R&R from editor - any advice?

[Lizardlegs]

Hello! After over a year of being on submission, my YA novel got a R&R (revise and resubmit) from an editor at a big indie publishing house (Holiday House, distributed by PRH. I write for the North American market). The editor wants me to kill a main character and dial down a lot of the obstacles I’ve thrown at my MC. Any advice on how to do this kind of very-directed edit without losing your mind (or vision)? This MS is very much in the last chance saloon so I had might as well take the plunge: agent thinks I should do it too. 😅

Congratulations.

Do what they want in the beast/least worst way. 'Losing your mind' is an indulgence.

The publisher understands the market and will eventually be putting their money where their mouth is. If you wanted to self-publish, you wouldn't have gone big four.

Good luck.

Thank you Zilla, excellent advice! I'll keep chipping away at it...