Revising a Revised Edition

 

Cover design by Christy Aldridge of Grim Poppy Design

One thing on my agenda for the year is to get books currently out of print back into print. This is why I have been saying “And it’s still in print!” when sharing about books that really are still in print! I have had over 15 books go out of print after two publishers shut down, so I spent some time deciding just HOW to get those books back out there.

 

Fortunately, I know of some publishers who DO publish previously published books (and Twisted Dreams Press is among them), so I set aside certain titles to submit to them at certain times. (Yeah, I’m not submitting all of them all at once.)

 

Some authors I know who have also had this experience chose to self-publish their books in order to get them back out there. Part of the goal of Dreamweaver Press, an imprint I manage through Twisted Dream Press, is to publish books that went out of print. I let these authors know and I am working with some of them to get their books back into print.

 

Meanwhile, I created a schedule for when I submit manuscripts and when I’ll be self-publishing my own books in order to get them back into print.

 

One of those books is my collection of confessional poetry, 3 A.M. Poetry.

 

This book is my collection of poems that further explore some bad things I experienced in my past. However, when I was looking it over again in order to prepare the manuscript for self-publishing this month, I realized that some revision was in order.

 

But then I wondered, should I revise a manuscript that was previously published? Why not give readers the same kind of material that appeared in the first edition, as happened with my deaf poetry book Noiseless? The second edition was published by Alien Buddha Press and it’s the exact same book that was out there the first time.

 

However, readers will not get that experience when they pick up my other poetry book, Other, which I self-published after the publisher shut down.

 

And they won’t get that experience when they pick up the new edition of 3 A.M. Poetry either, which just released as an ebook!

 

Still, before it was published, I struggled with the decision of whether or not to revise it.

 

When I decided to proceed with publishing this poetry book in 2025, I started out with the original collection of poetry that I wrote many years ago that was titled 3 A.M. Poetry. However, that manuscript was too short, so I revised it. I threw in another short collection of poetry that I wrote, and added a few other poems. It all worked out because all of the poems were on the same topics: Abuse, addiction, alcoholism, depression, mental health disorders (I have anxiety, depression, and panic disorder), rape, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide.

 

Then came the task of whether or not I should revise the revised edition after the book went out of print!

 

When faced with this situation, the author can look at the manuscript and make the personal decision of whether or not they want to, or should, revise it before attempting to get it back into print.

 

In my case, though, I had one issue: What if revising the book changed it so much that readers wouldn’t be able to relate to or appreciate the poems in it anymore? Should I even touch it, or just let it go out there the way it originally was?

 

But after reviewing the manuscript, I decided that, yes, it could use some revision. One poem was too similar to another. Another poem didn’t capture what it was about very clearly. Still another poem had no place in a collection of confessional poetry. (Yes, I realize that people might appreciate the break from all of that confessional poetry with something different, but there are other poems in the book to serve that purpose.)

 

So, yes, I decided to proceed with revising it. I took poems out, rewrote some others, added new ones, and ensured there were no duplicates (this can happen sometimes, especially with long collections of poetry). I also added an author’s note that included the number for the crisis and suicide hotline, as well as trigger warnings. Now I feel this revised edition, which is truly a REVISED edition, is so much better than the original book.

 

And that’s exactly what we should give to readers when we are trying to get books back into print. We should give them books that are bigger and better than the original one. That’s what I did with Other, that’s what I have done with 3 A.M. Poetry, and that’s what I’m doing with another one of my out-of-print books, 365 Tips for Writers.

 

Just because a book has gone out of print, it doesn’t mean it will stay out of print. It WILL get back out there in the world, and in some cases, the new revised edition will be even better than the last edition.

 

If you’re interested in this poetry book, which released on Kindle today, you can get your copy here.

 

The print edition is coming soon!

 

Here is the book’s blurb:

 

Survivors of an abusive childhood know just how hard it can be to break free from their past. Memories linger. The anger lingers. The poems in this book reflect battles the author has had to fight, then and now. Some of these battles are an ongoing torment that could make the dangers of mental health disorders seem like a welcoming reprieve. The last two poems in this book reflect how the author broke free from the darkness and found the strength to keep going.

Warning: The poems in this book explore topics of abuse, addiction, alcoholism, depression, rape, self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide.

I Have Permission to Write, But Do I Need Permission to Publish?

 

Photo Credit: Markus Winkler via Pexels

So there I was, writing yet another poem to go into the book of memorial poems I have been working on for several months, when a thought struck me: What if the family of the person I was writing about got angry at me for even writing this poem?

 

For context, this book of poems is a collection of verse written in memory of people I have known, as well as people I didn’t know. But saying they were people that I didn’t know doesn’t necessarily mean they were complete strangers. Some of those people I didn’t know who I have written memorial poems about include family and friends I knew on social media, but not in real life. I didn’t exactly know them for years, though there are some I knew for years via the internet.

 

Then there are the people I didn’t know personally, but knew about because of their celebrity – such as Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Ozzy Osbourne. I wrote poems in memory of them sometime after they passed away.

 

But now I’m wondering: Do I need permission to include these poems in my book? What if the family gets angry at me for writing these poems?

