Hi all

Just after an opinion from the collective. I had a request from an agent for the full manuscript after sending the latest batch of queries/partials out. He emailed me the day after he received it and said he'd love to take me on, but first... and then a long list of things that were wrong with it, and a suggestion that I think about revising it and sending it back. Does this sound like a good thing? Or is there still a fairly good chance that he'll reject me if he doesn't like the revisions, which I'm unable to do at the moment because as soon as the email arrived my brain stopped working.

I know there's no way to second-guess this sort of thing, just wondering if anyone had any experience - I'm a bit of a newbie and this is my first crack at it. For what it's worth, they're a reputable agency and the suggestions were all good points.

Grateful for any opinions. Obviously I'm going to do as he suggests, as soon as the writing neuron gets back on duty.

Cheers

J

J, this is a very good sign and excellent news, but he may well still reject it. Even if you feel you've done exactly what he suggested, he may change his mind about it, or lose confidence in the market, or the editor he had particularly in mind may go on maternity leave, or or or...

In an ideal world, he'd take you on as a client, and then work on revisions with you, but he's probably not sure enough that it can be got into sure-fire selling shape to commit himself: the minute he signs you, you cost him money, sale or no sale. You need to decide if you're willing to do the revisions anyway. You say that his points were good ones, so I assume you're certainly not smiting your brow and thinking, 'how can he think I would sully my work of art with such vulgarity?' Would the changes make the novel better, or at least not make it worse? You can always keep a copy of the earlier version to revert to, or to compare the two and cherry-pick the best changes for an über-version to send out to others later.

Of course your brain's gone dead; you may need tell him you'll do it, but leave it for a week or two to see more clearly what you think of his points, and how to do what's needed. Agents expect these things to take time: in fact, he might be suspicious that you hadn't done the job properly if you turn it round too quickly.

If you really aren't willing to do this without a commitment from him, then you may have to go back and say that in a polite, 'I'm sure you understand my difficulty' sort of way, but of course you risk him saying, 'in that case, no.'

Good luck with it!

Emma

<Added>

Tsk! 'but leave working on it it for a week or two'

Thanks Emma, sage advice, especially the bit about taking time. There's a certain 'ooh, ooh, I'm missing the boat' feeling every time a day goes by without having rewritten the entire thing. I've told him I'm happy to make the revisions, I'm not really expecting him to go out on a limb before he's happy he can do something with it, and even if he doesn't want it in the long run, I think the changes will be for the better and maybe improve its chances next time.

It's good to get a professional view on the situation, so thanks again for your help.

Cheers

J

Hello Jmac. The same thing happened to me in February. The agent liked the three chapters, but felt the full MS needed tweaking - she needed to be 100% about me and the novel to take me on. I did the revisions, she liked it, and I signed with her in early March.

Let's face it, an MS has to be very good to catch their eye, and its not going to hurt to improve it - they want to give you and them the post possible chance of getting a deal. It'll also be good for your reputation if you can revise without being too precious - once signed, your agent can tell publishers you are a writer with enough skill and professionalism to handle the editorial process well.

The very best of luck to you.

Julie

Jmac

Congratulations! Great news.

What kind of changes is your agent suggesting? Plot ones, or tone of voice, or...?

My agent took me on first and is now working on revisions with me, suggesting changes but leaving me to decide how to go about making them, or indeed making them at all. The changes are mostly about how convincing the narrator's voice is.

I was just wondering if the kind of changes needed mattered to whether an agent takes writers on now or at a later date?

Well done again.

Sam

It'll also be good for your reputation if you can revise without being too precious - once signed, your agent can tell publishers you are a writer with enough skill and professionalism to handle the editorial process well.

I think that's a very good point. On the other hand, as Dee's just discovered, there are limits to what any of us are prepared to do in the cause of getting published...

Emma

Hi Sam

I think he feels that there should be more drama in the story - the crisis points are too easily overcome nad the characters need to develop as a result of their experiences. I can see his point - although it is a comedy, there could be more tension at some points to vary the tone. Also he'd like to see some of the more peripheral female characters get a look in. So a bit of everything, really, which makes it hard to know where to start...

Anyway, best of luck with you own book, and also congratulations to you, Julie, on snagging your agent. Good luck!

Cheers

J

<Added>

"overcome and the characters..." Duh.

Just as an update to this little tale, I sent the revised ms, and he rejected it, saying he didn't feel he could sell it. Apparently he liked the writing, but not the story, so back down the snake we go. Better get out the list and start again

Cheers

J (throwing the dice and looking for the next ladder)

Oh, bad luck, that's a shame.

Emma

Yeah bad luck, JMac.

On the plus side, he's saying that you can write. That's often the overlooked skill when people decide to write - however silly that sounds. No matter how good an idea you come up with, if you can't string a decent sentence together you'll be wasting your time.

So you've got the skills, now you need something to say.

Best of luck

Colin M

Oh, bad luck! But on the bright side, he agrees that you can write and there might be an agent out there who does like the story.

I can sympathise, because an agent requested my full MS about about a month ago and the suspense is killing me. In the meantime, I've spotted - or had pointed out by WW reviewers - things that I would change on the next draft. I'm so distracted by the whole process that I've done the only reasonable thing that I could think of: started another novel.

Tony

that sounds exactly the right thing to do, Tony. hope you're enjoying writing it!
and bad luck JMac but better luck next time.

Cheers everybody - best of luck Tony. Waiting is the worst bit*. The agent read the full manuscript overnight and got back to me the following day, then took a month to look at the revisions. Strange how it goes. You never know if they're spending four weeks agonising over whether to make you an offer, or it just takes them three weeks and six days to get round to reading it.

Maybe I should team up with someone who's completely illiterate but full of great stories - I could keep them in the cupboard under the stairs and feed them biscuits in exchange for plots. Or maybe I should just go and lie down somewhere quiet...

J

*Actually the worst bit is probably the continual rejection and crushing sense of defeat and humiliation, but the waiting pretty bad too.

<Added>

Simply insert the word "is" into the sentence above, and win a prize! (Offer may not be valid in the real world)