Awkward protocol question

CharacterInWhite

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Here's the skinny:

Agent A asks for a full submission. Naturally, I'm sending other queries while I wait for a response. Agent A sends back a rejection, but with lovely, detailed and thoughtful feedback. I have what I need to consider a fairly extensive improvement/revision.

A few days later after a partial sub, Agent B asks for a full submission.

I'm fairly convinced I want to follow through with the revision, but I obviously can't keep Agent B waiting.

Do I send the unrevised manuscript with a note or anything? What do I do if she ends up liking it, even though I like the feedback the other agent gave?
 

ARoyce

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Well, you can send a response to Agent B saying that you recently received some new feedback you think would be helpful and want to revise before sending to him/her. You could ask if s/he wants to see the manuscript that's ready now or wait to see a revised version.
 

Old Hack

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If you do take that route, it might be wise to carry out the revisions quickly. You don't want the requesting agent to forget you.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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I've been in this situation, and honestly, I couldn't make the revisions quick enough for it to be worth keeping other agents waiting. A serious revision (not a quick matter of cut-this-scene, add-this-other-one) takes time.

I'd weigh your options carefully. Even if you have to send Agent B the current manuscript, you can always stop querying until revisions are complete, so for any future full requests, the revision will be ready to go.
 

heyjude

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Personally, I would send the as-is full to Agent B. Who knows what advice she'd have? Maybe the things Agent A didn't like Agent B would.
 

lauralam

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How confident are YOU with your book? Did you agree with all of the revisions?

Agent's opinions are subjective as well. I had one agent say she wanted to delete half of my book and have me continue on from where I finished the narrative. That hurt a bit, but also made me realise we just might not be a right fit for each other. I'm not a super wham-bam actiony kind of writer, and that seemed to be what that agent preferred. Doesn't mean she was wrong, either--everyone has opinions and tastes. I found another agent who absolutely adored it as is and wouldn't dream of chopping half of it. She still had suggestions for improvement but they fitted a lot more with my vision for the book. And she's the one I went with.
 

Sage

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Personally, I would send the as-is full to Agent B. Who knows what advice she'd have? Maybe the things Agent A didn't like Agent B would.
This is how I've been treating a similar situation. I'm not convinced Agent A's revision suggestions weren't a matter of taste, but I'm doing the revision anyway and seeing which version I want to query with in the future. But for the queries/requests still out there, I'm sending the original novel. If I finish before I get a response and decide the new version is stronger, then I'll approach the agents with it and ask if they want the revision.