Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Totally second Beethovenfan. I think if the novel is humorous, you should try to inject some of that humor into the query itself. I know it's hard in such a short space but a couple of snarky lines can go a long way. The difference between a good query and a great query is voice.

Charlee - That's too bad! At least they liked your writing though. Does this mean that you weren't able to convince them that your book is not dystopian? You'd previously mentioned that you didn't think it was. Claudie -- Interesting that trends are different in Canada. It's great to know if someone...

Congrats on putting yourself out there!

Congrats Quill! It's a big step to put yourself out there!

I hope there will be a trend away from trends It makes it easier to just write without worrying that you're on the tail end of a dead fad. And I'm kind of sick of series too. I haven't even been finishing the ones I've started because I just want to try more new authors instead.

Dear Agent: At the age of six, Edward sees his father shot through the head. Nine years later, he meets his first love. Sarah’s father shares her bed. Edward’s own dad is dead. You already mentioned that he saw his father shot. Secondly, what does that have to do with meeting Sarah? They spend summ...

The advice I've generally seen for multiple POV novels is to focus on only one POV in the query. Then you can mention it is multiple POV at the bottom where your genre and word count are. As is, it's hard to care about any one of your characters because there is too little mentioned. Check out Query...

Just curious, what do you guys think the next big trend in YA is? It seems dystopia is over, and so are vampires etc. I am seeing a decent amount of fairies and fairy tale retellings.

one of which took almost four years to get back to me. Whoa. My record was 11 months for a form rejection on a query. My first novel has been drawered. For me, it's obvious. I find the novel just embarrassing to think about. Strangely enough, it got tons of requests but I think the concept was more...

Thanks, you guys. I'm glad I'm in good company, though the thought of it still makes me wince.

So...I am querying the novel I wrote and revised over the summer. (Thanks Sommer for those word count goals!) And I proof-read my pitch like crazy, had several people look it over, etc. And then I go and write in the personalization section of my third query: "I enjoying reading your blog"...

Speaking of which, Natalie Whipple is hosting a contest for a six word synopsis!

http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.c ... ntest.html

It's fun to see what people come up with.

Wonderful! Glad to hear it!

I don't think that makes him unlikeable -- most people want their parents' approval. That last paragraph sounds very strong to me. Btw, to add to the list of things that are necessary in a query: voice. When I read them in this forum, that usually makes the difference between a good query and an awe...

Sorry to hear that, Sommer. We're all rooting for you. Hoping that the only thing that can mess with your heart is a good book. Good luck!