Old Ask Nathan Thread

[Nick]

Totally not serious question so feel free to ignore it but,

In light of your most recent re-posted blog post, I am forced to inquire: Does Jacob Wonderbar end with "MATSUTAKE!"?

[saraho]

Edit: questioned answered :)

[CharleeVale]

Ok, I looked in the FAQ's and didn't see this...so here goes.

If you're writing a modern day novel, and you want it literally, would there be copyright issues with using actual locations or stores? I had a great idea for a scene that involved my characters in IKEA...would that be alright? Just wondering for that and other things. (Starbucks and the like)

CV

[Notamonkey]

Thanks for the answer Nathan!

[Nathan Bransford]

Totally not serious question so feel free to ignore it but,

In light of your most recent re-posted blog post, I am forced to inquire: Does Jacob Wonderbar end with "MATSUTAKE!"?

Ha! It should! But I'm afraid it doesn't.

[Nathan Bransford]

Ok, I looked in the FAQ's and didn't see this...so here goes.

If you're writing a modern day novel, and you want it literally, would there be copyright issues with using actual locations or stores? I had a great idea for a scene that involved my characters in IKEA...would that be alright? Just wondering for that and other things. (Starbucks and the like)

CV

I'm not a publishing attorney so I probably shouldn't weigh in on the legality of the ins and outs.

[casnow]

Re-querying:

I know in general that re-querying is a bad idea, but let's say that as a young and inexperienced author I queried about a 274 agents with a manuscript that got rejected 193 times (with 81 no replies - er... yet to be replies). Then, I went and learned a bunch of things (like how to write, how to query, etc), and I completely re-worked the novel (same basic plot line and character names, but that's about it) and made it much more readable and publishable. And let's say it's been 22 months.

Acceptable to re-query or not?

Granted the above is a bit extreme of an example, but when is it okay to re-query?

[KarenK]

How much merit should be placed on a review that I received from a Head Children’s Librarian after she read my manuscript?

[Nathan Bransford]

Re-querying:

I know in general that re-querying is a bad idea, but let's say that as a young and inexperienced author I queried about a 274 agents with a manuscript that got rejected 193 times (with 81 no replies - er... yet to be replies). Then, I went and learned a bunch of things (like how to write, how to query, etc), and I completely re-worked the novel (same basic plot line and character names, but that's about it) and made it much more readable and publishable. And let's say it's been 22 months.

Acceptable to re-query or not?

Granted the above is a bit extreme of an example, but when is it okay to re-query?

Hey, actually tackled this previously in the thread.

And I'm probably more flexible on this than most agents. I think most agents feel that their response is their response, but I obviously can't speak for everyone.

[Nathan Bransford]

How much merit should be placed on a review that I received from a Head Children’s Librarian after she read my manuscript?

I address this topic here: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/08 ... oh-my.html

[OneChoice1]

If I've revised a query that I've already sent out, should I wait for a reply from the agent before I resend the query? Should I resend even after rejection?

[Nathan Bransford]

If I've revised a query that I've already sent out, should I wait for a reply from the agent before I resend the query? Should I resend even after rejection?

You should not re-send a query to an agent, even if you've revised it. Please see my previous answers regarding requerying after a rejection on the last page and earlier in the thread.

[MosesSiregar]

My Suns are up 62-47 on your Kings right now. Are you ready to surrender?

p.s. how do you beat the Lakers and Celtics and lose to the Grizzlies and Warriors over a stretch of four games?

[Nathan Bransford]

My Suns are up 62-47 on your Kings right now. Are you ready to surrender?

p.s. how do you beat the Lakers and Celtics and lose to the Grizzlies and Warriors over a stretch of four games?

Oh man. Tough game. Nash is ridiculously clutch. But watch out for the Kings in the next few years. Evans and Casspi are for real.

[MosesSiregar]

Yeah, good for you. I'd love to see the Lakers-Kings rivalry renewed. I'll admit, I was really sweatin' it at the end there tonight! I'm also a Hawks fan by default, having grown up in Atlanta and watched guys like Dominique and Spud Webb when I was a kid. Maybe if your Kings don't do much this year, Bibby will carry the Hawks to the Finals. I always respected his play with the Kings.