Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I like this query a lot better. I agree with the previous comments that all the vomiting references were off-putting. Here are a few suggestions; hope they help. Ouch...yeah, okay. I see what you mean. Here's a different version. More comprehensible? Edited plot synopsis: After winning a scholarship...

Erica75 - Yes, I'd love to exchange some chapters! I just shot you a PM with my contact info.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful posts and support. I'm going to stay true to Michael and MC, keeping them exactly as they are, with unquestioning acceptance.

And yes, dammit, MC will have a limo for prom! :)

Thanks again!

abc - this is hilarious, because I was just thinking about this a couple days ago.

I'm on Team Gale! Not that I don't feel bad for Peeta... but I have my own hunches about what will happen in Mockingjay.

Hi all, I'm writing a Contemporary YA piece, and my dilemma revolves around a side character, Michael, who works in a cafe with my MC (17-year old girl). Michael (29-years old) happens to be gay. He's not over-the-top or stereotypical, in my opinion, and there's a lot more to him than being gay. But...

Hi everyone, Thanks for the feedback. It's very helpful. To answer the question about the "upside down" fairy tale, it's what Kniki guessed - she ends up rescuing the prince instead. Erica75 - I struggle with balancing show-not-tell with more plot synopsis as well. It really is hard to kno...

Hi all, I'd love feedback on my query letter if you have time. Thanks in advance! Dear [Agent]: Helene Jacobsen has never believed in fairy tales. But when the plucky seventeen-year old meets Leo Andreyev, a time-traveling Russian prince, that’s exactly what she gets – an upside-down version of a fa...

jordynface, First let me say that your writing is beautiful and smooth. I'm writing Contemporary YA, too, and have read a lot of YA, and I love the flow of your writing. I do, however, agree with the other comments above that there's a little too much backstory for the first 5 pages. I think the bac...

BlancheKing, I think that is an excellent point, and perhaps a stronger selling point to adhering strictly to submissions guidelines than blind fear of rejection for not following the rules.

For those of you already in the query process, are you submitting sample pages with your query letter, even if the submissions guidelines say "query letter only"? Nathan had a post (sorry, can't find it right now, but it was when he revised his submissions guidelines to include 5 sample pa...

Wow, thanks, Mel. That was extremely helpful! Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough and insightful post.

Thanks, E McD. This is fantastic!

As others have mentioned, the typical word count of a novel will depend on the genre you're writing. 50k - 70k is great for YA, but it will probably be on the short side for anything else. Then again, I've read some amazing literary fiction that is also very short, coming in at close to 200 pages. I...

This is a very interesting question, paravil. I'm the type of person who doesn't want to know more about the actors in movies because all I care about is the character in the film. Likewise, I find it jarring when I read a great piece of fiction with a unique voice, and then I turn to the back flap ...

Thanks, Emily and polymath! This is very helpful. I'll start looking for some teen readers now so that I can have them read and comment on my MS simultaneously with my second beta round.