agents & revisions

The biggest surprise for me was when he said that my ms didn't need a lot of revising. (thank you beta readers) There was some work that we did. I think all done, it took two weeks.

Approximately 4 months.

I got a page long email of suggested revisions from my agent the weekend after I signed (which was two weekends ago), and of course I panicked. I emailed her back asking her if there was a deadline and (thankfully) she said no, she'll be happy whenever she gets it. All of the suggested revisions are really minor except one, which involves restructuring certain parts of the last half of the novel.

Just for my own peace of mind, I'm going to try to have it all done by the end of this month. She told me that whenever I get it back to her, she'll need time to read it again, and may suggest even more changes. Or not. But I'm preparing myself to go back and forth with it for awhile.

I had very few revisions to make. No deadline. It took me less than two weeks and was only slightly painful.

Revision suggestions came with the emailed offer of representation, so I had time to stew over them before I accepted. Only two revisions were major, and only one of them I agreed with (see? it's okay to say no to an agent's suggestion if you really do disagree with it). I took about two weeks, I think, to do those revisions. About a week or two later, he sent it back with line edits and grammar/spelling tweaks. That took me about another week.

So in total, about five weeks of editing.

I received my agent's comments in November and have been working on them ever since (hampered by work commitments). There were a number of small changes that I needed to make within the text, but the biggest issue was with the last 3 chapters, which need a rewrite (a comment I agreed with). There's no deadline for when the revised manuscript needs to be. I'd hoped to get it in at the end of last month, but now I'm aiming for the beginning of March.

MM

cate townsend said:

I've seen plenty of threads on this subject, but nothing with my specific question.

For those of you with agents who suggested revisions, how long did it take you to complete those revisions? I understand it depends on the magnitude of those suggestions, of course, but I'm curious. Did the agent give you a deadline? Did you create your own? Would love to hear about your experience.

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This question was just made for me, since I've been working on revisions for my agent for some time!

She suggested a rewrite after reading the full but before offering representation. I did rewrite and resubmit...that one took me about a week and a half, I believe, and was completed while I was working full-time.

After she offered to represent me, she read through the book and sent me notes on about 45 different pages of the book. I did those revisions plus my own read-through for error correction/fact checking/eliminating overuse of the word "little" in two weeks. For part of this time, I was working full-time, and part of this time, I was unemployed.

She read the revised book and sent me more revisions -- this time mostly having to do with minor plot issues that need clarification or structural change -- within about a week. I am anticipating having those done today, which would be about three days of working (while unemployed).

I signed the contract on 21 January, to give you an idea of how long this has been going on.

I mention the employed/unemployed factor since it does effect how much time I can put into writing daily. I was doing about two hours while employed, and anywhere from four to fourteen while unemployed, depending on whether it's a volunteer day for me or not.

She did not give me a deadline, but my writing is my priority, and I strive to get the best work done in the shortest amount of time possible. My agent is very prompt and professional, and I aim to be, as well.

It's a process that is beginning to feel tedious, but I have a rad agent and I trust her opinion and her eagle eye. I know all the revisions are making a much stronger and more appealing product to put in front of editors when we finally do go on submission. (I'll be really happy when I get a break from revisions, though! Of course, once I have an editor, I'll be back on the revision train again.)

She talked to me about revisions when she offered to rep me, and then got me her comments a few weeks after that. I don't remember her giving me a deadline, but I jumped right on them, so they were done quickly. Second round of edits was a month or so after that, pretty much the same story.

It all depends on a lot of variables. How much needs to be done, if there are any particular editors looking for that kind of book at the moment and the agent wants to take advantage of that, schedules, etc. But they're good about working with you, so if you're concerned you probably don't need to worry about it. You'll have time.

I have never, ever allowed an agent to suggest revisions. I doubt ten agents out there know a thing about writing, and considerably less about revisions. The surest way I know to ruin a perfectly good novel is to allow an agent to mess with it in any way.

