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Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 28th, 2010, 3:10 pm
by hulbertsfriend
Hi Nathan,

The first part is evey bit as strong as the second. I have the EDIT PEN out now and hope to get the "first part" down in the 130000 range. Still huge for a first time novelest I know, but that is where the story can be separated cleanly.

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 28th, 2010, 8:34 pm
by sbs_mjc1
Hi Nathan,
Two questions:
First, my co-author and I are about to begin querying for a historical fantasy set in Scotland. Should we mention in our query that I (S.B.) live in Scotland and speak the local non-English languages?
Second, if co-authors are sending out queries, would the agent prefer to hear from one author as though they were writing solo, or a joint query?

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 28th, 2010, 9:01 pm
by Nathan Bransford
sbs_mjc1 wrote:Hi Nathan,
Two questions:
First, my co-author and I are about to begin querying for a historical fantasy set in Scotland. Should we mention in our query that I (S.B.) live in Scotland and speak the local non-English languages?
I think it's fine to mention it if it's relevant just as a biographical detail if you have room, but really the story itself is more important.
sbs_mjc1 wrote:Second, if co-authors are sending out queries, would the agent prefer to hear from one author as though they were writing solo, or a joint query?
It should be clear the book is co-written. It's fine if the query letter itself is from one or both authors just as long as it's clear that there are two authors.

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 29th, 2010, 8:21 pm
by Lillian Grant
Hi Nathan

I was at a writing festival on Saturday and some publishers were in attendance. One of the editors from Random House Australia advised that if you are an Australian author you should be looking for an Australian agent and publisher. She said if you submitted to a US agent or publisher they wouldn't be interested because their is no market for Australian books in the US. I am bemused as I have been actively targetting the US. My book is set in Rio and LA and, other than the heroine who is an Aussie, the rest of the characters are American. Should I be looking closer to home? Rewriting it with Aussie characters or packing up my laptop and taking up surfing instead? :)

Thanks
Lillian

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 7:50 pm
by Cali
Hi Nathan,

I know you've been having some difficulties with your email, and was wondering if the problem has been resolved. I have requeried you, and even used a different email address, but unfortunately, I think something in my query must be triggering your spam filter.

Thanks in advance!

Cali

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 8:21 pm
by gdelao
Hi Nathan,

Just like Cali, who posted before me, I originally queried you on the 21st, after learning about your server issues, I forwarded my original query on the 26th morning (just like you asked me to). I used the same email address I sent it from originally. Could I be stuck in the ever growing black hole of a server malfunction? Hopefully, it's that you are so totally hooked by my query and first five pages. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Gretchen de la O

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 11:34 pm
by Nathan Bransford
Lillian Grant wrote:Hi Nathan

I was at a writing festival on Saturday and some publishers were in attendance. One of the editors from Random House Australia advised that if you are an Australian author you should be looking for an Australian agent and publisher. She said if you submitted to a US agent or publisher they wouldn't be interested because their is no market for Australian books in the US. I am bemused as I have been actively targetting the US. My book is set in Rio and LA and, other than the heroine who is an Aussie, the rest of the characters are American. Should I be looking closer to home? Rewriting it with Aussie characters or packing up my laptop and taking up surfing instead? :)

Thanks
Lillian
It's really about the sensibility of your novel will appeal to an American audience more than the specific setting. There are books that are very Aussie or British in nature and there are things that are lost on an American audience. But there are also Australian authors who are extremely successful in the US. So it really just depends.

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 11:35 pm
by Nathan Bransford
Cali wrote:Hi Nathan,

I know you've been having some difficulties with your email, and was wondering if the problem has been resolved. I have requeried you, and even used a different email address, but unfortunately, I think something in my query must be triggering your spam filter.

Thanks in advance!

Cali
Sorry, if you still can't get through, you might sign up for an e-mail program from, say, gmail. Our server might be blocking your e-mail if it's from an uncommon e-mail address.

If you can't/don't want to do that, please change up your subject line and try sending your query as an attachment - I'll make an exception. We're looking into the server problems but haven't yet identified what's happening.

