Nathan Bransford - The Forums

My father had nothing to do with making that ship disappear. Probably. But when one’s own Dad is prominently mentioned in a book about a World War II Navy shipyard experiment gone awry, his name will forever after be associated with that rumored event. Thomas Townsend Brown was a gentle man and a d...

In a dark barrio world where violence is as sudden and final as a gunshot in the night a man seeks to save the ones he loves and redeem himself for the ones he failed. I’m seeking representation for BARRIO BOYZ, an 89,000 word contemporary urban novel set in the Latino world of gang-ruled Cypress P...

I am both anxious and ready for your review of my query for my first novel. I am a lifelong reader and writer ready to brave the world of publishing. I welcome your help and thank you in advance. Dear Agent, Pulled off a cliff by a strange young man, sixteen year old Sydney Hart plummets into an ex...

Here's a post on that: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/08 ... sites.html

kristi wrote:I am so getting this book for my son when it comes out. There's not enough good stuff out there for boys in my opinion so I can't wait. I hope you're planning on doing more in that genre :)

I don't think this will be Jacob Wonderbar's last adventure.

Hi Nathan, I love your forums! My latest manuscript has a few religious elements in it. It is not meant to be a religious novel, but there are supernatural elements within the plot and a few of the characters are religious (but not all of them). Religion does play a role in what some of the charact...

Hi Nathan, I was wondering if you'd read Kristin Nelson's blog post today about St. Martin Press and their "new adult" line. What are your thoughts on this attempt to launch a new genre aimed at a market most publishers have been scared of in the past? Also, for writers who have a manuscript that f...

The cover is all up to the publisher, so I don't have too much say on that!

Hi, I know that when you read a query and like it you would continue on to the first 5 or ten pages. How important is the opening chapter to you? What if the character is somewhat foreshadowing what has happened to him in his past, to give a good idea of who he is? My character some people may cons...

Nathan - Thanks for all the tremendously useful information here. I've got a quick question regarding formatting. In published novels I've sometimes seen normally spaced italics used to indicate a handwritten passage such as a letter, and indented single spaced block courier to indicate an email or...

Hey Nathan! What do agents really think of submission services? It varies from agent to agent and service to service. Not many agents I know appreciate the submission services that just blast queries to everyone in the business simultaneously, but I know some agents are trying out the webook servic...

HI Nathan I read and agreed with your comments regarding Epublishing experience and whether to mention it or not. I do have one previous experience I wonder if I should mention in queries. Its an erotica short I submitted a couple of years ago. My first ever submission was accepted and included in ...

Dear Mr Bransford I am busy with my last editing after my muses read through my novel , standing at just over 80 000 words, and I was planning to query you before the holidays. My question is if I should wait until the new year or would you prefer me to query now—with all the nano rush queries... A...

Nathan, Love the new site. I have an agent-related question. My book has an agent but he hasn't been able to sell it, several years have passed, and I am starting to query others. When do I mention to a prospective agent that this book has been repped in the past? Or do I? Does this hurt my book's ...

No, only necessary to tell an agent when you have an offer of representation.

Here's a post on when to tell an agent what: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/11 ... ent-x.html