Jamesaritchie said:

I have never, ever allowed an agent to suggest revisions. I doubt ten agents out there know a thing about writing, and considerably less about revisions. The surest way I know to ruin a perfectly good novel is to allow an agent to mess with it in any way.

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Forgive me, but you're wrong about that. Editors now are pushed for time and want their mss as perfect as possible before acceptance and offer. Agents are picking up the editing slack. These are days of major cutbacks and skeleton editorial departments. No one has the time to nurse young authors through their first masterpieces and they expect the agents to do it.

cate townsend said:

I've seen plenty of threads on this subject, but nothing with my specific question.

For those of you with agents who suggested revisions, how long did it take you to complete those revisions? I understand it depends on the magnitude of those suggestions, of course, but I'm curious. Did the agent give you a deadline? Did you create your own? Would love to hear about your experience.

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Everyone's experiences are different. And every answer to this question will be full of too many variables to really mean anything. Revisions take as long as they take. My agent didn't give me a deadline, and I'm getting close to sending the manuscript back to him after working on it for a few months.

Jamesaritchie said:

I have never, ever allowed an agent to suggest revisions. I doubt ten agents out there know a thing about writing, and considerably less about revisions. The surest way I know to ruin a perfectly good novel is to allow an agent to mess with it in any way.

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Again, everyone's experiences are different. Those of us who have strong and vibrant working relationships with knowledgeable agents had have very different experiences than yours. Good luck on your path.


For the OP, when the time comes, if your agent offers suggested changes that you also believe will strengthen the book, you can discuss with the agent at that time a timeframe to make those revisions.

~suki

Phew, I'm glad I came in here! I was SORT OF going to ask the same thing. So now I can share my experiences instead

STEP 1: In the middle of November, I got The Call, during which my agent communicated the major areas of improvement (killing off a certain character, for example, which meant a complete rewrite for the end of the book).

STEP 2: She wanted to review the changes at the end of the year, which gave me about 6 weeks. This time her read-through consisted of noting all the little things I could improve, while reiterating some of the things from the phone conversation that I overlooked.

STEP 3: It took me about 2 weeks to work on those suggestions, after which we worked on my cover letter (working aspects of the story into the query that I left out for word-count-worries). This took some going back and forth, because she REALLY wanted certain aspects in there that I didn't know how to work in nicely... but we got there eventually, LOL.

STEP 4: She asked me to cut about 6K from the book, to get it into the late 60s from the early 70s (it's MG fantasy, which is pushing it a little). This took me about 2 weeks and 3 read-throughs.

STEP 5: She's now waiting for the 'go ahead' from her bosses before she starts to submit to editors (she's the newest with the agency).

All in all, the revisions process took about 3 months, but we really took our time since it was nearly the holiday season when I signed. I was going to post a thread asking for people's experiences between signing with their agent and going on submission. This thread pretty much took care of it for me!

PS--every single suggestion she had made my book 1,000 times better. It told me we were SO on the same wave length.

suki said:

Everyone's experiences are different. And every answer to this question will be full of too many variables to really mean anything. Revisions take as long as they take. My agent didn't give me a deadline, and I'm getting close to sending the manuscript back to him after working on it for a few months.




Again, everyone's experiences are different. Those of us who have strong and vibrant working relationships with knowledgeable agents had have very different experiences than yours. Good luck on your path.


For the OP, when the time comes, if your agent offers suggested changes that you also believe will strengthen the book, you can discuss with the agent at that time a timeframe to make those revisions.

~suki

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I've always had vibrant, working relationships with agents. That's why I know the worst thing any writer can do is listen to an agent about revisions. Even if it works, you'll probably still get royally screwed down the line when you no longer have this agent, or when, for any other reason, you have to write a novel without the input from this agent.

It's your path that's going to take nine helpings of luck down the road. Allowing an agent to suggest revision, and following those revisions, may get a novel sold, but it comes back to bite writers in almost every case. And the bite is often fatal.

