Can You Go Back to an Agent with a Rewritten First Cahpter

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nealraisman

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I had an agent who asked to see the first ten pages of my novel Board to Death after I queried but then decided to pass on it. That caused me to relook at the pages and I ended up doing an extensive rewrite. Is it okay to resend the new chapter? It is excessivley rewritten.
 

Calla Lily

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Not really. Maybe a whole year after the pass, and if it's so rewritten that the passing agent wouldn't recognize it at all, but in general, scratch that agent off your list and move on.
 

Romangoblets

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I wouldn't unless specifically requested. Just move on and keep querying. Good luck!
 

Bufty

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Not sure what you mean by 'excessively rewritten', but IMHO definitely not if the 'extensive rewrite' is the current SYW submission.
 
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pellshek

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Perhaps a more fundamental issue here is that if Chapter 1 needed rewriting then presumably the rest of the MS does too. So even if your Chapter 1 is in top shape & ready to go, is the rest?

Agree with advice of others not to resubmit.
 

Jamesaritchie

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It's not okay to send it, but it is okay to send a query asking if you can resend it. All the agent can do is say no. No hit squads will come after you.
 

Thomas Vail

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I'd agree with Jamesaritchie. It's a bad idea to resend if they didn't specifically ask you to revise and resubmit, but it hurts nothing to send a query asking if they'd be interested in seeing it again.

On the other hand, I also agree with pellshek, and think that if the original first chapter didn't get the agent's interest, you're probably going to need to look at working on more than just that.
 

mayqueen

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I wouldn't resend or re-query unless you have extensively rewritten the entire manuscript and a year has passed.
 
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