If we're honest with ourselves, the quote above should hit home with a resounding whack. When we submit our work with the great hope of being published, we have high hopes that the editor will do two things. A. Tell us how much he/she likes our submission. B. Will publish with no editing whatsoever.
That might happen in a perfect world, but we know that for every step forward we take in our writing life, it feels as if we slipped back two steps.
The big deal here is how much you want to be published. You felt like you submitted a near-perfect piece of writing. It should be because you worked on it over and over again until you felt satisfied. Then you sent it to a publication. When it came back with a Yes, we'd like to publish this if you do this and this and this...
Do you want to go back to square one and redo the piece? Your first reaction is a resounding no. Then, your realistic self admits that you can do the edits requested. If you do it to the editor's satisfaction, you'll have one more published piece to add to your portfolio.
If you receive a message from an editor asking you to rework parts of what you submitted, I recommend that you take a little time to do some pondering. Don't dive right in and cut and add. Read your submission carefully, trying to be as objective as possible. Ask a writer friend to read it, too. Or send it to your writing critique group for suggestions. They'll most likely see more objectively than you.
If you want to be published, it's worth the extra effort and slight bit of agony to do the revisions as requested. If you submit future work to the same place, the editor will remember that you were willing to go that extra mile.
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