How Much Is Too Much?

Rewrites that is...
What would you do?
A few months ago I wrote a book and subbed it to one of my publishers. All names are being withheld for obvious reasons. Said publisher wrote back a few weeks later that they really liked the story, but would I mind losing the first few – okay five pages. Also could I make some minor changes to the next twenty pages to leave the reader guessing as to the heroine’s guilt in a certain situation? Leave them guessing.
I liked the second idea. I felt it would make a more interesting read, but I was uncertain about cutting all five pages. I felt the reader learned about the heroine and her goals, motives and reasons for some of her actions.
I made ALL the requested changes and resubbed.
A few more weeks go by and I receive another nice letter. This is really good, but not quite there yet. If you could just add a little to the beginning to show the readers her motives and reasons for acting in particular ways that would be great.
Hmmm, I thought I’d done that originally.
I mulled the ideas over and even brainstormed with a writer friend. She made some great suggestions and offered to read the book to see what might be needed. She returned with, “I thought it was going to be awful and need lots of work, but this is fantastic AS IS.”
I thanked her and explained what they were looking for now. Again she tossed some ideas my way and I took them to heart. I wrote up a brief summary and sent the ideas off. They liked it, but maybe do it this way instead, I was told.
Finally I asked my writer friend to look at the original version. Deep down I kept coming back to this copy. Not sure why, but it was a gut feeling.
She read it and loved it. She got what made my heroine tick. She understood her motives for doing certain things and she related to her. She was drawn into the story. She felt one of my other publishers would jump on the chance to publish this story.
Now I’m torn. I’ve invested a lot of time with the first publisher, but yet, I’m growing uncomfortable to the changes. I feel like I’m losing “my” story and writing someone else’s. Believe me, I’m far from one of those diva writer’s who refuse to make changes. I’m probably the opposite and a little naïve. I tend to make all the suggested changes, per my editors.
This time I’m having too much difficulty doing that.
So do I dig in my heels and submit this story to one of my other publishers or do I kept brainstorming until I get it “right” in their eyes.
Stay tuned and I’ll let you know what I decide in the coming weeks!
Have a great weekend!