Is it normal for an academic conference to ask for a revised abstract before paper acceptance? I applied for an academic conference and inquired about international travel stipends.  I later received an email stating that they were interested in accepting my paper but wanted an elaborated abstract.  I later sent a revised abstract but was told it was too long, I was sent a personal email asking for a concise summary of my research and was asked if I was a Ph.D student and in what discipline?  Is this normal for conference organizers, With so much effort do they really want to accept my paper?  Is this normal for conference organizers, I don't have any experience with this and conferences?  Does it mean they want to accept my paper?  I have never been asked to revise and resubmit an abstract and was wondering if this is normal conference behavior?
Having been on the other side of similar transactions, what I suspect is going on is that they think your submission is not up to their standards (of quality / focus / formatting / whatever), but that they think it is salvageable and are trying to work with you to help make it acceptable.