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 11:41 pm
by Cali
Nathan Bransford wrote:
Cali wrote:Hi Nathan,

I know you've been having some difficulties with your email, and was wondering if the problem has been resolved. I have requeried you, and even used a different email address, but unfortunately, I think something in my query must be triggering your spam filter.

Thanks in advance!

Cali
Sorry, if you still can't get through, you might sign up for an e-mail program from, say, gmail. Our server might be blocking your e-mail if it's from an uncommon e-mail address.

If you can't/don't want to do that, please change up your subject line and try sending your query as an attachment - I'll make an exception. We're looking into the server problems but haven't yet identified what's happening.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for the quick response and for the offer to attach the query. I know you've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue, so if it helps to know, the first email address was a gmail address and the second was from comcast. I hope this helps, and wish you the best of luck in figuring out the problem.

Best,
Cali

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 11:45 pm
by Nathan Bransford
Cali wrote:
Nathan Bransford wrote:
Cali wrote:Hi Nathan,

I know you've been having some difficulties with your email, and was wondering if the problem has been resolved. I have requeried you, and even used a different email address, but unfortunately, I think something in my query must be triggering your spam filter.

Thanks in advance!

Cali
Sorry, if you still can't get through, you might sign up for an e-mail program from, say, gmail. Our server might be blocking your e-mail if it's from an uncommon e-mail address.

If you can't/don't want to do that, please change up your subject line and try sending your query as an attachment - I'll make an exception. We're looking into the server problems but haven't yet identified what's happening.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for the quick response and for the offer to attach the query. I know you've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue, so if it helps to know, the first email address was a gmail address and the second was from comcast. I hope this helps, and wish you the best of luck in figuring out the problem.

Best,
Cali
Thanks for that feedback - it must be something to do with the words in the query triggering something in the spam filter. Hope this works.

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 30th, 2010, 11:59 pm
by Lillian Grant
Thanks for your answer, Nathan. In that case I will stick with plan A and keep targetting the US market. :)

I too have emailed my query from my home email address, twice, and a gmail address and heard nothing back. I will give it until the end of the week, in case it turns up, then try again with a different subject line.

Kind regards
Lillian

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 31st, 2010, 12:05 am
by Cali
Nathan Bransford wrote:
Cali wrote:
Nathan Bransford wrote:
Sorry, if you still can't get through, you might sign up for an e-mail program from, say, gmail. Our server might be blocking your e-mail if it's from an uncommon e-mail address.

If you can't/don't want to do that, please change up your subject line and try sending your query as an attachment - I'll make an exception. We're looking into the server problems but haven't yet identified what's happening.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for the quick response and for the offer to attach the query. I know you've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue, so if it helps to know, the first email address was a gmail address and the second was from comcast. I hope this helps, and wish you the best of luck in figuring out the problem.

Best,
Cali
Thanks for that feedback - it must be something to do with the words in the query triggering something in the spam filter. Hope this works.
Nathan,

That must be what's happening. I did just send you an email with the query attatched in a file, so hopefully you'll receive it this time around. Thanks again for allowing me to do that.

Best,
Cali

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 31st, 2010, 12:46 am
by gdelao
Hi Nathan, I also am querying you from a Comcast account. Both query and forwarded query was from Comcast. Would you consider accepting my query as an attachment also? I don't want to send it until I hear the OK from you. Maybe the correlation between Cali and I would be Comcast?

Thank you for your help.

Gretchen

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: August 31st, 2010, 11:32 am
by Susan Quinn
Nathan - Just wanted to say "thanks" for having these forums available for writers to dig through when we have questions. Just today, in the midst of a query search, I had a question and thought, "Well, I'm sure Nathan's already answered this." And of course you had - and it was easy to find in the Forums.

So, thanks for making my day (and writing life) a lot easier!

Re: Ask Nathan

Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 2:52 am
by Lillian Grant
Hi Nathan

I just wondered if you are still having email issues? I have sent my query four times from 3 different email addresses and even changed the subject to just query. I am staring to think the gods are trying to tell me something. All I want is a personalised rejection. :)

Thanks
Lillian (aka Janet)