When Is It Too Early To Query An Agent

As an independent book editor who freely solicits outside material to edit, I receive a great many manuscripts with this caveat: I have sent my manuscript to many agents but received rejections that indicated my work needs editing by a professional. If I have you edit my manuscript, should I send it back to agents who have previously rejected it?
Agents Don’t Want to See Material a Second Time
At least this has been my experience for more than 20 years, during which time I’ve queried a half-dozen of my own novels. There are exceptions, but an editor for whom I carry great respect told me early-on that he had never heard of an agent representing a book from a heretofore unpublished author he or she had rejected earlier. And while I’ve had a well-regarded submissions editor refute this, until a writer tells me his or her personal book was accepted by the same agent after it was rejected, I’m sticking with my original statement and what the first editor told me. If someone was already published and has a following, this is a horse of a different color, but for industry unknowns, again, once a draft is rejected I suggest moving on to more fertile ground.
A Writer Can’t Be Faulted for Not Knowing the Nuances of the Business
There is no handbook on how to deal with agents or to what level an author’s representative will go to support a draft. Most novice writers think that if their work is good enough, an agent will accept the manuscript and polish it for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, again, it relates to where the writer is on the usefulness curve. If a writer is an established property, whatever an agent might not do a publisher will. Many publishers send drafts written by their franchise writers to editors for extensive revision. These editors are not often listed in the acknowledgments, but in some instances they do more writing on the work than the author. It’s just the way the business works.
Publishers Do Indeed Edit
To reinforce what I just wrote, when a problem is discovered, quite often the publisher will revise the text and sometimes this can entail major effort. But this is likely not going to involve a new author’s material unless that work is thought to have blockbuster potential. And even though every publisher wants “the next big book,” none are naive to the reality of the probable sales numbers for the material they have agreed to publish.
There Is a Moral to This Story
And it pertains to timing. Few writers I have come in contact with, and I’m included in this lot, have not opted for Plan A and have sent out material that wasn’t ready. This is why I’m particularly sympathetic to writers who typify this modus operandi. We all think we wrote something really good, and that if it needs a little touch up this will be provided at the agent level.
Unfortunately, an average agent’s workload consists of upwards of 50 queries each day, along with several manuscripts each week. Add to this the existing clients they represent (and specifically their needs) and how much time does an agent have left to edit material? Sure, the larger agencies have personnel to assist with the day-to-day chores and even to edit, but most employ or use interns as readers and do not have the capacity to hire editors.
However, there are agencies that do claim to provide extensive editing services for their clients at no charge, including line editing. And while this might well occur, I have no personal knowledge or experience with any agencies that offer these services to heretofore unpublished writers. All I know about are the crooked outfits that have scammed unsuspecting authors, and I’ve done my best over the years to alert writers to avoid them.
Same Old Same Old
My harangue is identical to what it has been for years. For all practical purposes, a draft gets one chance with an agent or publisher–and that is all. So I don’t think it’s out-of-line to suggest having a professional critique material before sending out queries for it. Because, in addition to the moon and the planets needing to be aligned in a precise syzygy, the one indisputable fact, if there is one in the publishing industry, is that a manuscript should be in the best possible shape the author can get it into, period, before submitting it for consideration by an agent or publisher.