Jeremiah Tolbert has posted an article on his blog Revising Short Fiction Is For Suckers which discusses the subject of revising short stories. It’s a great post and also has a long and interesting discussion in the comments.
If you don’t know, Heinlein produced five rules for writing (which I first read on Robert J. Sawyer’s site), and rule 3 was You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order, which was controversial then, and remains so. I think he was trying to stop new writers from endlessly tinkering with stories, but it’s open to interpretation.
The post discusses the earnings for a short story, the time required and the comments start to dig into what is the purpose of writing short stories for writers.
If you’re a writer you should read it, lots to think about.
I vote no.
Once the story is published, it's done. I think it's disingenuous to continue to futz with it, both because it changes the story - and because it isn't fair to the readers to say "Ok, I know you've already read this, but you need to read it *again* before you can read the sequel..." That way lies Marvel Comics levels of insanity...
The post is talking about revision *before* the story has been published. i.e. How long should you mess with it before you submit it to markets,
Oh, my bad. Sorry.
In that case, I guess you'd mess with it for as long as it takes to actually sell it, then you're done.