Are grammatical errors a major problem when sending out manuscript?

I'm after sending out my manuscript to a literary agent.





It was all neatly typed, proper spelling and properly laid out. I then sent it off with an appropriate cover letter and brief summary, along with a postcard for them to send back to me for the receipt of my manuscript. I also gave them a stamped addressed envelope, should they need to return it.





Now, that's all good..BUT after having laboriously proofread my story so many times, i recently discovered that i had overlooked 1 or 2 grammatical errors!!





When i saw it I almost got a stroke, coz I couldn't understand how I had overlooked them! But, as i said, there are only 1 or 2.





Do you think the agent would scrap my manuscript on account of those few errors, or would they, in turn, be willing to overlook it...considering the amount of effort i otherwise put into the manuscript?





Thanks



If the errors are few, occur in an otherwise clean and good-looking manuscript, in an otherwise intriguing story, and preferably not on the first few pages...I don't think they'll matter.





But, all readers are different and some have so many manuscripts that they are just looking for reasons to put some down and not bother with them. (This is why yours hopefully aren't in the first few pages. They are more likely to overlook them and keep reading if they are already hooked a little bit). Go ahead and clean them up for the next round of submissions, though, should they be necessary.





If you are serious about publishing, the best thing you can do is hire a proof-reader (and maybe an editor...the two are different despite what some people on these forums seem to think) to go over the manuscript in advance next time. For a single chapter, the fee is usually small and it could well make the difference in getting published and being tossed aside without any more than a skimming of the first paragraph.








Also, what kind of grammatical mistakes?




If it really is only 1 or 2, it's neither here nor there. Even published books have occasional typos.





But they aren't looking at your manuscript with regard to how hard you tried. They are looking at it for how good it is.




FIX IT


RESEND IT


GET AN EDITOR





You need to think about how many manuscripts these people get in a week. If they notice just one error... que the doubts





Good luck!




if the manuscript is really good i doubt if those few errors will make adifference.




Don't worry so much about it. That's why they have editors.




An agent might overlook the problem, he or she might not notice it.





But when you say that there are only 1 or two, then I suggest you proofread it again as I am expecting more to come up.





For publishers (those who publish your book without you shouldering a dime), a well written story and a flawless command of the language is needed.





If, and only if the manuscript contains excellent story line and technical aspects of it (such as grammar) are all well written, one or two errors MIGHT be overlook. Specially if the problems only arises at the middle... because at least then, they'll either be hook or not to your story.





Effort in writing the manuscript does not count.. at all. Publishers, except Vanity presses, are quite strict. They spend money to publish you so they will choose the manuscript that will sell the most.





EDIT: OMG, why are people thinking that editors are hired to fix grammar errors?





Editors are people who specialize in improving a work, not fix its problems. A publisher will not spend a dime on an editor to edit a manuscript that they do not like...