Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Thank you for the feedback all. I remember how helpful you were with my last draft, Quill. Thanks for coming back to offer your suggestions once more! I've tried to incorporate most of the suggestions made. You guys are right, I do employ a lot of passive language. I think it may be something about...

Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback, alienbogey. I've done my best to incorporate your suggestions. Right now, I'm working to ensure that the main text of the query is at or under 300 words--I'll be doing a WD webinar about querying and agents tomorrow, and 300 is the limit. I'm having di...

Hi Jaligard! Nice to "see" you again.

As far as the highlighted sentence goes, I'm a bit out of sorts--I thought it was the hook, not a logline. If I take it out, then I don't have my one sentence hook any more. What do you suggest?

Please look for my newest draft, posted around 8 AM EST. Hello, forum-ites. I've quit obsessing about querying my first novel (The Iron Pillar) long enough to get a fresh perspective on it. I've reworked my query letter to strengthen the hook, provide more specific details, and lessen the verbosity...

Hello again, Nathan. I've spent a great deal of time puzzling over genre distinctions. I've researched online and scoured my Writer's Digest and Writer magazines, still I'm a bit uncertain... Wherein lies the difference between literary and women's fiction? I remember reading a blurb in WD that said...

Hello Nathan. I enjoy your blog and forums very much--that goes without saying. My question for you relates to the many avenues an aspiring novelist can take to publication. I began querying about one month ago. I've collected a dozen rejections and one request for a partial. I am aware that one mon...

It seems that, as writers, we spend so much time intimately involved with our work that we sometimes are blind to its properties. I honestly had no idea my book was literary fiction until sometime this week! I thought it was up-market (re: somewhat commercial) women's fiction, which it definitely is...

Thank you, Quill! I've incorporated your new round of feedback, resulting in the following query letter: Dear Agent, THE IRON PILLAR is an 85,000-word piece of multicultural women’s fiction, which recounts one woman’s transformative journey as she is subjected to love, loss, and the whimsical natur...

I probably could have figured out your locale by just looking at your profile, eh? Ah, well.

The pre-apocalyptic idea sounds very intriguing. How long have you been writing? How many novels have you attempted and how many completed? Have you started trying for publication on any of them yet?

I just got my first partial request using the following query (and this new letter is 343 words, well within the desired count): Dear Agent, THE IRON PILLAR is an 85,000 word piece of women’s, which recounts one woman’s transformative journey as she is subjected to love, loss, and the whimsical nat...

Yay, I just got my first partial request! I'm updating my stats on this thread right now :-D

Thanks for the feedback, Android. I initially did discuss the oomph factor in my query and was told I was being too explicit about the action. I've also taken out some extraneous text, as per Quill's suggestions. What happens is that Kashi dies in a plane crash towards the end of the story (ironic b...

I'll definitely check it out Melissa. I write contemporary YA and fantasy YA. I like Sci Fi, but I'm really bad at writing it. I have a really cool pre apocalyptic idea I'm playing around with though. My strengths are in comedy and romance, although I wish I was better at writing drama and fight sc...

Thank you, Android :-D I need all of the compliments possible, now that I am actively seeking publication of my first novel. It's a brutal, self-effacing process to be sure! You're welcome to check out my query, which is on the boards. It's THE IRON PILLAR and it's literary women's fiction. I'd be h...

:-(

Best of luck with your new project. I'm barely into the querying process and already beginning to move my eggs to this next basket, aka novel #2. I think literary fiction is a tough sale (oops). Maybe the agents will be kinder when my YA novel comes along...