Error Made Upon Submission

Chalk it up and move on. You have another agent asking for the partial. Go for it and keep sending out those great queries!

I might disagree here - was it a very early draft or just an earlier form of the current manuscript? The real problem is that no matter which way you look at it you come off looking a bit unprofessional- I might take the chance and email her to let her know of your mistake IF it is a significant enough draft difference.
This is why I always have a separate file for drafts and final MS...although telling you that is like suggesting you close that barn door after the horses escape LOL...Sorry!

Gina M said:

...and said although my writing was intelligent after about 50 pages she started getting distracted and didn't think it fit her after all.

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Doesn't sound like it was because it was a first draft. Even though it wasn't polished, she found the writing "to be intelligent." The story itself didn't fit what she was looking for. I wouldn't bother requerying. There are many other great agents out there.

ETA: She got the copy with the extra words, I notice you said. If she really liked it, she would have asked for a revision before deciding.

Gina M said:

It was a one of those manuscripts that 6 month ago I thought was the absolute finest. I recently removed 2000 words from the first 10 chapters and feel it is much better. She got the copy with the extra words.

As for worrying, that's what led me to this dilemma to begin with. I am so parnoid about losing my work that I save it in five different places! Yup, you heard me; home laptop, flashdrive, work desk top computer, work shared network (under the auspice that it is revenue reports of course) and then finally a burnt CD. A little manic, I know.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go wash my hands for the millionth time today.

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Every couple of days I create a new file folder and save my WIP in it. So for my present WIP I have file folders numbered consecutively from 10 to 137. That way I can't get them confused--I just go to the highest number. And I get an entire history of the project that way--a godsend for biographers after I'm dead.

I agree with stormie then- it sounds like although your edits made your work better -- it didn't appreciably change the story. Move on (finish washing your hands first LOL)

Gina, what is there to lose? If you can e-mail the agent, explain the mixup, and include the file, it's then a simple yes or no for her.Even if you just e-mail the situation, without the proper MS version, it can't hurt. She already rejected you, but it could have been because it was just a little too loose.

I'd give it a shot. You'll be wondering about it forever if you don't.

(The same thing goes for asking pretty girls out, too.)

I'm in the you have nothing to lose camp, but I wouldn't send the ms. with the e-mail. I'd let her know the mixup and tell her that the difference between the two versions is 2000 words gone from the first ten chapters, and ask her if she wants to see it again. If she thought it was too wordy, she might and if not, as long as you are polite, you haven't lost anything.

if you have another agent interested in your work, i wouldn't bother emailing the first agent. if the change is so small that you only took out 2000 words, then it prob won't make a difference, like someone else already said. also, it may seem like a desperate ploy to shove a newly revised draft on her.

Actually, you do have something to lose.

This is a small world. Don't put your credibility and professionalism on the line over 2000 words.

Just say "Thanks", chalk one up to experience, and keep on chugging.

Even if you got the agent to look at it again, would you want to work with the kind of business partner that would make this kind of mistake at an important juncture?

Just move on. And don't let it happen again.

(One time a couple years ago I actually DID send a rough draft by accident to a literary magazine, and I am very suspicious that it is the main reason they haven't even sniffed at me twice since. Those SASEs came back so fast it was like Scotty himself had transported them. I decided to focus elsewhere, with much better results. I'm a little better organized now, but it's the kind of thing you just chalk up to experience and try not to let happen again.)