An agent's job is twofold. 1. Send the manuscript to an agent. With No Tinkering. Period. 2. Handle the contract. That's it.

I strongly suggest anyone who is even considering getting an agent go over and read all the posts about agents on Dean Wesley Smith's blog. He's got it dead right. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/

In fact, read all the posts dealing with Myths in publishing.

Jamesaritchie said:

I've always had vibrant, working relationships with agents. That's why I know the worst thing any writer can do is listen to an agent about revisions. Even if it works, you'll probably still get royally screwed down the line when you no longer have this agent, or when, for any other reason, you have to write a novel without the input from this agent.

It's your path that's going to take nine helpings of luck down the road. Allowing an agent to suggest revision, and following those revisions, may get a novel sold, but it comes back to bite writers in almost every case. And the bite is often fatal.

An agent's job is twofold. 1. Send the manuscript to an agent. With No Tinkering. Period. 2. Handle the contract. That's it.

I strongly suggest anyone who is even considering getting an agent go over and read all the posts about agents on Dean Wesley Smith's blog. He's got it dead right. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/

In fact, read all the posts dealing with Myths in publishing.

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Jamesaritchie,

I understand this is your very strongly held opinion, and I'm not trying to change your mind. And I've seen the blog you site. Again, others' experiences have been different.

But, out of curiosity, I'd love to see the factual proof of the underlined assertion above - especially the "in almost every case."

~suki

I think that agents who come from editing tend to be the ones who suggest revisions; and I can understand why they might do that -- although no two editors will agree on what revisions are necessary. On the other hand, agents without a strong editing background should leave the editing to the publisher who picks up the book.

... no suggested revisions from my former agent. Went right out on sub. No sale, either, though. The work needed revising and streamlining as I later saw. At the time I couldn't have made those revisions as I didn't have the experience to know what needed fixing. I could have improved it some, though. I rushed through the work when the agent first sent a request for a full. Only had five pages written at the time. From the experience I learnt two things: always have a work completed, and also have it as polished as you can get it. Hard lessons to learn :-(

You know, this thread is the first time I've ever heard of that opinion, the one that writers shouldn't listen to agents' revision suggestions.

Interesting. And if that works for some, that's amazing. I on the other hand loved my agents suggestions. But I guess that's why I found her and not one who doesn't make suggestions to revise.

However, the way a writer can disagree with agent-suggested revisions, we can disagree with one another on what works for us as writers.

I signed in August 2008, received detailed feedback in September, and worked on a comprehensive revision until April 2009. The agency came back with some additional feedback in June, and I worked on a second revision until early December. They're reviewing the manuscript again now.

It's taken longer than I expected, but the book is so much stronger for it, I really can't complain.

Same as Ken, my/our former agent also sent my work out without any revisions. I thought it was okay at the time, but since having a new agent suggest revisions I have to say I'm so glad she did. They're making my story fit much better with the market and overall just making it a stronger work.

To each their own. But I'm glad for my agent's suggestions.

Okay, I just signed with an agent. (WooHoo!) and the day after I said yes, she came back with a slew of edits(mostly stupid small stuff that I and my beta readers should have caught), but there was a whole section she wants cut. Since I'd been going back and forth about cutting the scene myself, this was the final nail in the coffin for that section. I LOVE that she's asking for these changes. It was really dragging the book down and it could make the difference between a sale or not. I can see why some people wouldn't want an agent to make suggestions, but I don't agree with that.

... it would be very interesting to see a sample of suggested revisions that a writer got from an agent to get an idea of what they look like. I suppose they vary a lot. Still, it would be interesting and informative. (Thnx for the info, Ink. Seems you're doing fine now. Happy to hear that

The first time I revised with my agent the changes were not huge, but took about five weeks total with a second tweak. Now I'd doing another revision, and I'm seeing things that we should have cut.

I think the first time she was being very respectful of my artistic vision, and now that I've been through a round of submissions, my main vision is that I want this thing to sell.