Comments on: Inside the Agent/Client Revision Process

By: Lauren

Lauren — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:12:30 +0000

This post was so interesting and useful for me – my co-author and I are going through the first revision process right now before we query and I always wonder how much an agent likes to tweak and/or contribute to the editing process. Our goal is to send the best manuscript we can (I LOVE EDITING!), but a fresh pair of eyes and a brain with different experience can see a range of things than we or our prereaders might miss. If an agent likes what we’ve written, it will be interesting to see what s/he suggests to improve the story.

On an unrelated note, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy this site. It feels positive, helpful, supportive, and honest all at once. You really are a joy to follow on Twitter and here. Thank you for what you do.

By: Marybk

Marybk — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:51:07 +0000

This post is a whole plate of awesome and one I hadn’t read before. Of the authors I hear/read about with agents, some take a month to get submission-to-pub ready and some take a year, so this helps clarify what’s going on. Thanks, Mary.

By: Suzie

Suzie — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:10:15 +0000

I loved this post, especially:

“I’m a ruthless perfectionist. I find holes and opportunities in everything, even books that have been published and decorated with awards.”

Same here. It’s like every story devised on earth waits for my analysis. In my head, I compose hypothetical, detailed letters to authors and screenwriters. I tell them why their award-winning novel isn’t quite there yet, what they could do to improve, why I don’t like their character. Might seem high-handed to some but in actuality, this is how I teach myself. And I also think up reasons why I love their character, why their pacing works etc. Clarification of craft devices is a very good thing.

I find revision thrilling, because it’s where everything becomes *more*. I love the constant surprise.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:53:25 +0000

Thanks for this invaluable post! It cleared up a few of my questions regarding the whole getting-an-agent process.

By: Rhoda Weber Mack

Rhoda Weber Mack — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:08:13 +0000

Revision is the best part of writing. That’s where the real juices flow for me, weaving the story back in on itself and seeing the deeper patterns emerge. This is a writer’s work, and it has to become a whole cloth before the agent or editor can really take it on. You are right, Mary, to not jump in too soon.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:40:27 +0000

Denise — I’ll schedule a post about your question… but I’ve got stuff lined up through next month, so look for it then.

Jonathan — Your tip about reading work aloud is a very valuable one. Thanks for sharing!

By: Jonathan Stephens

Jonathan Stephens — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:17:51 +0000

I have to make multiple revision sweeps of my manuscript to avoid the dreaded surface sweep.

First is the critique group comments sweep, where I make the valid changes that my critique group suggested and ignore the invalid ones.

Second is the macro revision read, where I print the novel out and read it through as if it were a published novel and I’m critiquing its airplane-view flaws.

Third is the read-aloud line revision, where I read the entire thrice-revised novel aloud to myself to see if the language flows well enough to be read aloud. It’s one thing for the words to make sense on paper. It’s another thing to make sense off the tongue.

By: Stacey Hatton

Stacey Hatton — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:24:23 +0000

Perfectionism and passion for editing are qualities I would appreciate and require in an agent. Finding an agent, who can take what you feel is your “ready” manuscript and turn it into an “editor ready” story seems to be such a gift. A second set of eyes to get you closer to publishing… Thanks for the inside look into the agent’s mind.

By: Denise Timpko

Denise Timpko — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:56:20 +0000

It’s refreshing to know that you work with a writer and suggest revisions to the writer’s manuscript. I belong to two writers groups and find receiving other people’s opinions and suggested revisions very helpful. It often fires my imagination so that new ideas or directions evolve, and it always improves the quality of the manuscript.

As a fiction writer as well as an agent, do you find a relationship between the amount of changes the editors for your clients make and the amount of time you spend with those clients in perfecting the manuscript? That is, do the editors for your clients make fewer major changes than editors who are working with other agents who do not spend the time working with their clients to improve the manuscripts? I’m not sure if this is an answerable question. It obviously depends on a knowledge of other agents, their clients, and their editors, but perhaps this is a matter common discussion among agents.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:51:17 +0000

Marie — Thank you! Since I come from a writing background myself and have worked on the editorial side of publishing, editing is really important to me. Stay tuned. In a couple of weeks, I’ll talk a bit more about what it’s like to be an agent who edits. Do keep in mind, though, that I have heard agents say at conferences and to me personally: “If it doesn’t come in 100% ready to sell, I don’t bother.” That’s not a choice *I* would make, because one of the things that’s really important to a writer about having an agent is that the agent is the first “official” industry person to take a shine to their writing. That agent is supposed to know better about what’s selling and help get the novel to that point. How can a writer know what’s “editor ready” by themselves?