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Q: I completed a 125,000 word romance in January and began querying publishers and agents. I imagine you know how that went! So in mid-January I began editing with the help of many useful tips from Fiction Addiction and other sites. The novel is now 79,000 words (and has lost none of its story line, I might add), and has a new title.

I am currently working diligently to creating a better query letter, and taking tentative steps toward a synopsis. My research has taught me so much in these past five months, that I believe I am ready to try querying again. My question is this: since I made so many changes, would it be all right to resubmit to those who rejected it the first time? -Mary

A: Without a doubt. And I admire your tenacity. So many writers give up after the first round of rejections, and fail not because they couldn’t do it but because they didn’t keep at it. So you’re ahead of the game already and that’s great.

As for “resubmitting” the manuscript, I would question whether that’s actually what you’re doing. You say the original story line has remained the same, but mention also that you’ve cut 45,000 words and made significant changes. So I’d consider it a fresh manuscript and submit without worrying about it, and without mentioning it.

You don’t want to caution an editor against your work before she reads it by saying, “you rejected this so I’ve worked hard on it and here it is again.”

Let her go into the manuscript fresh, and discover it new. If she likes it, the first version will be a moot point anyway. The only way I would qualify this is by saying if you got a note or comments from a specific editor suggesting changes, and you implemented those, it would be to your advantage to thank the editor again for her time, and let her know you’ve revised based on her suggestions.

Anne Bowling
Editor of 2001-2005 Novel & Short Story Writer's Markets
Writer's Digest Books