I am just preparing to send out my novel for the second time to agents. I sent it out in 2007 with reasonable response. I think I sent it out to 8 agents and had 3 standard no thanks letters and 4 encouraging personal letters saying no. One said they were sure someone would take it. Since then (why oh why do I appear to be the slowest writer in the world) I have really, really worked hard at it - putting in a much more gripping plot and really editing it up. What is the general view on re submitting? I had one very nice letter with a lot of praise and an outline of why it fell down ( whose points I feel I have fully addressed) so would it be reasonable to re submit to him? Another super grand agent sent me an e mail saying her and a colleague had read it through but decided not to take it - it just didn't break through being a perfectly readable piece of fiction. (slightly ouch - but I took it as a good sign two people read it). Could I resend it there?
I was thinking to send it to one new person and the really kind/thoughtful agent and see what the response was and then keep going in patterns of two - a new one and one of the personal and encouraging rejections.
What advice would anyone else have?
thank you.

I have no qualms about resubmitting. I think it's a very good idea to target some of the submissions to agents who expressed an interest previously, and worth mentioning in your cover letters to them that you've taken their advice and reworked and re-edited the mss.
As for submitting to other agents who simply sent you a rejection slip, don't bother saying it's been reworked, maybe even change the title and pretend it's a new piece of work (I hear horriefied gasps from some fellow WWers at the suggestion, but it's been 2 years, they're not going to remember it from the first time round).
Good luck.



- NaomiM

Wot Naomi said. I think that's a good strategy, with the only proviso that if you do it only two at a time, you could be in for a very, very long wait...

I'd send it out without comment, with a new title. And if the first two pages are very different, so much the better. It is true that they do remember things they've read, but that's balanced out by the fact that if you say they've read it, they're approaching it in a spirit of 'I didn't go for this last time, so it had better be a whole lot better', which is not helpful.

When you're sending it to the ones who liked it before, I'd make it very clear that it's had a root-and-branch re-working. They see a lot of MS which have been 'reworked', by way of a quick tinker with the first chapter. If they

Emma

Five at a time, at least, or thou shalt go mad.
HBx

Be sure to send it to KMVFmedia, Wales. They are a brand new publishers but have their own sales & distribution network. They offer a pretty awesome package.

One thing though, be confident! You've invested a lot of time into this novel. It's yours so believe it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Hope this helps

Anita x

I'd suggest anyone considering using a publisher who they haven't heard of checks with this site:

http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Bandits.asp

Emma

I wouldn't rely on agents/editors not remembering something you'd sent them earlier. I went out for a meal recently with an writer/ex-editor. Her SF magazine received 3-400 submissions a month, yet she said she always spotted a story sent previously, even with the title changed. On the other hand, she'd re-submitted one of her own stories to another magazine that the editor had rejected (somewhat negatively) a couple of years previous, only for the same person to buy it this time with glowing praise! As with everything, there are no black and white rules. But where this issue is concerned, I'd always be up-front and honest, and tell them I'd submitted previously. Because, if they forget, fine, but if they remember and you haven't told them, then they'll wonder if they want to work with you.

Terry

When my submissions come back it's always without the covering letter so I assume they file them, which is why I'd advise changing some of the details of the mss such as the title, if you're resubmitting.

They may or may not file them. But I think the point is that some editors/agents develop very good antennae for a writer's style, subject matter, feel, etc. When they're scanning through hundreds of submissions, some of them (I keep saying 'some' because it won't be all) find their recall ability accelerates considerably. An example is the one David Gemmell gave, of when he sent out his first book, Legend, to tons of agents. One wrote back to say he noted that Gemmell was a lorry driver and recommended that he stuck to that career because he'd never make it as a writer. Some years later, Gemmell sent round his second book (Legend hadn't yet been picked up) and the same agent wrote back to say he remembered Gemmell and his earlier advice still stood.

I guess the footnote to this is that if you've developed a distinctive voice - which surely we're all trying to do - then even if an editor/agent has rejected you (and that can be for any number of reasons other than your work is crap), he's likely to remember your voice/style. In which case, I would still err on the side of honesty when re-submitting.

Terry

Helen Corner of C'stones has also said they ALWAYS remember, despite what you may think. So I agree with Terry and say honesty is always best.

If it was a straight rejection the last time, I really wouldn't remind them of that. Where you had a hand written rejection and suggestions for a rewrite, then, yes, remind them it's a resubmission because that's what it is. But if it was a photocopied slip and your submission chapters are markedly different from the first submission then to all intents and purposes it's a new submission; that's how you want them to treat it so there's no point in reminding them they've rejected it already. If it's not markedly different then they'll remember the first submission and in all liklihood it'll get rejected for exactly the same reasons it was rejected the first time round.

Naomi, in some ways this not a major point we're discussing here, but the advice we give could nevertheless affect how an agent/editor views a writer submitting to them. The recommendation to not assume they'll forget an earlier submission of the same or near to same piece is based, in my case, on having spoken to editors about it; we also have Helen Corner emphatically saying they always remember. But you seem determined to advise against an up-front, honest approach. What evidence is this view based on?

Terry

While Helen Corner and other agents say they do remember, there are others who say they don't, and in some agencies it won't be the uber-agent reading it but an intern or other who won't be there the next time you submit.

The proviso in my last post was:- "If it's not markedly different then......in all liklihood it'll get rejected for exactly the same reasons it was rejected the first time round."

<Added>

And I was basing my answer on the original post: "I have really, really worked hard at it - putting in a much more gripping plot and really editing it up."

Now, it is intensly annoying to have to justify one's opinion, so next time, with all due respect, Terry, take it or leave it.

<Added>

Last but not least, there is no guarantee the agent got down to the bottom of the first page, let alone read all 3 chapters of the submission the first time round.

<Added>

And if Helen Corner was speaking about herself, then of course she'd remember every mss she's written an editorial report for - it's very different from skimming through the slush pile.

Well, it may be annoying, Naomi, but if you're going to give such emphatic advice -

As for submitting to other agents who simply sent you a rejection slip, don't bother saying it's been reworked, maybe even change the title and pretend it's a new piece of work (I hear horriefied gasps from some fellow WWers at the suggestion, but it's been 2 years, they're not going to remember it from the first time round)

- it's reasonable that you'll be asked what actual experience it's based on. From your latest post, I'm still not sure.

Again, surely the point is that it's more sensible to assume all agents/editor do remember submissions, rather than assume they all don't. Okay, it probably won't be a disaster if you submit again without saying so and you're found out; but why risk an agent/editor thinking that this might be a symptom of someone who doesn't play straight?

and in some agencies it won't be the uber-agent reading it but an intern or other who won't be there the next time you submit

But no one can know whether this is the case, so again, why take the chance?

I think you would come across much more professional if you simply state that this is a revised, or even completely redrafted and polished version of a previous submission. The agent is unlikely to think bad of you and throw the submission aside, and is surely more likely to take a look to see if you've learned anything and write at a level they consider worth investing time - ie, to request a full mss.

But if they think you're trying to hoodwink them, then no matter how good the writing is, alarm bells will ring.

In my opinion, not worth the risk.

And just to add, in case anyone wants justification for my advice, I built up relations with three agencies in this way. They rejected, then took more and more interest. After a few more submissions and re-worked submissions the rejections were more along the lines of chatty letters filled with the kind of advice you pay through the nose for at editorial agencies. And in the end, an agent who I didn't end up going with sent me a fabulous, hand made card with a good luck message to say congrats when I let her know I'd got a contract and thanked her for all her letters.

Colin M