Dear O'Abby: what's an R & R?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm about to begin querying my first novel and I was just wondering what an R and R is.  I keep hearing the term, and I feel like it's a good thing, but I'm not entirely sure what it means.

Can you help?

Yours,

Newby

Hi Newby,

Like all industries, publishing has its own lingo and this is an example of it.  R and R stands for revise and resubmit and yes, it's a good thing.  Not the best thing - that would be an offer of representation - but better than a flat rejection.

An R and R means the agent you queried liked something about your query and pages.  Maybe the premise, maybe the voice, maybe the style.  They don't feel like the book is ready yet, but are willing to let you have a go at getting it there.  

Usually the agent will give you some feedback about what they think needs to be done to get the book to the point they might represent it.  How detailed this feedback is can vary. 

The best thing to do when you receive an R and R is to think about what the agent is asking before you dive in and start making changes.  If the suggestions don't resonate with you or you feel like making those changes will change the book into something that doesn't feel like your book, you don't have to make them.  You can always thank the agent for her feedback and decline to go in that direction.

If the feedback does resonate with you, take your time over the revisions.  As well as looking for a book they can sell, the agent also wants to know how well you can revise, so don't rush to get it back.  Any agent worth her salt knows that revising well takes time and if you fire back a new draft in a week's time, they are unlikely to be impressed.

Hopefully that leaves you feeling better informed.  Good luck with your querying!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: How Long Can I Take Over An R & R?

Dear O'Abby,

I just received a revise and resubmit from an agent.  I've been querying this book for what feels like forever, and was just about to trunk it because no one seemed interested.  But now I have this agent wanting me to make some pretty substantial changes that I think may take me quite a while to execute.

She hasn't given me any timeframe in which to get back to her, so now I'm wondering if I need to drop everything and focus on this revision so I can it back to her ASAP.  Or is that not the expectation?  How long can I take over this?

Yours,

Timely

Dear Timely,

First off, congratulations on the R & R!  That's a fantastic step.  It means the agent has connected with your story, sees its potential and now wants to know if you can revise and make it shine.  Hopefully she has also given you a few helpful notes to guide you as you do the revision.  I also hope those notes align to the vision you have for the story.  I've seen R & Rs that writers have really struggled to get through because what the agent wanted the book to be didn't align with the author's vision of it.

So, if you are happy with the notes and prepared to do the work, you need to take as long as you need to in order to make the book the best it can be.  An agent isn't going to be impressed if you address only the specific things she mentioned in her message to you and send it back in two weeks.

She wants you to really take on board what she is saying and apply those things to the entire book.  And you've mentioned that the changes she's suggested are substantial.  Maybe changing a POV or amalgamating two side characters into one.  Maybe one of the storylines is underserved and needs to be pushed up in the narrative.  I don't know what the changes are, but it's important you do them well.

These things all take time, not just to write, but to think through.  You want to get this right, so you need to take time over it.  But you also don't want so much time to go by that the agent forgets she even requested you send it back.  So my advice is, take as long as you need to make the book as good as you can.  But don't waste time either.  If they're a good agent and really believe you can make the story shine, they are not going to mind waiting six months or so for something polished.  I've even heard of authors being signed after holding on to an R & R for a year.

But in reality, an R & R is a test.  You're being asked to show how well you can revise because this is important once you get into the editorial phase of publishing.  You want to be thorough, but you need to be able to turn things around to meet deadlines.

So really consider the notes she's sent.  Thank her for the feedback and let her know she can expect a new draft in X weeks/months.  Think realistically about how long you think it will take, how much time you have available to work on it, and then add two or three weeks to that number so you have a buffer in case life throws you a curve ball.

Now get to work!  You have a revision to do.

X O'Abby

Writing Series: Revise & Resubmit and What Really Happens Then

For today's writing series post, I asked a number of writers whom I knew to tell me about their own experiences with getting a "Revise and Resubmit" from an agent. As you'll see, no two "R&Rs" are alike, and actual results may vary!

ANONYMOUS
Changes requested: Radical changes! My viewpoint character in the original draft went to very dark places, and the agent asked for me to shift the entire tone of the second half, and have him find redemption rather than be...er... Evil. It was over 50% re-write.
How did you feel?: It wasn't my original vision, obviously, but in terms of saleability it made a hell of a lot of sense. So I gave it a try and made the changes.
Time from request to re-submission: 2 months
Time from re-submission to response: 12+ months
(After acknowledgement of receipt, she didn't reply. No reply to nudges, either. For twelve months.)
Outcome: OFFER from R&R agent and from other agent
I wrote it off, and assumed no response meant no. I got an offer of rep elsewhere, (which required another huge re-write, fun fun fun!) and I mailed the R&R agent to let her know, along with everything else outstanding on my spreadsheet. It turned out she had read, loved, and given the MS to other people at the agency, and she was about to offer rep herself. I felt pretty bad, but twelve months of no response is a long time to lose trust in a business relationship, so I went with my gut and signed with the first offering agent.

