Publishers interested, but request revisions. Not sure how to proceed.

I don't think we can answer this without having read the MS.

Did the publishers not make any suggestions about what they'd like to see done?

Have you tried a beta reader? Someone to give you more feedback informally about what direction to go to keep the story clear in the reader's mind?

Or maybe try posting the first two chapters of your story on the Share Your Work section and let us check it out for you!

Yes, beta readers are other writers. There are classified ads with others seeking reading partners in another post thread. Check it out, and see if you can make a connection with other writers. If the people you had read your book were friends and/or family, I would definately recommend others, who will provide an outside view.
As for posting your work, you have to decide what you are comfortable with. I agree, it makes me a bit nervous too. But, since it would be just a portion, maybe that makes it more comfortable for you.

Why not try posting the first chapter in the appropriate Share Your Work forum and get some feedback from several writers at once?

ETA: Yes, of course, you need to decide your own comfort level. Maybe look around SYW and see what it's like. But many people here have posted short excerpts for critique. And Share Your Work is password protected, so while it can be viewed by registered members, it won't be automatically grabbed by the bots in cyberland. So...look around and see what you're comfortable with.

~suki

Beta readers sound like the best solution.

However, barring that and without the benefit of reading your WIP, here is my initial response. I would ask what the rest of the book is like. Do your characters refer back to these events? Is it possible to write them in when relevant? That way we discover the events as we go along, rather than having them fed to us in the first two chapters.

As an aside, have you checked the publishers out on Bewares and Background Check and Preditors and Editors?

My concern is that if you know your query letter was stopping you getting requests from agents, then you should be looking at improving that query letter first as an agent will always get you a better deal than going to a publisher direct.

MM

jlfc30 said:

The bottom line is that being published in print is my end game. If a small publisher is all who is willing to make that happen, then that's where I am going.

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I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating, there is nothing wrong with small presses. Agents submit to small presses all the time. Small presses do, from time to time, get their books on the NYT best seller list. Definitions vary somewhat country to country, but basically a "small press" is any publisher that has less than 50 million in annual revenue (I think in the UK that number is lower--25 if I'm not mistaken--but I'm not totally sure about that) and/or produce fewer than 10 titles a year. There are even some very good micro-presses and eBook publishers that sell books by the thousands and tens of thousands. You have to be savvy and do your homework, but authors can do very well with these presses.

Good luck with whatever avenue you pursue, and keep us posted!

Cheers

jlfc30:
I think the good news is that since most publishers asked for a partial or full MS right up front, my query letter hasn't stopped any chance I have of getting read since a few pubs are expressing interest. One offered to publish it but as you pointed out, it wasn't necessarily the best deal. I know I can do better. (E-book only).

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It's a personal choice that's obviously up to you, however what I would suggest is that the more publishers you submit your manuscript to, the more you are potentially restricting the ability of any agent who might want to sign you to submit your work on your behalf (specifically in respect of small presses who pay advances).

If you're only submitting to royalty-paying publishers, then I'd have to question the worth of any feedback that you're getting from them. Obviously there are some good royalty paying publishers out there who it's worth getting feedback from, but from the time spent on these boards they are few and far between. While it's always a buzz to get constructive criticism and/or positive feedback, if it's coming from a publisher who you then realise you're not bothered about signing with because you can do better, it's little more than a pat on the back.

jlfc30:
I don't want to write a kick ass query letter then get rejected because of issues with the first couple chapters of my novel.

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You shouldn't be querying at all unless you are 100% certain that your manuscript is absolutely the best that it can be. I know that others here have suggested that you get a beta reader or post in SYW but I have to ask whether you ran your manscript past anyone before sending out queries? How much editing and polishing did you do?

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh (I'm not trying to be) but it sounds to me that you've jumped the gun on subbing your manuscript. If you've been getting comments back that are making you question whether the opening chapters work, then you need to stop completely all queries until you work out what (if any) rewrites are needed and then effect them to the best of your ability such that your betas/crit circle/whoever is helping you with this thinks that it works.

jlfc30:
The bottom line is that being published in print is my end game. If a small publisher is all who is willing to make that happen, then that's where I am going.

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If being published in print is all you want then Lulu can do that for you in a jiffy.

If you want to be paid an advance for your manuscript then that takes a lot of work - even going with a small, reputable publisher - and it's definitely a marathon rather than a sprint. For what it's worth, I spent 2 years working on a manuscript for a YA novel, managed to get a very good UK agent with it and have spent the last 14 months rewriting the final third in line with both her comments and comments received from an acquiring editor at a UK publisher interested in making a pre-empt and I'm still not finished.

One of my agented friends spent 18 months on his manuscript, another 6 months editing with his agent and is so far into month 4 of making revisions for a Very Big Uk publisher interested in acquiring it.

swhibs123:
I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating, there is nothing wrong with small presses.

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Ditto to this.

MM

i hate hate hate flashbacks that are just to give back story. because I'm not reading the back story, I'm reading the current story.

if she's scared of water, just mention that she's scared because she watched that boy drown from an undertoe in grade school. and make it all deep and emotional while she watches the other kids play in the public pool. and she checks the vents, gauging if they're big enough to suck an unwitting arm in...

but that's me...

defyalllogic said:

i hate hate hate flashbacks that are just to give back story. because I'm not reading the back story, I'm reading the current story.
...
but that's me...

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Trust me, it's not just you.