Done Beats Perfect: A Rule for Writers
I saw a fellow literary agent post on Threads this week: “I want to see your very best query and proposal.” I get that—and I agree. But I think it’s worth unpacking what “your best” really means.
Today, I want to share one of my favorite writing rules—one that’s helped me (and many of the authors I work with) push past perfectionism and actually finish the work.
Back when I worked as a promotion manager at Zondervan, our team devoured Seth Godin’s emails. His latest would spark cubicle-wide conversations. Godin, who wrote one of my favorite marketing books, Tribes, taught me something early in my career that I still rely on today:
Ship at 80%.
When you get to 80%, it’s time to:
- Launch the website.
- Start the newsletter.
- Send the book proposal.
The 80% rule helps fight off both perfectionism and procrastination.
When I’m stuck in the “just one more tweak” trap, I remind myself: if it’s 80%, it’s ready. Not perfect—but real.
Perfectionism says, “Wait.”
Procrastination whispers, “You’ll fix it later.”
Both are liars. You can only improve what you’ve shipped.
I see this with veteran authors all the time. You’d think they’d have perfectionism beat—but nope. Like a B-movie monster, it always comes back. The only way to beat it is to act. To ship. To hit send.
And yes, your proposal might contain a typo. It might be missing a semicolon. That’s fine. The things you worry will trip you up are often much bigger in your imagination than in reality.
Here’s the truth: I’ve never said yes to a perfect proposal. That’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for something with potential—something I can help shape and strengthen. But if I never see it because you’re still tweaking it, I can’t help.
You might be thinking: But Mike, won’t an agent reject me if there’s a mistake in my query? Maybe. But that’s not the point. The point of a query letter isn’t to find any agent—it’s to find the right one. The one who says, “Tell me more about this.”
So here’s my encouragement for this week:
What’s the thing you’ve been holding back at 80%?
What could you ship today?
Let me know. Or better yet, go send it.
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