Thursday, October 8, 2009

Dealing with Revisions

A writer asked… What do I do if, after I have sent a manuscript to an editor or an agent, I decide to make revisions that might affect the outcome?

 

Good question and surprisingly, this is an easy one to answer. Don’t.

 

If you are sending a project out to an editor or an agent, it needs to be ready to go. You shouldn’t be in the middle of edits. Your CP’s shouldn’t still be working on the revisions. The story should be done. This goes for the story, the synopsis, the whole thing. You may be thinking you want to get the process going, thinking that there will be a huge time delay and there won’t be changes, but you can’t be certain.

 

There is also another element to this. Contacting the editor or agent stating you have all of these new changes sends a message that you aren’t ready. Sure, we like to see a willingness to make changes and edit, but we need to know that when you send in a project and we get the process of publication rolling, you won’t call us saying that you have a few more things to change.

 

In the end, just make sure you are ready before you send anything in. There is never a need to rush. Make it good!

 

 

Scott C. Eagan

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment