Will agents and editors consider a revision of a manuscript they've already rejected? Check out this week's video for tips on resubmitting a revision to an agent.

Wish you had a guide to help your work-in-progress come to life? Our expert editors will make sure your project is polished and targeted to your specific audience, from outline to submission package.

Transcript for Resubmitting a Revision to an Agent

Hello. This is Mary Kole with Good Story Company. For today's video, I wanted to tackle a submission topic. It's something I've talked about a lot over the years but it's a topic that never goes away. So I wanted to make a video about it, dedicated to people who may see me talking about it now, rather than, you know, 5 years ago, 10 years ago. So this is about resubmitting a project to a literary agent or to a publisher. 

Now, this assumes that maybe you've submitted before you were ready. It was a little early in the process but you got excited, as we all do, we're human beings, you submitted. And for whatever reason, the agent, the publisher passed. They said, "No, thank you." Maybe they offered up a revise and resubmit. In that case, with the revise and resubmit, if someone has explicitly requested resubmission, then don't even think about it. Send when you're ready. We'll talk a little bit about how to do that and what phrasing you might use when you reach out again. But if they didn't explicitly ask for a resubmission but you want to send one anyway, I absolutely encourage writers to do this because as agents and as publishers, people on the inside of publishing, they know that writers get excited. They submit before they're ready. Maybe a week after they submit, they get a great revision idea. Then they get back to work on the manuscript and they have a moment of despair that's like, "Why did I submit so early?" It happens. We're all human beings. And I would say a lot of agents and publishers have had this happen to them, maybe even on a weekly or daily basis, where somebody reaches out sheepishly and says, you know, "I know I've already submitted this but I did a revision. So will you look at it again?" It's completely common and the first thing if you have done this, if you are in this situation, don't beat yourself up over it because it's inevitable. Agents and publishers expect it. 

So, that being said, a lot of agents and publishers will consider resubmission. Some will not. We cannot change their minds. We cannot change their position on it so the thing is, you may not know what category do a preferred agent or publisher falls into until you try to send a resubmission. But I would absolutely say that in most cases, it doesn't cost them anything to look again. They may decline again. Totally fine. They may be interested because ideally, the revision work that you've done is stronger. It made the manuscript better. It made the manuscript more marketable or whatever you were working on in your revision. So to them, it's, you know, maybe a little bit more attractive of a submission because you've gone back to the project and you've made changes, hopefully, for the better. So a lot of agents and publishers will look again. 

I would say, the number one thing to keep in mind is to be forthcoming. Say, "You saw a previous submission of this in, you know, April 2019. It has undergone significant revision." That's the language that you want to use, "It has undergone significant revision," because this is how we sort of justify the resubmission. "And I hope you're willing to consider." Don't ask them. Don't send an entire email saying, "Would you consider this again?" You're clogging up the inbox. You're not getting anything done. I would just say, submit again but insert some language that says, you know, "You've seen this before and I'm submitting it again after doing significant revision." If you have a revise and resubmit, then you want to call more specific attention to that. For example, "You saw this in April 2019 and you asked me to make some changes. I've done revision and, you know, here I am again, with my resubmission. " 

When I was agenting, I actually was very uncanny. I would remember submissions. I would remember turns of phrase. I would remember names. And so, I would always want to be honest. And I would always want somebody to be honest with me, saying, you know, "You've seen this before." It's no big secret. It happens all the time. I would rather that the writer was forthcoming and honest in the resubmission, rather than, like, trying to lob it over the fence and be like, "Oh, what? Me? No. I've never..." 

So, you have nothing to lose, I think, by resubmitting and by being honest that it's a resubmission. The worse that can happen is what's already happened. They've already said no to the project. They might say no again. Some people will consider it again. Some people will not consider it. But if you truly believe that you've done significant revision, you have a stronger project, I would say it's worth a try. It's worth a try to get in front of those people again, especially if you really, really believe that there's the submission targets for you and see what happens. But, one thing I do want to put to rest is this anxiety over resubmitting because, again, it happens all, all, all the time. 

This has been Mary Kole with Good Story Company, and here's to a good story. 

If you want to submit with a rock solid manuscript, it’s often in your best interest to partner with an experienced developmental editor. I’d love to help you polish your manuscript so it’s ready for agent eyes.