Is Editing and Resubmitting Worth It?

Let's say you are one of those luck authors out there who received a rejection letter, BUT, the agent wrote back with pretty clear specifics as to what did not work for that person. The letter did not say he or she would look at revisions, but at least you got comments. The question now is, do you devote your time to make the changes for that one editor?

Personally, for me, I would say no. Let me explain.

Too often, what doesn't work for one editor or agent may work for another person. That rejection was simply an issue of the story being in the hands of the wrong person. This means it is a matter of finding the right person for your story. 

You have to stop and ask yourself if making those changes is going to be worth the effort. You may lose weeks out of your writing career doing edits only to find that the story still is not going to work. Along the same lines, if you make those changes and then start submitting to other people, the first version might have been a better option. Yes, I know many of you keep multiple versions of your story, but in the end, you are still losing time.

I would also argue that you would need to make sure you know exactly what to do to make those changes work. If, for example, I say that the story is trying to do too much. I say this a lot to authors who have so many things happening to their characters throughout the story. The focus is just not there. The answer I have heard authors make is that they will just "take things out." While that might work, you are now damaging the word count. When authors see this, they start adding things back into the story and are back to the same situation. In this case, this is really an issue of an author not knowing his or her thesis to their story. 

Now, if you have sent your story out to several editors and agents and have heard the same message over and over again, this would be the time to start the editing process. Look at all of those comments, and really start from page one. Don't just try to use band aids to fix the issues. Really do a deep edit. 

OK, here is the twist. If the editor or agent says that they would love to see revision, this is the time to showcase that you can do the work. Prove you can take the feedback and do it right. Let me just say though, this is not a several month project. In the real world, when writers get that revision letter from their editors, they are looking for a 2 week turn around. It's the magic 14 days. Sometimes it might be longer, but plan on that. When you get that situation, write back. Thank them for the opportunity and let them know when to expect it. Then stick to it.

Hope that answers some questions you may have had.