Agent/Editor Revision Notes...

My first revision letter took 3 months. It's been longer or about that ever since. Some authors I know got them in a few weeks, but expect a few months. I know the waiting is hard (BELIEVE ME, I know!) Have some sugar and some starch and then wander out to watch the grass grow.

I hear it's soothing...

My first two were just a couple of weeks but the last two were a couple of months.

Average of a couple of months.

With publishing layoffs, editors are busier than ever -- sometimes swamped. Keep that in mind if you start getting antsy.

I don't remember specifically, but a month or two feels about right. And then they just keep coming Copy edits, then more copy edits, then another round of "Just a few more I caught on the last read through," more after that. (Though I imagine this varies with editors. Mine's a perfectionist, and I love her for it).

My first agent revision notes came with the offer of representation, so no waiting there. We did a second round, which came a few weeks after he got the revised draft.

My editorial letter on book one arrived in about a month. So far, book two's been in for 3.5 months and nary a peep. But my editor is swamped, so it's going to be a while.

I asked the same question when I was waiting, 4-6 weeks seemed to be the average time. Good luck and try to be patient (easier said than done, right?!).

My contract was signed in March and I just started edits this week- so three months- But my original editor resigned and I got reassigned.

About two months for agent revision notes, but I know some people have waited longer than that.

4-6 weeks for agent revision notes. Don't ask me about my editorial letter. My book got pushed out and I think I had the longest wait of anyone...

1 week each for agent revision notes--one big round and two tweaks.

A month for my agent's feedback and for my publisher (Putnam):
Bought Dec 6 2006
first editorial letter Dec 24
submitted editorial changes January 6 2007
second editorial letter end of January (minor changes)
There may have been another short one but I know my copyedited pages were sent February 20 and I had to have them back in four days.
My contract for putnam was signed mid February and I got my first check April 1 2007
My ARC came out April 15 in time for BEA and I had my first pass pages (proofs) in April as well. I had no idea the ARC was not really going to be the final published book lol! The hardback came out August 2007.
My book was called a crash because it came out less than a year after it was bought. This is really unusual and not at all necessarily good for the author.
So my time line basically tells you the fastest it can go...

Immediately with my agent. Four rounds of revisions took about 1 1/2 months. (Mostly it was me revising and editing though. Agent got right back to me within a few days when I sent changes)

Out on sub now, so not sure about the editor part.

under a week for agent revision notes.

had no idea editor notes take so long! eek

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

wandergirl said:

had no idea editor notes take so long! eek

Click to expand...

They can take a really long time, it's true. For what it's worth, the reason is almost never "OMG my book is such a disaster that it took the editor three months just to explain what's wrong with it" . It's often related to the proposed pub date--that is, if I acquire a book that I plan to publish next September, I know that I will submit the book to production around six months prior to that...so in this case, March 2010. I generally like to leave myself about a month for line-editing, so working backward, I need the revised manuscript by February 2010. But given that it's currently only June 2009, that's eight months in which to generate a revision letter and let the author have at it...when six months would still give the author plenty of time. (If I happen to know that a book will need multiple revisions, I adjust this timeline, of course.) But because I have that breathing room, and because I'm currently working on my Spring 2010 books, I'm not going to even start the Sept. 2010 letter yet. Basically, it's in the queue.

None of this addresses the author's building frustration, of course...that mostly needs to be treated with chocolate, home repair, and other distractions!

Crinklish, thanks for addressing my comment! When I think about it, as long as there's a pub date set, it doesn't matter in the slightest when the revisions are made in that time period. It doesn't hurry anything up.

I had revision notes over the phone on my first call ('the call') from my agent, and asked for an email as well to make sure I had everything down. That came two or three days later. I do have the impression that she's at the quicker end of the response range.
-Barbara