On Getting The Editorial R&R

Modern technology has changed the publishing industry in countless ways. One of the most positive changes is the simple matter of accessibility: thanks to computers and the internet, millions of aspiring writers can chase the dream of publication. Even better, blogs and social media have provided a community where writers can support and learn from one another. This is all good stuff.

The Crowd in Publishing

On the other hand, we can’t ignore the huge supply-and-demand differential in traditional publishing: there are far more writers (and written manuscripts) than there are slots available. This differential, believe it or not, persists at every stage of the game:

• Literary agents receive hundreds of queries a month from authors seeking representation, but typically take on just a handful of new clients a year.
• Acquiring editors consider thousands of projects per year, for a finite number of slots in the publishing schedule.
• Readers and reviewers can only read so many books, so new titles compete for review coverage and reader eyeballs.

Because of this differential, landing a literary agent is hardly a guarantee of publication. In most cases, it’s the beginning of a long process that makes the query trenches seem like a piece of cake.

The Submissions Process

Although we’ve all heard the exceptions — the overnight offer, or going to a week later — the typical submissions experience for an agented author goes like this:

1. Agent sends the project out to editors (sometimes just a handful, sometimes 15+).
2. No news for a long time. Outside of kidlit, this waiting period tends to be at least a month.
3. Rejections start to roll in. These usually come first because rejections take less time.
4. The submissions round ends when most or all editors have responded.

Usually, the editor either responds with an offer or a rejection. But there are other possible outcomes:

• The editor may simply never respond. Some agents have remarked that “no response means no” is an increasingly common policy for editors at both large and small houses.
• The editor may send suggested revisions, with an invitation to resubmit. This is called a revise-and-resubmit, or R&R.

Supposedly, the latter response (the R&R) is a rare and promising thing, a signal that an author’s work is on the cusp of success. However, I couldn’t help but notice that many agented authors (including myself) have gotten R&Rs in the past year, and it never seems to result in an offer.

But that’s just a feeling, without any hard numbers behind it. So I polled some agented author friends to ask if any had received an R&R while on submission. In total, I had 28 responses.

How Do Authors Respond?

First, I asked whether or not the author made the requested changes:

Clearly, authors take the R&R seriously, as almost 90% of them made the changes the editor requested. Having undergone the psychological torture process of submission, I understand this rather well: the author wants to do whatever he or she can to help the book’s chances.

What Results from an R&R?

Next, I asked those 25 authors what ultimately came of the R&R:

So, first the good news: three of the R&Rs resulted in an offer of publication. Hooray! One of those authors shared:

The edits took around 3 months. Editor took about 2 weeks to reread and the offer came shortly after.

My R&R is counted in the “neither” category above, because we got an offer from a different house. At least one of those “neither” responses is still waiting to hear back.

Most R&Rs Result in Rejection

However, we can’t ignore the rest of the pie chart: 80% of R&Rs still result in a rejection. Here are some of the comments responding authors left about their experiences:

The revision took me about 2 months, but when my agent resubmitted it, the editor never responded despite multiple nudges.

I had a long/detailed R&R edit letter, met the editor in person and discussed it, made the changes, went to acquisitions, got turned down by sales because they already had another book too similar.

I ended up being scared I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, so I panicked and rushed, and it was ultimately rejected.

The cold, hard truth is that, nine times out of ten, a revise-and-resubmit does not lead to an offer. I know this is difficult to hear for the author who’s desperate for some hint of not-bad news while on submission. But it counters the conventional wisdom that an R&R from an editor is close to an acceptance. These numbers would suggest that most R&Rs aren’t close enough.

The Up Side

Then again, we are talking about manuscript advice from a professional editor. Even a few paragraphs freely offered represent some of that editor’s valuable time. Also, nearly all of the authors I spoke to believed their revisions resulted in a stronger manuscript. That was certainly my experience — the revisions I made for my own R&R became part of The Rogue Retrieval.

So how do you tell if your R&R represents serious interest? Here, I have a suggestion: Ask the editor for a phone call. Admittedly, this is a big ask. But if he or she agrees, it gives you a chance to discuss the vision for your manuscript, some “face time” if you will. It also puts a voice to your name in the editor’s head, which is never a bad thing.

On the other hand, if the editor politely declines, well, then you have your answer.

Please Share The #FactInFantasy

If you liked this article, please share it with your writing friends using the buttons below. You can also click to send a ready-made tweet:

Click to Tweet The cold numbers of editorial R&Rs in publishing and why getting one might be bad news, with @DanKoboldt: http://bit.ly/1XbLyB9

Follow me and you'll never miss a post:

Please share this article: