edit and then send query, or..?

Pretty much self-explanatory.

Basically, do you have to edit your novel completely before sending out query letters to agencies?

Thanks. :)

Yes! Absolutely

Here's agent Natalie M. Lakosil on Nanowrimo and querying.

http://adventuresinagentland.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-nano-post.html

This is what she says:

WRITE YOUR HEART OUT – and then spend THE NEXT THREE MONTHS EDITING.

I promise if you send a query letter before January that says it’s a NaNo book, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. And no, that does not mean you just shouldn’t put it in your query (although really, you shouldn’t) – it means you really WILL be shooting yourself in the foot because there’s no WAY you’ve had the time to make sure it is ABSOLUTELY ready for agent eyes!

The worst thing you can EVER do in a submission: send it out before it’s ready.

Yes, you want your novel FLAWLESS before you begin querying. As for advice on querying and examples of what not to do, check out queryshark.blogspot.com. Read the archives--you'll learn alot.

You want your manuscript as good as you can make it before sending it out, always.

I know it's tempting to send the query before you start editing. Agents take time, right? So in that time you could use it to edit. That way in 12 weeks when you get a request, you're just now finished and you didn't waste time. Right?

But not all agents take that long. And it would be awful to get a request from an agent who picked your query up and was really excited about it, only to have to tell them "Sorry, it's not actually finished yet." Nothing will tick off an agent more than that. Or more than seeing requested material that they requested 3 months ago just now show up on their (figurative) doorstep.

Not worth the chance. Always edit first.

Edit it.

Besides the possibility that someone will want it right away, there's also the very good chance your story will undergo massive changes before it's ready, so you might not even be sending out the same story.