ANONYMOUS
Changes requested:Agent 1: Plot, Agent 2: Pacing, Agent 3: Pacing
How did you feel?Agent 1 offered me a phone call, as well as 10 pages of notes. We brainstormed together via email. Agent 2 has offered me a R&R and good advice in the past. Agent 3's comments were so close to Agent 2's comments that I knew the revisions needed to happen.
Time from request to re-submission:For the plot--four months--I basically re-wrote the book. I received additional R&Rs on the revised manuscript before I heard back from Agent 1, who had not yet read it. Since the comments from Agents 2 and 3 made so much sense, I asked all agents if they would accept an updated copy. The pacing R&Rs took about six weeks.
Time from re-submission to response: still waiting
Outcome: still waiting (good luck!)

DIANE
Changes requested:
When I received an R&R response from an agent, I was conflicted. On the one hand, I was thrilled by what she liked about my manuscript. On the other, I wasn't sure how I could improve a main character's motivation for an important action, could make one action scene more dramatic, or could spice up the conflict in the latter part of the story. I'd already tried to do all that through three previous drafts and three sets of beta comments. Argh, what did she want!
How did you feel?
I contacted my betas and asked for feedback. I didn't hear, "Wow, I don't understand what this agent is saying at all," but rather, "She makes some good points." Over several days, I came to realize the agent was right, but I still wasn't sure how to make the corrections. We emailed back and forth as I sought clarification and bounced ideas off her. After a week, I had a clear vision for how I wanted to revise my manuscript and was actually happy to do so. The work would end up stronger.
Time from request to re-submission: 5 weeks
It took me five weeks to make my changes and have one of my trusted betas read through to check for any problems with what I did: was anything nonsensical, contradictory, or ambiguous; was the grammar or punctuation off; were there omitted, extra, or misspelled words I didn't see because I'd read the book so many times? Then I sent the revision off to the agent with a cover email describing the changes I had made.
Time from re-submission to response: 2 weeks
Outcome: OFFER
Two weeks later, she offered representation. I looked at the other agents with pages or outstanding queries and realized I wouldn't prefer any of them to her. So I withdrew my manuscript from consideration by any of them and happily signed that long-sought contract with her agency.

GLORIA
Changes requested: Initially, it came as a rejection, but with really specific feedback, so I wrote back to thank them for taking the time to send the feedback, and mentioned that I was considering taking a stab at it. They wrote back requesting an R&R. The changes were specific to my protagonist's character arc--they felt the way he evolved was a little too subtle and wanted to see him change more dramatically by the end of the book. 
How did you feel?
I could see their point, but was very torn about it because I had worked really hard specifically to keep the character arc subtle in the first place. Still, I could see where they were coming from, so I was willing to give it  a go. (Maybe they were right and I was wrong as to what kind of approach would work better)
Time from request to re-submission: 3+ weeks
I was about 3 weeks in, when I got an offer from a different agent for the MS "as is" and decided to go with that agent because, after talking to him, I realized he completely got the subtlety I'd been going for in the first place. That being said, if I had finished the edits for the R&R, it probably would have taken me about a month all in all.
Time from re-submission to response: N/A
Outcome: WITHDRAWAL due to OFFER from another agent on the original![W]hen I wrote to give notice of offer of rep for the MS "as is," they wrote back with a very nice note, wishing me the best and reminding me that this is a subjective business and that they're glad the book found a home with someone who got it the way it was originally written.

JEN
Changes requested: The MS was on the short side, and she wanted to see more of the H/h's character arcs fleshed out apart from the romance aspect. She asked pointed questions about what she thought was missing, but generally didn't have an issue with the plot structure itself.
How did you feel?: I loved the requested changes. There had been something in the back of my mind bothering me about the plot of the novel, so when I got her email and notes it was a forehead-slapping moment: "Duh!"
Time from request to re-submission: 3 months
Time from re-submission to response: 2 months
Outcome: PASS
Final outcome was a rejection. A short email saying the new version was better, but she couldn't take it on.

LAURA R&R #1
Changes requested: Pacing and plot
How did you feel?: At first, uncertain. But I was much happier with the end result after the revision.
Time from request to re-submission: 3 months
Time from re-submission to response: 2 months
Outcome: PASS
She praised the revision, but passed

LAURA R&R #2
Changes requested:
Plot strengthening and tightening
How did you feel?:
Considering my experience with my first R&R, I was more open-minded. This time I researched even more about story structure and plotting, and the revised version was much stronger
Time from request to re-submission: 1 month
Time from re-submission to response: 3+ months
(I withdrew my submission after waiting about three months)
Outcome: WITHDRAWAL
Submission withdrawn by author

LIZ
Changes requested:
The changes were generally minor and related to characterization. My agent didn't get very specific (she let me figure out how to fix things) but said the motivations of certain characters needed to be clarified.
How did you feel?
I was overall okay with the requested changes, though more so after they were done than before/during the edits. I wasn't as certain at first but am happy with the end product.
Time from request to re-submission:There were a few rounds of edits, then an email snafu, so it was about a year between the initial R&R request and the offer of representation. Each round of edits, though, probably took me two to four weeks.
Time from re-submission to response:She was pretty quick (as far as agents go!), aside from the aforesaid email snafu (which caused a delay of a few months). Other times, though, she turned drafts around in less than a week.
Outcome: OFFER
Offer of representation (huzzah!).

