Question on Revise & Resub Request

Jessica_312 · Feb 23, 2013

I received what I believe to be a revise & resubmit request from my top agency choice. Of course, I'm on cloud nine. But I have a question.

Awesome Agent (aka owner of Top Agency) started by telling me what worked in my novel, and then listed some general areas where the manuscript could be improved. AA then went on to say that there is a lot more I can work on in the manuscript, and asked if I'd be willing to make changes. However, AA also asked if I would be willing to work with another agent in the agency (let's say "Agent B"), who is a "big advocate" for me and would be a "great help".

Of course, I replied to the email right away saying that I would absolutely be willing to make changes and work with Agent B. However, should I just dive right in to making changes based on the general comments, or does it seem like I should wait to hear from Agent B who may have more specific feedback for me?

Which leads me to another question. If Agent B contacts me asking for more specific changes, how long is generally customary to return the novel with the aforementioned changes? Does the amount of time spent revising matter?

Thank you in advance for your advice!

ETA: Latest update post #19

mayqueen · Feb 23, 2013

Congratulations! Did anything in the email indicate that you would get a separate email from Agent B? It sounds to me like maybe Agent B is going to read your revisions. I'm not sure, though. I would say go ahead and start working on the revisions you feel comfortable with now. I don't think there's a specific time-frame, but I'd say don't send it back too quickly (one or two weeks).

D.L. Shepherd · Feb 23, 2013

That's wonderful news! Congrats!

I'm in the middle of revisions right now, and my agent said there was no time limit. She'd rather them be right than rushed.

That said, it took me a month to finish the revisions, and now I'm spending another two weeks tweaking and proofreading before sending them back to her. I told her my expected time frame and she was fine with it.

ETA - if agent B contacts you, you might want to ask her what her expected time is.

Jessica_312 · Feb 25, 2013

Thanks for the advice, D.Owczarek and mayqueen!

Jessica_312 · Feb 26, 2013

Update: mystery solved - Agent will be calling me to discuss revisions. Excited to see what she has in mind!

Ink-Smith · Feb 27, 2013

Congratulations! If he is working with you directly i would suggest you just keep him updated constantly on where your at and what your doing. trust me it doesn't bug him it saves him from having to ask you.

Katrina S. Forest · Feb 28, 2013

Ink-Smith said:
Congratulations! If he is working with you directly i would suggest you just keep him updated constantly on where your at and what your doing. trust me it doesn't bug him it saves him from having to ask you.

I've never heard anyone suggest that constantly calling or emailing an agent is a good idea. And the OP isn't even a client. This is an R&R. (Hopefully one that will turn into an offer but hasn't yet.)

Old Hack · Feb 28, 2013

Ink-Smith said:
Congratulations! If he is working with you directly i would suggest you just keep him updated constantly on where your at and what your doing. trust me it doesn't bug him it saves him from having to ask you.

Oh, for goodness' sake.

Don't do this. What ever else you do, don't do this.

You'll alienate the agent before he's even read your first page.

Wisteria Vine · Feb 28, 2013

Ink-Smith said:
If he is working with you directly i would suggest you just keep him updated constantly on where your at and what your doing. trust me it doesn't bug him it saves him from having to ask you.

Yeah....um, no. Don't do this. Don't do this at all.

Just work on your revisions and when they're ready to be reviewed, send them in with a note. Do NOT pester the agent "constantly with where your [sic] at and what your [sic] doing."

Jessica_312 · Feb 28, 2013

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I actually had a very nice phone conversation with "Agent B" yesterday. Spent 40 minutes chatting and discussing revisions. She's also going to be sending me a markup of the manuscript with her notes, so there's definitely plenty to think about and work on. I haven't gotten an offer of rep, yet, but I think I'm on a good path.

This leads me to another question. Currently, two other agents have my full manuscript in their hands (for at least two months now). Should I inform the agents about the R&R, or am I only obligated to let them know if I actually receive an offer of rep?

Thanks again for all your advice and encouraging words, everyone!

waylander · Feb 28, 2013

only when you have an offer.

mayqueen · Feb 28, 2013

Only if you get an offer. Now, if you end up with a manuscript that you think is way better (this happened to me with my R&R), you can consider sending it with a polite note to the folks who have your full. Just something to consider. But that's what I did. I did the R&R and when I sent it back to the agent, I also emailed it to the agents who had my full.

Axordil · Feb 28, 2013

mayqueen said:
Only if you get an offer. Now, if you end up with a manuscript that you think is way better (this happened to me with my R&R), you can consider sending it with a polite note to the folks who have your full. Just something to consider. But that's what I did. I did the R&R and when I sent it back to the agent, I also emailed it to the agents who had my full.

I did this as well.

D.L. Shepherd · Mar 1, 2013

Jessica_312 said:
Thanks for the input, everyone!

