Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Your interviews are great! By the time I'm ready to query, I'll have a list a mile long. :)

Great interview, Krista! I love these! :)

And if you get the anniversary edition, it looks really pretty on your bookshelf - I love mine! :)

I considered writing short stories just so I'd have a publication to list in my query letter. Alas, my heart wasn't in it and I couldn't make myself do it, so I'll be sending out queries with a teeny, tiny third paragraph. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I don't know, kristi, it is probably worse ...

As this topic makes my eyes cross, I trust Nathan's opinion on this issue. He doesn't seem to think eBooks are going over the hill anytime soon, and several members of my book club just switched to e-readers which has blown my mind.

I second the Strunk and White Elements of Style.

I considered writing short stories just so I'd have a publication to list in my query letter. Alas, my heart wasn't in it and I couldn't make myself do it, so I'll be sending out queries with a teeny, tiny third paragraph. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

My total query is 250 words long. Although I haven't started the query process yet, I did submit it to two different agent contests this week and got requests for 2 partials in the last 2 days. So I'd say my query is working -- I just hope the book is as good as the query!

Krista - I just found your blog. Amazing interviews!

Congrats! I just got my first partial request today too and I didn't even start querying yet (it was a result of an agent-run contest I entered). I'm sending only the 3 chapters because I want them to know I can follow directions -- so regardless of the reason, I'd recommend sending just the 3. This...

I'm with adtabb -- I write the bare bones of the story first, which is why my first draft went pretty quickly. I'm 20 pages away from completion of my final revision and I've added about 4K to the story to flesh it out. It seems way easier to do it that way than to have to cut.

I read that same agent post but realized I'm not quite ready to submit. I believe that when you're sure you're ready to query, you'll find the right agent for your work. I'm not ready yet so I've decided not to worry about cycles. That's my new zen query approach. :)

I'm revising an urban fantasy YA and am partway through another (same genre). Also, I've been revising for way longer than it took me to write the book -- I'm almost finished though!

The one piece missing from my feedback was that of an actual teenager. When a dad at my son's school found out that I write, he volunteered his teenage daughter to be a beta reader. She was excited about it as reads a lot of urban fantasy which is my genre. I'll have it ready for her in a week or so...

Just a reminder that the deadline for Mary'scontest is Sunday night at midnight Pacific time. It's a great opportunity for MG/YA writers out there. Go to http://www.kidlit.com and then the contest page.