How to Handle a Revise
and Resubmit Letter
From a Literary Agent
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
Many writers know that there are multiple types of rejections that come from literary agents, and a revise and resubmit letter is the rarest and most promising. While this kind of feedback is still a rejection, a revise and resubmit letter is more promising because it means the literary agent was attracted to the project enough to think deeply about it and offer some advice or feedback. Read on to find out more.
How to Handle a Revise and Resubmit Letterheading
A revise and resubmit letter means the literary agent saw enough promise in the project to request a revision. Not only does this mean that you potentially have something with your book idea or writing style, but that the agent might be an ally to you going forward. Also, at least when I was a literary agent, it’s a “get out of the slush” free card, as I would give writers a way to submit that bypassed the slush pile. It’s often encouraging for writers to feel like they have a more direct line to an agent.
You might still be upset that it wasn’t an immediate yes, but getting a revise and resubmit letter is promising. The agent took enough time to think about your project and wants to see more work from you. There are probably some project-based reasons that they can’t make an offer of representation right that second, but it’s also likely that the agent wants to see if—and how well—you are able to revise. (Revision is the craft element that often makes or breaks a client-agent relationship.)
This is one of the things an agent wonders about a prospective client: whether they will be able to respond to writing notes and make the necessary changes to the manuscript. Whether the writer even resonates with their critique in the first place. They may sometimes send a revise and resubmit letter to gauge how well the writer can address feedback.
You can obviously take the agent’s feedback and run with it. (If you don’t like the feedback at all or disagree with it, make sure you’re being open-minded first. If you still don’t like it, you are under no obligation to follow a revise and resubmit letter to the, well, letter.) Or you can think about it and see what other literary agents might say about the project.
There’s No Time Pressure on a Revise and Resubmit Letter
Agents want to see the latest and greatest version of your project, especially if they’ve invested the time to write you a revise and resubmit letter. If you come back days later with a “revision,” this will be met with skepticism. It’s impossible to deeply consider feedback in a number of days, especially with a novel manuscript. Feeling like you have an open line of communication with an agent is very exciting. The temptation is to use that “warm lead” ASAP to try and get that “maybe” to a “yes.”
This is a mistake. Impatience is a writer’s number one enemy, and patience and resilience are the most important writers tools you can develop. Really take your time to revise fully if you get a revise and resubmit letter. The agent will remember you and your project, and they will be happy to see your resubmission when it’s truly ready. (They’d much rather see something fully integrated rather than rushed.) Only send it when you’re confident that you’ve made significant changes, even if this takes months or even years.
(And beware of the advice swirling around online about submitting to agents and putting “Requested” in the subject line, even if you haven’t gotten a revise and resubmit letter. Agents know all about the requests they have out there at any given time. You’re not fooling anyone.)
Resubmitting to an Agent Without a Revise and Resubmit Letter
Since a revise and resubmit letter is so rare, that means not every writer will have one in hand after a writing rejection. What if you still want to work with a literary agent who sent you a standard form rejection, though? You’ve done your literary agent research and are convinced that a particular representative is a good fit. They don’t seem to agree. Is your one shot over, or is there still an opening there?
Yes. You can resubmit your project to a literary agent who has already seen it without a formal revise and resubmit letter. BUT (and, of course, there is a but) you need to make significant revision to it before you choose to resend.
Basically, the agent is telling you the same thing with an outright rejection and a revise and resubmit letter: this manuscript isn’t there yet. An agent who rejects the project without asking to see a revision probably feels less passionate about the book idea or premise or the quality of the writing itself. But that doesn’t mean they can’t change their minds, especially if you come back to them with a knockout revision.
An agent’s responsibility is to identify manuscripts with extraordinary potential (though they don’t always get this right, as literary agents get rejected, too). That being said, agents are only as good as their judgment. Wrong or right, good or bad. When agents request revisions from some writers and not from others, that's simply them relying on their intuition and making a decision. If you don’t already know, the writing business is incredibly subjective.
If an agent doesn’t directly give you a revise and resubmit letter, what else can you do? How do you go about resubmitting a manuscript without irritating the agent who has already declined, especially if you still want a chance with that writing agent?
Timing matters here. Dig in and truly revise, whether or not you have a revise and resubmit letter. At this point, many writers hire a freelance editor or join a writing group to get some more feedback and direction. Then you can present agents you really like (or felt a warm connection with) with a new query whenever the revision is ready and the manuscript feels new again. Act as if this is a new submission and follow guidelines, rather than simply sending a full manuscript (even if that’s what the agent had considered the first time). BUT, be sure to mention that the agent has seen the project before. Don’t try to sneak it past them as a brand new manuscript. This is especially true if they sent you a revise and resubmit letter.
I’d categorically avoid sending the agent an email to see if they would be interested in getting an edited version while they are still considering the first version, however. Most writers submit before they’re ready, and agents know this. But if you’re sending them revision after revision while they’re still considering, they will not be as understanding.
Revision is not a quick task. The self-editing process involves a lot of subconscious processing and you can't rush your "back brain." Therefore, make sure to set aside several months in order to work on your revision project, otherwise you’ll likely be rejected again—without a revise and resubmit letter, this time.
So there you have it—publishing industry best practices for getting your project in front of a literary agent after a rejection, whether or not you have a revise and resubmit letter.
Click here to purchase Successful Query Letters, my book on query letters, including over forty examples with comprehensive notes on each one. There’s a ton of submission advice, best practices, and insider information in these pages, and you’ll really enjoy seeing what other writers are doing in the slush.