“Getting the words right.”
— Ernest Hemingway, on rewriting the ending of A Farewell to Arms 39 times
For manuscripts that are almost there.
Why 39?
In 1958, The Paris Review asked Ernest Hemingway about his craft. He mentioned that he had rewritten the last page of A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. When asked what had stumped him, his answer was simple: “Getting the words right.”
The real number was even higher. When his manuscripts were published in 2012, they contained 47 different endings. In some, the baby lives. In others, faith offers comfort. One followed a suggestion from F. Scott Fitzgerald, most of which Hemingway set aside. He wasn’t polishing commas. He was deciding what the book meant.
He didn’t get there alone. His editor, Maxwell Perkins, believed in his work and stood behind it. A Farewell to Arms became Hemingway’s first bestseller and one of the defining novels of its century.
Most great books go through a stretch like this. The draft is good, the people closest to it believe in it, and it isn’t finished yet. That’s the stretch Revision39 is built for.
What we do
Revision39 works with authors whose manuscripts have already earned an agent’s belief, and caught an editor’s eye, but haven’t yet found a publisher. These are books that editors passed on while still seeing real potential in them. They don’t need to be started over. They need focused, experienced attention to become the version an editor can’t pass on.
We find what’s holding the book back. Our coaches read your manuscript the way an acquiring editor would, and help you see why it hasn’t landed yet, whether that’s structure, pacing, voice, or the ending.
We put your book in front of real readers. Editors and agents read as professionals. We also gather feedback from actual readers, so you can see where the story grips them, where they drift, and what stays with them after the last page.
We coach the writer, not just the book. The goal isn’t a set of fixes. It’s a sharper eye you’ll carry into this revision and every book after it.
We work alongside your agent. Your agent believed in this book first. We help you bring it back to them stronger, ready for its next round of submissions.
Who it’s for
Revision39 is for authors who are almost there.
You’ve written a book strong enough to win an agent. It went out on submission, and editors at publishing houses read it closely. Some saw real promise, even as they passed. A rejection like that isn’t a verdict on the book. It’s a sign that it’s close.
Those are the books we look for.
How invitations work
Revision39 is invite-only. We don’t take applications or open submissions.
Instead, we work through agents. When an agent has a client whose manuscript drew genuine interest from editors but didn’t sell, we talk with them about whether the book and the author are a good fit for coaching. If they are, the invitation comes through the agent, so your agent is part of the conversation from the start.
If you’ve heard from us, it’s because someone who knows publishing believes in your book. We do too.
Endorsements of Proven Performance
For agents
You saw something in this book before anyone else did. We’re here to help it get where you knew it could go.
Revision39 works alongside you, never around you. We don’t represent authors, and we don’t approach your clients without you. The relationship, the strategy, and the next submission all stay in your hands. Our part is the revision: coaching, editorial perspective, and feedback from real readers, so the manuscript that comes back to you is stronger than the one that went out.
Have a client whose book came close? We’d like to hear about it.