Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Keep it up, Claudie. I'm very motivated right now. I'm really trying to be done with this draft by Oct so I can go to NYCC with a head full of steam. I did about 2000 of rewrite (which I hold to a much higher standard than regular spout drafting). If I do a chapter every 1-2 nights, I'll be in good ...

I think I'm developing Neurosis of the Liver. My confidence when restarting is always lacking. I've set a goal for myself to do ~4 (more if I can) chapters a weeks so I can get the rewrite done in 3 months or less. After that, it's polish/beta time and then submission. By early next year, my WIP wil...

I have a full time job, and a commute that's closer to 40 minutes, when I have to drop off the kid at daycare. I put in my day, and every few weeks, I have night work and on call duties, which means I can be woken up at any time of the night for any reason (It should be a good reason, but we pay nex...

Also, this is still reading a bit like a synopsis, rather than a brief description of the conflict and just a taste of the story.

Congrats, Margo

Some day, you must tell us how you did it (OK, line stolen from 1776)

Understood. Your best bet would be to market yourself. This may not be what you want to hear, but if you can't sell now, most agents wouldn't come within 40 yards of you. Try and promote your work better. I'm sure you think it's good ( I can't speak for it, never saw it ). Now go and show other peop...

Don't do it. Follow the guidelines they have as closely as possible.

The other thing to consider is that being self published doesn't necessarily work against you when looking for an agent, but if you have not been able to sell, that will.

I'm writing a YA novel as well. I've had this happen to me about four times, so I've back burnered the "new" projects, but I have tried to write their "story page" when the idea comes up. Also, I don't think that 88K words is pushing it when it comes to YA. There are plenty that ...

Big Meanie

Margo,

You have no idea how much that sort of response teases those of us who have to have answers to everything . You literally had me going "Gah, say it already."

My suggestion would be to remove gluttony from a female character. It is already such an undesirable trait (true gluttony) even in male characters. What if you were, instead, to make the issue her vice, rather than gluttony? A guilty pleasure found in it? There are plenty of "idealized" wo...

That's still pretty darned hefty for a book. Have you considered making it into two separate books, and perhaps building on those relationships, with some allusions to plot devices in the first book that come to fruition in the second?

Shipple, At the query stage, I could probably count on one hand, the number of agents who assume you are only sending to them. They may want to have exclusive reads, but at that point, they've already contacted you and told you as much. I don't think there are sane agents that would expect you to qu...

So I am reading Insignia now, in part from Amanda's recommendation, as well as an inside look from Amazon. I'm actually amazed at the similarity between this book and Enders' game, and while overall (hard to say, I'm still at the beginning) I like it, there are parts that definitely pull me out and ...

As someone coming off a hiatus, I can say it is HARD. I've had dreams about what I should be writing, but I do think the side story thing helped me out. I got to focus on stuff "book related" that wasn't related directly to my book (does that even make sense?).