents because I thought it was ready, only to realise it wasn't. And again, the fourth draft seemed spot-on.

Well, it was sufficiently spot-on to attract requests for the full MS. It was good enough for me to be signed up by MBA.

And I thought that would be it. When Laura Longrigg said she had some editorial notes for me, I imagined a few tweaks here and there. Not so. I've done major re-working of the first and final thirds of the books and now I have... a fifth draft.

Fifth!

And you know what? Yet again, I think this is as good as it can be. Except that...

Should a publisher be interested, more edits will undoubtedly be required. But will it be tweaks here and there or will it morph into... a sixth draft?