 

I had that thought after writing a memorial poem about a cousin whose life ended this summer, and it bothered me that I might experience negativity from her family when that poem is published in the book. It bothered me so much that I reached out to another cousin and asked her if it would be okay to include this poem about our cousin in this book. I also said, “I don't want it to look like I am trying to be a part of something that I am not a part of and I don't want people to get mad at me for writing something about a person I did not know, even if it is written with loving thoughts and kind words.” My cousin replied that she thinks this late cousin’s sister would appreciate the gesture. Just to be on the safe side, I reached out to this sister to start a conversation about it.

 

With family, it might be easy to resolve that problem, because then I could reach out to them about it. With friends, I have done the same. But with celebrities? I am not so sure.

 

Would I need permission to get the poems I wrote in memory of these celebrities published? Their deaths moved me and I felt compelled to write about them. So I wrote poems in their memory – about the lives they lived and the ways they have touched others. They are all positive poems. I don’t say bad things about them. But now I wonder if even getting these poems published would be a problem.    

 

I suppose that, as in every case when it comes to an author being conflicted about something in a book, it would be better to just leave that decision with the publisher. So, that is what I will do, in this case.

A Tale of Two Types of Feedback

 

Photo Credit: Mikhail Nilov via Pexels

 

Ah, feedback. That Golden Fleece so many writers wish a rejecting editor would give to them, just so they know how to improve their work!

 

I am grateful to the editors who DO take the time to provide feedback when rejecting a piece, because those nuggets of wisdom are what will help me to improve the work for the next editor I submit it to, but not all editors who reject our work will provide that feedback. Alas! But it’s understandable, given that editors receive So Many submissions (I know of one editor who received 700 submissions for an anthology call), and nothing will bring on serious writer’s cramp like ALL of that typing involved in providing feedback to Every Single submission being rejected.

 

But when we do receive feedback from an editor, whether they are rejecting our work or giving us another chance, that is when the writer will sit up and hang on every word they read.

 

Yes, there are many writers out there who are already soliciting feedback – from both alpha and beta readers – but the type of feedback we are most hungry for is the kind we receive from an editor who is in charge of accepting or rejecting our work. THAT is the kind of feedback we want, the kind of feedback we hope for, because if there is something in our work that makes the editor say “not for us,” then we want to know what it is! We want to know what that THING in our work is that has editors rejecting our work, because we want to fix it! If that is the thing keeping our work from getting published, then we want to fix it so that we have a better chance of our work being accepted somewhere else.

 

For the longest time, I had a novel rejected by one publisher and agent after another. I finally tossed the thing to my beta readers and asked them if they could figure out what was wrong with it. My beta readers told me what was wrong with my manuscript – they literally tore into that thing! – and after I revised the manuscript based on their feedback, it was accepted by the next publisher I submitted it to.

 

This has also happened with poems and short stories I have submitted. One story was rejected many times, but after I received feedback on certain things that were wrong with the story, I fixed those problem spots, and it was accepted by the next editor I submitted it to.

 

However, recently, I received two different forms of feedback from editors that really made me do a double take.

 

In one case, the editor rejecting my poetry showed me exactly how to fix those poems so they would meet the standards of what is acceptable in literary journals. Unfortunately, this made me realize that my poetry is not right for that journal, because I don’t write those kinds of poems. My horror poetry is not written in the style of literary horror. So, I thanked the editor and removed this publication from my list of places to submit work to.

 

In another case, an editor providing feedback was not doing so while also rejecting my submission. This editor pointed out some things in my story which were taboo and therefore unacceptable. This editor said, “If you change those things, as well as how they affect the character, I’ll give your story another look.” This particular feedback blew me away, because the editor saw things that I hadn’t. Of course I am grateful to this editor, but I had to wonder if this story was rejected by other places because of that very reason. I never received that kind of feedback from one publication that rejected it; their gripe was mostly about the character arc in the story. But I could see how that taboo subject would have bothered them, as well as other editors who had rejected this story. None of them told me what this editor did. If they had even seen those things, it would have been nice to know about it! But I’m grateful THIS editor told me, and that THIS editor is giving me a second chance.

 

And that’s another thing we writers hope for: A second chance. Or even a third or fourth chance. (I’m looking at you, Carnage House. You’ll be hearing from me again!)

 

In my role as acquisitions editor at Twisted Dreams Press, I do give authors that second chance – as well as others, if needed. I’ll read a manuscript and, if there’s something that I feel could be fixed to improve the story, I will let the author know. For example, with one manuscript, the story had characters dying and the friends of these characters did not react at all. There was no emotion, no tears, nothing. They just continued on their way. After I finished reading the manuscript, I asked the author to revise those areas because, hello, their friend was just murdered, and they’re not going to react at all? With another manuscript, I asked the author to change a nurse’s reaction to a patient’s story of ALL of the horrors she has been through, because the nurse’s reaction was not realistic.

 

So, yes, the feedback we receive from an editor can be amazingly helpful. Our alpha and beta readers may provide helpful feedback on our work, but it’s the feedback from editors that gives our work a better chance of being accepted, because those editors are the people more attuned to what kind of work is right for publication, as well as what aligns with the publication they are in charge of receiving submissions for.