Dear O'Abby: Should I include my prologue?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm querying a fantasy novel that begins with a prologue which sets up the world and its mythology for readers before the main characters are introduced.  I'm getting conflicting feedback from other writer friends about whether to include this in the first 5/10/20/50 pages agents request with a query.  Some people tell me I should send the pages where the story starts, while others say I should send the first pages of the actual book - which are the prologue.

Do you have any insight into this?  I feel like the story won't make a lot of sense without the prologue, but at the same time, I have focused my query on the characters and their journeys and none of these characters appear in the prologue.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,

Unsure

Dear Unsure,

This is one of those questions that comes up all the time. 

In my opinion if an agent or editor asks for the first 5/10/20 etc pages, that's what you send them.  If they are intrigued and you've sent only the pages post-prologue, they will be confused when they receive your full manuscript and it's different to the pages you sent previously.

That said, make sure your prologue is really necessary.  Too many books start with a prologue that really has nothing to do with the story being told, or introduce characters that never appear again in the book.  Often a prologue provides an action-packed beginning to the story to grab attention, or is used as a way to info-dump a bunch of stuff the writer wants the reader to know before they start reading the story itself.

If your prologue is genuinely necessary, then send those pages.  If  it's only there to grab attention or give background that could just as easily be seeded through the main part of the story, then I'd rethink whether you really need that prologue.

Hope that helps!

X O'Abby