Nathan Bransford - The Forums

In the case of needing a single copy, I would go with Lulu. You can use their cover wizard and it's fast and easy, no ISBN necessary. I had five beta readers who wanted printed copies and it was cheaper to do five bound copies with Lulu than to print at Staples or Kinkos (2/3 cheaper if you can beli...

I'll offer a similar answer to the one I gave to your earlier topic. I honestly believe that you have to let the ending come to you. Think about it. A lot. Think about it before you go to bed, when you're taking a shower, when you're driving to work, whatever. Write down the bits and pieces that com...

I agree with everyone else...go with it. Let the characters tell you what's going to happen next and put it down on the page. You can always go back and change it but you might not get back that moment of inspiration.

A million thanks again to everyone for the input. It has been invaluable and I am hard at work on the latest version, but it's still not exactly where I want it. It sounds like I should include a very short mention of my experience in the music industry since that does have a bearing on the story an...

Holly, Thanks for the feedback--very helpful. Glad you asked the question about Rolling Stone because I had the same question. Luckily, a very good friend of mine and my lawyer is a trademark attorney and he gave me this bit of advice: This is an excellent question, and fortunately there is an easy ...

Quill, Thank you for your feedback. It is much appreciated and I think many of the things you said will help greatly. I worked in the music industry for 15 years. I have worked at record labels and with bands and my husband manages and has managed some very well-known artists, some of whom still tou...

Thanks everyone--interesting subject to discuss on all fronts, not just about sex--the violence thing is interesting to me too. If it was unclear, I was speaking strictly in terms of beta readers, crit groups, etc.. I think I've come away from this just knowing it's probably best with beta readers t...

I'll just come out and say it--my book has a fair amount of sex in it. I take great pride in writing good sex scenes, void of porn words, and always with a purpose, not just sex for the sake of sex. I recently sent my MS to a larger group of readers, still all friends. I received quite an eye-openin...

First off, I just want to thank the folks who took the time to provide feedback on the first round. I really appreciate it. I tore up the old version, started over, deleted that, started over again and you get the idea. That's why this newest version is more than a week later. This is so much harder...

Still page 3 for latest version. Thanks! Below is the query I've been working on for my book, Bring Me Back. I would appreciate any and all feedback. I can't even look at the thing anymore! Dear Agent, Claire Abby is dreading her future. She’s uncomfortably close to the big 4-0, old for a music wri...

oooh...I love granky. the re-vamp of the query is coming along. Fabulous advice from Polymath (thx). I also found that word choice played a big role. I think that because you have limited space in a query, my writing was subconsciously becoming tighter. When I'm trying to be efficient, I tend to sou...

Polymath, I hope you know how awesome you are--you always respond first to my posts. Very good advice and I will start fresh tomorrow with that in mind. I've reached burnout mode for today. Now as far as the mood of the narrator in the opening part of the book goes, she's pretty darn cranky and pess...

I'm devoting a bunch of time these days to my query, now that my MS has been polished many many times (still polishing). I'm struggling with the short synopsis. I'm able to distill the details and keep it around 250 words but it feels so different from the book because the book is written in 1st per...

When Maria Black experiences intense changes in her life, she grows sick and feverish until she bursts into flames. From the fire that consumes her body, a bird rises, takes flight, and returns to human form. For the last 2,477 days, she has done everything in her power to avoid change and suppress...

Justine, That's good to know that you came up with three separate titles in three different ways. I keep hoping for divine intervention, but I'm also happy with Bring Me Back now that everyone has talked me off the Lifetime channel ledge. I had to laugh about your second suggestion about a short phr...