I actually had a very nice phone conversation with "Agent B" yesterday. Spent 40 minutes chatting and discussing revisions. She's also going to be sending me a markup of the manuscript with her notes, so there's definitely plenty to think about and work on. I haven't gotten an offer of rep, yet, but I think I'm on a good path.

Thanks again for all your advice and encouraging words, everyone!

This is great news! Hope it ends in an offer.

FCameron · Mar 4, 2013

Congratulations! Hope all goes well for you.

Jessica_312 · Jun 2, 2013

Hi guys, I need some more advice. I went ahead and made edits to the story on my own, but held off on the resubmit. The agent (still the same one I mentioned in the OP) had said that she would be sending me a full write up of my story with detailed notes. However, I didn't hear from her for a while, and the last time she contacted me was about two months ago. She said that she was swamped, but was still working on the notes and should have them out by the end of that week. I responded by saying that I appreciated her response, and that I got the edits as far as I could but was waiting on the resubmit until I received her full write up, in case her vision didn't match with mine. That was the last I heard from her. Having not received any additional correspondence in close to two months now, I'm getting a little worried. Should I give her a gentle "nudge" via email inquiring about her notes, or just go ahead and send her the edits that I have? I didn't want to send in the edits too early because I was afraid she might take it the wrong way if she went through all the trouble of typing up notes on my story only for me to 'disregard' them by doing all the edits on my own, but now I'm not sure what to do...

Thanks again for any advice.

Axordil · Jun 2, 2013

If the agent indicated she intended to send you notes, and missed a deadline (however soft and self-imposed) to do so, nudge. I'd indicate you are very much looking forward to hearing her ideas for the manuscript and not dwell on the missed deadline. I'd have nudged at the one-month mark.

Jessica_312 · Jun 2, 2013

Axordil said:
If the agent indicated she intended to send you notes, and missed a deadline (however soft and self-imposed) to do so, nudge. I'd indicate you are very much looking forward to hearing her ideas for the manuscript and not dwell on the missed deadline. I'd have nudged at the one-month mark.

Thanks for your advice, Axordil! I think I will go ahead and nudge. *fingers crossed* that I hear back soon....

Jessica_312 · Jul 19, 2013

Hi guys, sorry to keep bringing this thread back, but I have one more question.

Basically, I have still not received the promised notes from the agent mentioned in the OP. I have contacted the agent on two separate occasions to give a gentle "nudge". I was initially contacted by the agent way back in February. When months went by without a word, I gave the first nudge, after which I was told that I would have the notes by the end of the week, but two months passed and I still hadn't heard anything. So, I nudged again, and was once again told I would have the notes by the end of the week. That last nudge was the beginning of June, and I still have nothing.

This agent was kind enough to agree to work with my manuscript (as in, agreed to give a detailed write up of what should be changed in the story, though any offer of rep is on hold until AFTER said revisions are made.) Because of this, I have not been shopping this novel around to any other agents. But my question is, what should I do at this point? Just keep giving a "nudge" every month or so and keep the manuscript on hold until then? I am unsure what the proper etiquette is in a case like this....

Thank you all, once again, for any advice/tips/guidance.

mayqueen · Jul 19, 2013

My suggestion is to make the revisions from the original email that you feel will make your manuscript stronger and then keep querying. This isn't an exclusive situation. You may not ever hear back from this agent and, as you said, it isn't (yet) an offer of representation. (Although, wait, are you nudging AA or Agent B? Who's supposed to be sending the notes?)

I may just be a bit jaded, but I say make sure you have the best manuscript you can and keep querying. The agent may have agreed to work with you on an R&R, but I personally wouldn't feel like the R&R is really on the table until you get the notes. And at this point, I'm wondering if you will get them, sadly.

Jessica_312 · Jul 20, 2013

Thank you for the advice, mayqueen! I have been nudging "Agent B", since she was the one who was supposed to send the notes. I think I will dust the cobwebs off the manuscript, get those revisions finished, and start querying again.

Coupland · Jul 20, 2013

When you are done send it to her and say hope to hear from you soon then move on. You never know.

Girl Friday · Jul 20, 2013

Ugh, sorry this happened, Jessica. It sucks to get your hopes raised then dashed.

I'd be tempted to contact Agent A, but I'm not quite sure how you'd do it without looking like you're complaining about Agent B behind their back, which would obviously be a bad idea. But I'd definitely start querying other agents. And you might still get your feedback from Agent B next month or something. Good luck

Aggy B. · Jul 20, 2013

I would probably also be contacting Agent A with a polite note to say that you haven't received detailed notes on the looked for revisions and you are eager to work on the MS but don't want to take the new draft in the wrong direction. (Or in a different direction from what they're looking for.)

I don't think it's really complaining behind Agent B's back to point out that you've been promised notes within a week twice now and then waited months with no word. I can't imagine that's what Agent A had in mind.

Jessica_312 · Jul 20, 2013

Thank you, everyone, for your responses!

Question on Revise & Resub Request

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