STEPHANIE
Changes requested:
The requested changes were to put more focus on the relationship between two characters while cutting a particular use of narrative form used in the book (journal entries of the main character), and to consider eliminating the details of nerd comic book culture. So basically a refocus of the book and elimination of a key character detail.
How did you feel?
My first reaction was that the agent didn't "get" the book because it required cutting a thematic character detail. But after a few days of sitting on it I realized the suggestions resonated and I could write a better book, refocusing that nerd detail into the manuscript in a different way.
Time from request to re-submission: 4 months
Time from re-submission to response: 2 months
Outcome: PASS
I got a "not for me" rejection on the revised manuscript. I can't say for sure if it contributed to the final no, but I knew I took a risk with not completely eliminating one detail of what the agent didn't like and trying to rework it a different way-a risk I took willingly because, well, it's the heart of the book to me and I know agents also like when you work with their advice and not simply follow it blindly. In the end, I have a much stronger book more in line with what I originally set out to write and it's still generating new requests.

WENDY
Changes requested: Structural (changing a nonlinear timeline to a linear one)
How did you feel?:
Conflicted, but once I tried out the changes, I agreed that it was much clearer & smoother
Time from request to re-submission: 1 month
Time from re-submission to response: 2+ months
After two months, I nudged with an offer of rep from a different agent
Outcome: PASS/OFFER from another agent
While the initial agent ended up passing, the new version did result in an offer of rep from another agent

Revise and Resubmit

After sending out queries, we all wait for responses. Sometimes they don't come. Sometimes we

receive rejection letters. Sometime we get a hopeful, "Send me more," and then we wait again. We hope for a phone call and not a polite "no thank you" email. A yes, and we're flying. A no, and we're plummeting.

But what about that other response--the R&R. If you're new to the term, in the publishing world it does not mean rest and relaxation. In fact, it might mean just the opposite. The R&R we're talking about stands for revise and resubmit.

For today's post, I'm taking off my writer hat and replacing it with my publisher hat. I'm going to tell you why I ask for an R&R, what I hope you'll do, what I hope you won't do and about the negatives of R&R requests. 

Why I ask for an R&R: 

This is pretty simple. I really liked something about your manuscript. I saw something there that caught my interest, and not just a little. If I only liked it a little, I wouldn't bother with the R&R. I get this excited inner niggling when I come across something I really like--an intriguing premise, a strong character voice, a unique plot or setting. When I find this, I get excited. This excitement combined with well written sample chapters leads me to request a full manuscript. When the manuscript has problems, but I see great potential, I'll request an R&R.

What I hope you'll do:

I hope you'll take the advice I gave when I requested the R&R and dig into your manuscript, that you'll edit with new eyes. This is a second chance, so take full advantage of it. I hope you'll make global changes and then get new beta readers to supply feedback in light of what I've asked.

What I hope you won't do:

Simple--rush. If I ask for an R&R, it does not mean there are only minor tweaks to be made. If the

changes I wanted were minor, easy changes, I would've just proposed offering a contract and making those changes during the editing process. An R&R means the manuscript needs significant changes that exceed what Rebelight Publishing will undertake in the editing process. If you send the manuscript back to me within a week, I'm going to be pretty suspect of the quality of the revisions. As always, take your time and make your manuscript the very best it can be.

What are the negatives of R&R requests:

• I move on. A week after I send you an R&R, I may find something that I like equally, but doesn't as much revision. We may sign that author and by the time you send me your revised manuscript, I may no longer be interested. All the more reason, to rush, right? No, because I may still be interested, and if you don't bring your manuscript to where it needs to be, you've just blown your second chance. I won't give a second R&R. I'll just assume you're unable to do what's been requested.
• I may still decline the manuscript. Perhaps you did what was requested, but it went in a different direction than I'd hoped. This doesn't mean it was bad, just different and not something I felt fit with our publishing goals. However, with the manuscript newly revised, it may catch the attention of another agent or editor.
• You may not want to make the changes I requested. I'm a strong advocate for authors telling the story they felt compelled to write. Whether or not you attempt the R&R is totally up to you. Take some time to think about it. If you don't feel comfortable taking your story in the direction I suggested, then don't do it. Keep searching for an editor or agent who gets your vision for the manuscript.

I encourage you to take full advantage of the R&R. Work hard to show the person who offered you the second chance that you're just the type of professional they'd like to work alongside. 

Have you ever had an R&R request? Tell me about it in the comments.