How Fast Should You Complete Revisions For Editors and Agents

Let's talk about something that all writers would love to have happen. You received in your email inbox the following message:

Dear Author,

There are a lot of things about your story that work. At this time, I am passing on your project, however, if you wish to make some changes to it, please feel free to resubmit. 

At that point, they even tell you the things that they liked, and more importantly, the things that they would love to see changed. They even told you to take as much as time as you needed. There is no rush.

Woo hoo! Time to celebrate!

But the real question here is, how much time should you take to get those revisions finished? Well, you came to the right place. My answer? 

AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!

Consider this. You are still fresh in that editor or agent's head. They are still getting a ton of manuscripts coming in. They are editing and working with all of their own clients, BUT, you still have the chance that they still will remember you and they will still likely remember what they told you to do. So take advantage of it. 

Secondly, you are also showing them how fast and how expertly you can take their advice and turn it into the project that they wanted to see. In the world of publishing, it is a hurry up and wait business. You will be asked to get those revisions back quickly when you do get that elusive contract so why not prove it to them now. 

Finally, remember that the market changes constantly. They are asking for something because it is what they want NOW. If you wait too long, it might not be what they want later. By the time you get around to getting that project in because you "too your time" someone else may have swooped in and taken that slot. 

All of my authors know this. When their editors ask for revisions, or even when they have any deadline, they always push to get that project in BEFORE the deadline. Doing so gives the editor a little breathing room on their end. Right now, I have a client who we have a proposal out to a couple of editors. Two responded with the same type of email we started with. The cool thing is that both came back with the same suggestion for fixing the problem. Are we rushing to make those changes? You better believe it!!!! The author is working like crazy and I am working hard to make sure the editors are still remembering all of the cool things they liked about her writing. 

Oh, and by the way... the same goes with when you send in a query and get a request, or when you pitch at a conference and get a request. DON'T WAIT! Get it to them ASAP!!!!!

Who Are Your Critique Partners?

Writers always need a second set of eyes. As you write your stories, you will often get into a rut and only see things one way. Of course your story is perfect. You wrote it! You love it! That is to say until an editor or agent sees it and sends you that wonderful rejection letter (if you are lucky they didn't ghost you). So what do you do? You go out and get a critique group together. Your goal as a group is to work together to craft the best damn books ever!

Sounds like a great plan, right? 

You might want to stop for a minute and think before you leap. You see, critique groups are only as good as the members in the group. 

What I have seen, unfortunately, is that many of these critique groups are often nothing more than "the blind leading the blind." In other words, if none of you really understand the craft of writing, or you have people in your group who believe they know everything (but really know nothing), you are just giving each other bad advice.

Don't get me wrong, we need these groups. We need people who are there to motivate us and keep us writing. BUT, if we are looking for advice to make our stories better, we need to always ask if this person we are talking to really knows "their stuff."

I will also add, I see this same thing happening at many conferences lately. Coordinators go out and get people to lead workshops because the proposals sound amazing. What they forget to look at is whether or not these people are really going to give the participants GOOD advice that will advance their careers and their writing, or are they leading them into a brick wall?

As you look to form your groups or to find those critique partners, look for someone who has shown signs of quality success. Don't just listen to what they tell you. Look essentially at their resume. Do they really know what they are talking about? If not, you can always keep them around as the motivators in your writing life, but be cautious of the advice they give to you. It might not be what you need! 

Maybe YOU Are The Person Who Needs To Change

 There's that old expression that says if it's not broken don't fix it. However there's also another thought that says if something's not working for you then maybe you need to do something to change it. Too often I find that authors are stuck in a rut when it comes to their writing. Whether it's their stories not selling or they're getting a ton of rejections, things are just not going the way that they want them to go. So what do they do?

Too often they do absolutely nothing.

I don't know how many times I have talked to authors at conferences where they will complain about how trying everything they can to an editor to pay attention to them or increase sales but then when I ask them what they're doing or if they're changing what they're doing their answers are often “Well you know that it just takes time.” There is this belief that if they just keep doing what they are doing, it will eventually work in their favor. Maybe. Maybe not!

Now, don't get me wrong. I say this over and over again here on the blog that writing is a matter of taking time to get things right and to learn the craft. This is a business that cannot be rushed. And yes there are going to be a lot of rejections ahead of you; however, if you keep getting the same answer over and over and over again maybe someone is telling you something and you need to start to listen.

I remember sitting at a conference talking to an author and we were discussing her sales. She noted that the stories she likes to write are stories that are currently not on the market right now. Of course, these were the stories of her heart she loved to write these stories. She also stated that wasn't going to change this because she'd been told repeatedly you should write what you love. I agreed with her. But then I asked her “What is your ultimate goal are you just wanting to write just for the joy or are you wanting it and money out of this as a career?” She said she wanted to make money out of selling her books. So here is her dilemma: she needs to decide what she needs to do.

She has two options now she could either continue writing the stories of her heart and not make money or she could make changes in her writing while at the same time, sticking true to her own voice and making some small changes and make that will sell. We talked about it for 15 or 20 some odd minutes, and she would continually come back and same thing. She really believed it was a matter of how she was marketing the books and all she had to do was to “find the audience” even though she would come back to state that the current market wasn’t buying her books and the audience was not there. What was even frustrating is that she has a bachelor's degree in marketing so she should know what she should be doing here.

You have to begin by saying to yourself what is it that you want and what are you doing to get it? If you want to make a career out of writing your books and the current genre you are writing in is not selling it is not a matter of just trying to find an audience that doesn't exist. It comes down to having decide how you can shape or shift your genre or even your writing to fit what the market is looking for.

I know that a lot of you are starting to scream at me and say “Scott, I don't we slave this market.  This is my writing and someone shouldn't be telling me what I should write and what I shouldn't write!” Here's something I'm not telling you to what I am saying you can still write any story you want may have to make some changes if your goal is to make money as a career.

 

It's Time For The No Short Cuts Post Again

So, I got home last night and started scrolling through some social media and saw post after post of writing chapters and writing organizations with amazing pitch opportunities to agents. It was as if this was something brand new that no one had ever thought of. I mean, these people went ALL OUT. They put pictures (yes pictures) of the agents on the advertisement (probably done on CANVA) and hyped up how you could pitch your story to all of these people. 

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE !!!!!!!!!

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let's get our feet back on the ground and get into reality for a bit. Let's look at a couple of facts.

First of all, pretty much every conference offers pitch sessions. Some conferences are virtual so "um, no duh, the pitch sessions will be virtual." This is nothing new so don't get overly hyped with this promo.

Secondly, they hype it up as if ALL of these agents are going to be fighting for your story. Sorry to say this people, but it is still going to come down to several factors:

• Is your story well written?
• Is that agent/editor actually acquiring your genre (in other words, did you even bother to research this person)? 
• Is your story something that is marketable?
• Is there a demand for your story?
• Blah, blah blah....

In other words, everything I always talk about here is still going to come into play.

Let me also say that trying to pitch at these shorter versions is actually harder because you cannot take the time to really craft a real letter that sells you and your project. Not only that, you and your nerves are going to come into play.

But the bigger point is this. You see this as a short cut! You think this is your way into the big time, just because of this special opportunity.

I hate to burst your bubble, but it won't.

Now, here comes the bigger thing you are forgetting... we are all available 24/7/365. You don't need to rush it in a situation like this.