Nathan Bransford - The Forums

While I am mindful of Nathan's warnings about genre hopping, I am still exploring my writing voice and genres. I figure I can settle down when/if I successfully land an agent. I read widely in any case, but also make a point of picking up a half dozen or so recently published books in any genre I am...

I'm working through the thirdish draft of an epic (urban) fantasy and have got good feedback from a few beta/friend readers, but it's really hard to find people who are willing to invest the time and interest in something like this. From my experiences as a beta reader, one reason people become rel...

Disclaimer: I am a complete neophyte and my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. Something felt off, but I couldn't initially pinpoint the problem; so, I began editing each paragraph, retyping below your original. Having completed that exercise, I think that what bothered me is wordiness. ...

Below are my thoughts. Please keep in mind that I am a rank amateur myself and take with a grain of salt. Just got back first two rejections, eagerly anticipating (ha!) more. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Dear SuperAgent, High school senior Lucy Auburn never thought life would take her from mixing...

You can add Orson Scott Card's Intergalatic Medicine Show to the sc-fi e-zine list. http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=content&article=submissions Worth noting from the submission page: If your story appears in IGMS it will count toward the publication requirement for me...

I'm not at the point yet where I need my own website - but what I did do was buy my domain name. This way when I'm ready to start the website (ie. I find a fabulous agent who sells my books to a fabulous publisher), I won't have to worry about the domain name being taken. Just an idea. :) I bought ...

Nathan has said in the past that the rules for memoir as the same as for fiction: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1761671&postcount=631 So, you would need a query for a completed memoir and not a proposal unless things have changed in the last two years. As for how to write th...

I think you have the right elements in your re-write, but you need to put more of a hook in the the front and reword the whole thing for more impact. The writing feels a little flat to me. I'd suggest you keep working with those elements, but revise and polish to bring it to life. A few well chosen ...

I'm just a newbie author myself, take with a grain of salt, etc. I would love to get objective opinions on my query. I'm tough skinned, and interested to see how others feel about it. Thanks, in advance. TW Dear Awesome Agent: Psychotherapist Letty Whittaker, a professional secret keeper, has a few ...

Take this with a grain of salt. But since you asked, here are my thoughts: 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 clif...

I have to grow up?

How would a blog get a following in the first place if it wasn't free? The fact is, most blogs are so bad or so boring that readers should be paid LOL This. Also, blogs are often used to generate attention for some other reason. Nathan is now the most queried agent according to QueryTracker. That's...

Below are my comments. Keep in mind that these are just my thoughts and not only may others disagree, I could be flat out wrong. Also, while I have read literally every post on QueryShark, I haven't even revised my first novel enough to let my crit partner read it, let alone written a successful que...

Very VERY helpful! So, here's my next question before I go out and revise the thing...actually to preface that, I must admit that Nicholas's "out-of-control" powers aren't really the focus of the story, they're simply a legitimate reason for him to uproot himself and move to the city, awa...

May I suggest also pointing people to the QueryShark (http://queryshark.blogspot.com/) for some educational reading before writing and posting queries here? I already felt the similarity in comments made repeatedly there to what is presently being said in query crit posts here.