Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Aside from the above, I'd recommend picking either children's or YA, not both. They are quite different genres and the agent will want to know that you have done your homework and know what category your book belongs in. I had the same problem my first go around too so I can sympathize! Nicely done ...

Looks good to me, I'd say run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes! Good luck!

Revision 3 Dear Ms. Agent, Abby Bellen is an art curator at one of the world’s premier museums and has a happy full life in the city. But when her cousin calls tell her that her father Will needs help Abby must reluctantly return to Lake Forrest to fulfill the promise to her mother to look after th...

Maybe: "Jaime has to believe in himself if he's going to…" Dunno, just a thought.

Tirian is an enchanted toad with magical powers living in the forest kingdom of Garn, home of the Enchanted Ones. But when a vengeful enchantress turns Tirian into a human, he must leave the quiet safety of his forest home and follow her to the human lands to make her to change him back. Tirian is ...

BEFORE A BROKEN MIRROR is a work of literary fiction similar in theme to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." It is the story of a mind shattered by insanity a lifetime ago and how that mind, held together by force of will, at last crumbles. It is, ultimately, the story of a...

He won’t be able to stay away long, though. His suicidal ex-girlfriend calls for help from Brazil, which , in the run up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics , seethes with civil discontent as an international crisis brews off the coast of the tropical nation . To navigate a country primed for civil...

My question is: If the writing is so technically bad, how did this thing ever get published in the first place? Where were the editors screaming, "OMG! Enough with the adverbs already, Tom Swiftly!" I mean, many of us write, rewrite, then rewrite some more— then the editor comes along and ...

Coach - you may have already tried this, but a quick way to lose several thousand words is to take out every unneeded "that." Ex. - "Jenni liked the fact that this world was new," could be: "Jenni liked the fact this world was new." Terrible example, but you get the id...

First impressions: While I like the premise and your writing style, I think the query is suffering from your uncertainty about the book's genre. It's hard to follow and I'm not sure what kind of story it is either... I wouldn't shorten Alessandra's name in the query unless you say "Ale to her f...

Thanks so much for all the interesting comments! It's always good to have different sets of eyes and points of view look at your work. I'll try to answer some of the questions without posting the whole book here ; ) The kids (and teachers that are along as well) all get transformed permanently, so m...

When Grayson was thirteen, her aunt and uncle died, leaving a deep, empty hole in their family. Before, Grayson and her cousins, Willa and Ainsley, were like sisters. After, they were torn from each other, with Ainsley's parents moving her to Illinois and Grayson's to California, leaving an orphane...

Thank you, yes, I have been editing/hacking/slashing lately to get the count down. My hope is to do more books and the characters would obviously get older as I went along, becoming more YA aged I guess. My readers so far have said that they didn't notice it being long when they read it, so I think ...

Any opinions on the latest version above?

Much better.