# Manuscript or Proposal for first time writers?



## Ms-inquisitive (Jun 7, 2014)

Hi there, 

Do you submit a Manuscript or a book Proposal when you are a first time writer? – I am reading mixed articles on this. Some strongly say Manuscript and others say only Proposal's. 

Any advice is appreciated.


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## shadowwalker (Jun 7, 2014)

If you're writing fiction, you want the book complete (so it's the absolute best you can make it) before submitting your queries. If you're writing non-fiction, the proposal comes first.


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## J.T. Chris (Jun 9, 2014)

Yeah, if you're submitting for the first time then you're going to need to get really good at writing a query letter, and like shadow said, your manuscript should already be finished and polished.

There are plenty of good resources for writing query letters. Query Shark is my favorite.


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