Requerying After Revisions?
What happens if you’ve queried a manuscript, and then realized that you need to do a major revision? You’ve gotten beta reader feedback or have realized that something isn’t working. Maybe you’ve gotten feedback from agents with your full manuscript.
You have a few options, and it depends what’s already happened during the query process.
If you haven’t gotten a response to your query yet:
There is such a thing as withdrawing a query. You can email and say that you would like to withdraw your query (QueryManager has a specific button for this that makes it easy.) If you’re withdrawing your query, make sure you withdraw it from all agents who have it at that time.
Withdrawing a query...it’s not great (unless this comes from an agent R&R, in which case, congrats! Mention this in your withdrawal). It signals that you sent it before you were ready. But if you really do feel as though your story needs immediate, substantial revision, it’s better to do this than waste the agent’s time reading something that’s not your best work.
If you’ve already been rejected:
There are agents who will take another look at a manuscript that has been substantially revised. This doesn’t mean fixing typos and making minor plot changes - this means you’ve changed the plot dramatically, changed characters dramatically (i.e. gotten rid of them, added them, changed whose POV the story is told from), or maybe even completely rewritten the book.
If this is the case, look at the agent’s bio, #MSWL page, twitter, etc. to see if you can get a sense for whether they do or do not accept revised manuscripts. If there’s no explicit prohibition from them on sending revised manuscripts, you can chance it.
In this case, you’re going to want to turn in a completely revised query package reflecting all the changes you’ve made. Also note in the query letter that you have queried them before and received a rejection, but that you have substantially revised the manuscript and are hoping for renewed consideration.
(But...Should I Requery?)
This is the million-dollar question. It really depends on whether you think you’re able to make your manuscript actionably, substantially better. There is such a thing as flogging a dead horse, and it’s not going to do anything for you. It’s going to waste your time, and agents’ time.
Knowing when to set aside a project that you’re querying is important and powerful. I queried my first manuscript and got total crickets. No one was interested. Was it a bad story? No. Was it the right fit for a very bloated generic-YA-fantasy-market? Absolutely not. I don’t think it would have sold, even if an agent took a chance on it. (My agent later confirmed this, so it’s not negative self-talk, just reality.)
So what did I do? I wrote another manuscript, queried that, and got a ton of interest, and my agent.
For you, it might be your second manuscript. It might be your tenth, or your thirtieth. The important thing is that you keep writing, because you will get better each time, and you will eventually hit on the manuscript that makes an agent light up with excitement.
So if you can make this book much better? Go forth and revise. If you can’t? Go forth and...write another book!