When an agent or editor likes your manuscript enough to ask you to revise it based on their feedback and send it back for another look.
A revise and resubmit (commonly shortened to R&R) is when an agent or editor reads your manuscript and, rather than rejecting it outright or offering representation, asks you to make specific changes and resubmit the revised version. It sits in a hopeful middle ground: they see real potential in your work but don't think it's ready yet. The feedback usually identifies structural issues, character problems, pacing concerns, or other elements that need reworking. An R&R is not a guarantee of representation or a deal. It's an invitation to prove you can take editorial direction and elevate your manuscript to the level they need it to be.
An R&R is one of the most encouraging responses you can receive during the querying process. It means a publishing professional invested significant time reading your full manuscript, thought carefully about what isn't working, and liked it enough to want to see it again. That's rare. But it's also a test. How you handle an R&R reveals whether you can collaborate on revisions, take tough feedback without ego, and execute on someone else's vision for your book while keeping your own voice intact. These are exactly the skills you'll need throughout a publishing career.
Morgenstern's manuscript went through significant revision before it became the lush, intricate novel readers know. The revision process transformed an already promising book into something extraordinary.
McQuiston's debut went through extensive revisions with their agent before going on submission to publishers, demonstrating how the agent-author revision process can sharpen a book into a bestseller.
Take the time to do the revision properly. Agents would rather wait eight weeks for a strong revision than get a half-baked one in ten days. Speed doesn't impress them; quality does.
You don't have to implement every suggestion exactly as stated, but you should address the underlying concern behind each note. If an agent says a character feels flat, you can solve that your own way, but you can't just skip it because you disagree.
An R&R is an invitation to try again, not a promise. The agent may still pass after seeing the revision. Keep querying other agents while you revise (unless they've specifically asked for an exclusive), so you don't put all your hopes on one outcome.
If you need more time, say so. If you have questions about the feedback, ask. A brief, professional email updating the agent on your timeline shows you're taking the R&R seriously and keeps the relationship warm.
Take the most challenging piece of feedback you've ever received about your writing, whether from a critique partner, workshop, or rejection letter. Spend fifteen minutes outlining exactly how you would address that feedback without losing what you love about the story. Write out three concrete changes you'd make and one element you'd protect at all costs. This is the mental muscle an R&R demands.