“Revised Submission” Meaning When Approaching Literary Agents
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
Writers wonder about revised submission meaning and best practices when they’re submitting to literary agents. Should they send a revised submission to agents who are currently considering their work? Absolutely not! Ideally, you should’ve only sent your best work when initially querying an agent. Ideally, you wouldn’t need to know the revised submission meaning because you would have sent a fully revised project to begin with. But impatience is part of human nature, and I realize that not all writers are able to hold off on submitting. I saw it all the time when I was a publishing agent. If you want to know the revised submission meaning when it comes to resending work to agents and publishers, read on.
Unpacking Revised Submission Meaning
Writers often wonder what to do when they have the urge to revise and resubmit a manuscript that they've already sent to agents or publishers. Should you send a revised submission meaning a new version of the manuscript even though agents already have a previous version? The publishing world moves slowly, giving you the opportunity to take a step back and reflect on the work you’ve done during the seemingly endless submission process.
You may come to the realization that there's more work that could've been done to make your novel the best it could be. You’re now thinking that your previous submission was horrible. You can’t imagine letting it stand. And you’re tempted to send a revised submission meaning an update to what you’ve already submitted.
Most writers know that sending a revised submission meaning resubmitting to the literary agent or published … is a bad look. Remember this: there are only a limited number of noteworthy agents to work with. You don’t want to burn bridges.
You have invested a lot of time in writing your book, so why not take the extra time to ensure it is as polished and perfect as possible before you hit submit it to those agents?
Revised Submission Meaning and Implication
When writers contact a literary agent and ask about submitting another draft when the agent still has the previous submission, the agent or publisher will normally respond, "Sure, send it in!” The exception is if they’re already reading your manuscript. They might agree (because it’s less awkward than telling you that they don’t want to see a revision or that sending a revised submission is unprofessional). But not all agents are thrilled to get this kind of email.
The truth is, they might take you less seriously. And some agents have zero tolerance for this sort of thing. Consider the revised submission meaning and implication spelled out in this article. If you are convinced that you really need to get that new draft to the agent, consider whether you want to risk looking unprofessional.
Writers often pull the trigger and submit too soon. Especially debut writers. It's rare to find a manuscript that doesn't need some kind of revision, even if it’s in polished enough shape to submit. Agents are well aware that a manuscript can always be refined.
That being said, you don’t want to become known as one of those writers who sends a manuscript one week and a brand new revised submission the next. If you do this, you better be sure that the second draft you submit is exceptionally well done—otherwise, you set yourself up for rejection … and the additional disappointment of not using your revised submission wisely.
I cannot stress this enough: if you are aiming to resubmit to a literary agent, take your time with that rewrite. To quote an old adage: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Don't make the mistake of submitting early work and expecting to send revised submission after revised submission meaning that you should do it once, and do it right.
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