Re-submitting After A Rejection

This is a question that I believe a lot of authors have when it comes to submissions. Let me just say, before giving you my opinion, is that the answer will likely vary a lot from editor to editor and agent to agent. As always, just do your research.

So, here is the scenario. You just sent a project to an agent or editor and got a rejection back. You got some feedback and you want to try again. In other words, you had that "ah-ha" moment and really think you can nail this. Now what?

The first thing I would recommend is to look at that rejection letter. How the editor or agent will say a lot. For example, I will often say, "If you have any other project that might work, definitely reach out to me." Does this mean resubmit? Something else? Yes.

If for example, someone says, "There are a lot of things I like about this but [insert list problems]. Should you wish to resubmit then..." This one is pretty obvious.

But what about those that just reject?

If that person gave you nothing in terms of what to fix, or, if you get something that just says it wasn't the right match, then the answer on resubmitting would be no. You have nothing to go on, and, in the case of the second response, your voice did not match with that person. I personally would recommend leaving it and moving on.

If, however, you think you know how to improve the writing. Maybe you took a writing course in between the submission and the rejection, or maybe your critique group gave you an idea, then I recommend you ask. But, there is a twist to this.

1. Send a polite letter requesting the chance to resubmit.
2. Make it clear what that person said on the rejection and clearly list the types of changes you made.
3. If you did have an "ah ha" moment, state what that observation was and clearly list the type of changes you made.

In other words ask. 

Look, asking is not going to hurt you in the least bit. The worst thing you can hear is no, but there is no harm in asking.