When Your Agent Asks You For Revisions

To me, writing a novel -- trying to make a dozen characters and themes and motivations and goals all fit together in one comprehensible mass -- feels like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube.







It takes years, but then one day I'm all, "Holy crap, I did it, guys! I finished the cube!"







Even better, I show it off to agents, and one of them says, "That's a great looking cube. Can I represent you?" And, well, you know how that goes.







Then my agent says, "Now before I can submit this to pub...