This is so interesting! And I love the idea of developing your story further with your editor, and how that has become your favorite part. I do wonder how common that is anymore. I know I try to do that with my agent (to the degree we can) but of course, any particular editor may have their own vision that could deviate from the current manuscript in any number of ways. I love that, no matter what the overall vision was, your writing and premise was so strong that they bought it, knowing you could adapt as the project evolved. It does seem, just anecdotally, that there are more R&Rs now and less developmental editing (post-acquisition), but I think in your case, it sounds like they just wanted to "lock that down" (and who could blame them)?
Also, how much do I love your George and Martha example? (V. very much. God, I love those hippos.) Thank you for sharing this series! It's so great.
Are you hearing that there are more R&Rs that then don't lead to book deals? I've experienced some R&Rs that then make it a stronger manuscript to bring to acquisitions. Which, yes, sometimes leads to a book deal and sometimes not. But I think once they buy the manuscript, I consider it all "editing." I'm interested too in your thoughts about different editors' visions, which of course is true, but in my experience, a good agent will shop the manuscript to an editor who has a similar vision for it as the author does. I certainly know there are instances where the editor will be like "and let's take our your robots from your robot story and make them human parents so this can be a story about love" or whatever, but that hasn't been my experience (which I'm grateful for!).
That's a great question--I think so, but that's mostly based on that one survey Kailei Pew did (which is admittedly not super, super current--but was in 2022, so recent-ish), which made it seem it's definitely less common to get an offer after an R&R (than not). https://www.kaileipewbooks.com/post/the-submission-experience-part-3-revise-and-resubmit "Of 102 total respondents, 56 have received an R&R. Of those, only 12 (just over 21%) received an offer after resubmitting..." Having said that, I get that what an editor is telling you with an R&R is..."I love this--BUT I don't envision this getting past my team or acquisitions without a big lift" (of some sort). That's why I so thanked my lucky stars that Kat gave me two opportunities to resubmit--and that it somehow resulted in a sale. WHEW! (Though, we didn't really have further edits after that, outside of a few "we can cut this word here, this blurb there" kind of stuff after the art came in, which was a nice side effect, I guess!) Still, similarly, I was just in a workshop with an (very nice!) Abrams editor who said she rarely, if ever, gives R&Rs because it's so much work for the creator and the odds are so low of it paying off anyhow (so she tends to just pass vs. offering R&Rs, unless she's REALLY REALLY into the story and has high hopes). So it feels like she agreed in a general way with the survey results.
I haven't heard many anecdotal things from friends about editors making absolutely huge vision-type changes once the story is bought, but I have definitely heard about them having calls to check if pretty significant changes (maybe less about the heart of the story, but definitely main character or POV changes, etc.) could align before an editor considers asking for an R&R or taking the story to their team. Which is fair enough--and better to be able to consider all options than not! (Then again, my friends are like me--not really established yet, so I'm sure it changes as you "earn your stripes"!)
I don't know if all that sounds like nonsense. :) Hugs, either way! LOL!
This has been a fascinating read for me Julie. Had no idea how much thought and care goes into creating a book for children. I'm guess that while the underlying themes may not be obvious to the kiddos who read the book, they pick up on the subtext. And great for reading in schools/libraries and prompting discussions on the themes.
My goal is always to have a lot of layers in the text which aren't immediately apparent. I feel like the book is a success in my heart if there is a lot going on, but none of it is immediately obvious. That way it'll be interesting when read multiple times.
This is so interesting! And I love the idea of developing your story further with your editor, and how that has become your favorite part. I do wonder how common that is anymore. I know I try to do that with my agent (to the degree we can) but of course, any particular editor may have their own vision that could deviate from the current manuscript in any number of ways. I love that, no matter what the overall vision was, your writing and premise was so strong that they bought it, knowing you could adapt as the project evolved. It does seem, just anecdotally, that there are more R&Rs now and less developmental editing (post-acquisition), but I think in your case, it sounds like they just wanted to "lock that down" (and who could blame them)?
Also, how much do I love your George and Martha example? (V. very much. God, I love those hippos.) Thank you for sharing this series! It's so great.
Are you hearing that there are more R&Rs that then don't lead to book deals? I've experienced some R&Rs that then make it a stronger manuscript to bring to acquisitions. Which, yes, sometimes leads to a book deal and sometimes not. But I think once they buy the manuscript, I consider it all "editing." I'm interested too in your thoughts about different editors' visions, which of course is true, but in my experience, a good agent will shop the manuscript to an editor who has a similar vision for it as the author does. I certainly know there are instances where the editor will be like "and let's take our your robots from your robot story and make them human parents so this can be a story about love" or whatever, but that hasn't been my experience (which I'm grateful for!).
That's a great question--I think so, but that's mostly based on that one survey Kailei Pew did (which is admittedly not super, super current--but was in 2022, so recent-ish), which made it seem it's definitely less common to get an offer after an R&R (than not). https://www.kaileipewbooks.com/post/the-submission-experience-part-3-revise-and-resubmit "Of 102 total respondents, 56 have received an R&R. Of those, only 12 (just over 21%) received an offer after resubmitting..." Having said that, I get that what an editor is telling you with an R&R is..."I love this--BUT I don't envision this getting past my team or acquisitions without a big lift" (of some sort). That's why I so thanked my lucky stars that Kat gave me two opportunities to resubmit--and that it somehow resulted in a sale. WHEW! (Though, we didn't really have further edits after that, outside of a few "we can cut this word here, this blurb there" kind of stuff after the art came in, which was a nice side effect, I guess!) Still, similarly, I was just in a workshop with an (very nice!) Abrams editor who said she rarely, if ever, gives R&Rs because it's so much work for the creator and the odds are so low of it paying off anyhow (so she tends to just pass vs. offering R&Rs, unless she's REALLY REALLY into the story and has high hopes). So it feels like she agreed in a general way with the survey results.
I haven't heard many anecdotal things from friends about editors making absolutely huge vision-type changes once the story is bought, but I have definitely heard about them having calls to check if pretty significant changes (maybe less about the heart of the story, but definitely main character or POV changes, etc.) could align before an editor considers asking for an R&R or taking the story to their team. Which is fair enough--and better to be able to consider all options than not! (Then again, my friends are like me--not really established yet, so I'm sure it changes as you "earn your stripes"!)
I don't know if all that sounds like nonsense. :) Hugs, either way! LOL!
Wanted to say, too, this feels like a masters class in writing a book for children.
This has been a fascinating read for me Julie. Had no idea how much thought and care goes into creating a book for children. I'm guess that while the underlying themes may not be obvious to the kiddos who read the book, they pick up on the subtext. And great for reading in schools/libraries and prompting discussions on the themes.
My goal is always to have a lot of layers in the text which aren't immediately apparent. I feel like the book is a success in my heart if there is a lot going on, but none of it is immediately obvious. That way it'll be interesting when read multiple times.