Comments on Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent: Literary Agent Blog Confidential

Thanks Nathan... that is about the most reassuring...

2008-03-10T11:50:56.924-07:00

Thanks Nathan... that is about the most reassuring thing I've read this week... right up there with the Catholics deciding pollution is a sin! ;) I queried you recently, and I spent a good day's work on writing that query so I think it's reasonable to hope it wasn't one of the toxic ones... It's so good to know I can still expect an answer eventually, even if my book's not right for you as they say.

As a young first-time novelist I find it hard to say how grateful I feel for the "I reply to every query" policy; just knowing my words wouldn't fall into the complete void is what gave me the courage to start querying at all. I appreciate how hard you're trying not to go back on it.

Here's my suggestion: if you alter it just slightly, you could make your life easier and still ensure that responsible writers will always get an answer. Promise to respond to every query if they keep it to under 1000 words. Or less, if you like. Besides eliminating the "ten pages of slush" queries, it would force people to write their query in a word processor (unless they want to count their words by hand!) instead of just shooting off an email. You wouldn't have to count the words, just have a fair sense of how much space in your email window 1000 words fills up. (Rounding up just a little of course.)

And thanks, again!

Nathan - how do you feel about re-queries when a n...

2008-03-04T18:58:01.397-08:00

Nathan - how do you feel about re-queries when a narrative that you thought sounded interesting, but ultimately passed on, is redrafted and/or improved?

And I just want to add that I love your blog and have found it immensely helpful even though I'm fairly new to it. Thanks for taking the time to bestow your knowldge upon us! :-)

TRYING to resist "Friend of Sex" jokes... ; )

2008-03-04T12:15:01.409-08:00

TRYING to resist "Friend of Sex" jokes... ; )

As SEX's "friend" I'm must say I'm disappointed th...

2008-03-04T11:00:16.974-08:00

As SEX's "friend" I'm must say I'm disappointed that she didn't express her misgivings about my multi-query plan in advance--I did ask her about it before I did it. I'm also disappointed she didn't tell me about the discussion here. :( In fact I wrote my own query letter, the service just emailed it out, and I am pleased with the response. For my previous book I spent well over a year querying one-at-a-time after carefully doing research etc. and didn't get any bites. This time, I did notice Agent Nathan has not responded... :(

The thing that kills me is that you make it so eas...

2008-03-04T09:17:12.640-08:00

The thing that kills me is that you make it so easy to write a good query. Right on the front page of your blog - all you have to do is scroll down to the links and there you go - here's what I like, here's what I don't like. Sooooooo easy.

How can people miss that?

The human capacity for self-delusion is limitless. I'm not sure who said that, but, Nathan, you are probably more a witness to that than anyone. That quote also makes me wonder - yikes! I may be one of them!

La Gringa...she is a crafty one, but seriously--ha...

2008-03-04T08:50:12.248-08:00

La Gringa...she is a crafty one, but seriously--have you considered burying a "password" in a weekly post, to test who's actually reading your blog. You could ask folks to include the "password" in their subject line. It'd be fun, like a Li'l Orphan Annie Decoder Ring.

Hanging out at a couple of writers forums online, I can pretty well guess where all those heinously bad and careless queries come from. The folks who troll the board, not looking for advice, but just looking for names and e-mail addresses of agents.

time to hire an intern. . .

2008-03-04T08:42:53.003-08:00

time to hire an intern. . .

My theory is that the economy is nose-diving and m...

2008-03-04T08:22:25.502-08:00

My theory is that the economy is nose-diving and many people who find themselves downsized out of a job (or who fear they may soon be) have decided to make an easy fortune by writing a book or screenplay. What a simple way to make the bucks roll in! Their primary motivation being cash, they are in a hurry to get it in front of an agent, so why waste time reading query instructions? I base this on several people I know who have recently done and thought all of the above.

Nathan,I'm sure none of those queries are quite as...

2008-03-04T08:11:20.368-08:00

Nathan,
I'm sure none of those queries are quite as bad after a couple glasses of rum. It's all a matter of perspective...

My biggest issue with queries is every agent I've ...

2008-03-04T07:41:54.073-08:00

My biggest issue with queries is every agent I've queried (you included) wants them differently. Some are complete 180's from others so you are constantly rewriting and can never know if you have an honest to god well written query.

I'm really beginning to think finding an agent is lucky at best...

Hey, thanks for the quick response. It's kind of ...

2008-03-04T07:23:54.880-08:00

Hey, thanks for the quick response. It's kind of what I thought, too, but I thought I'd seek an opinion from the other side of the table. :D

Here's to Tuesday being a better query day!

Wow, now I don't feel so bad being one of the peop...

2008-03-04T06:23:13.913-08:00

Wow, now I don't feel so bad being one of the people taking their sweet time revising an e-query twenty times (even printing it out to see how good it looks on paper) before sending it. I can't imagine not doing any research. I certainly don't want to tick the agent off and have him say, "NO MORE E-QUERIES!"

From my in-box to yours, a bourbon neat is on the way. You so totally deserve it.

There are two points I've taken away from this blo...

2008-03-04T05:54:06.744-08:00

There are two points I've taken away from this blog post.

First, writers who can't compose a short, decent professional query, need to stop that shit right now! Or, frankly, you need to put away the computers and utilize your God-given talents to better reflect the type of person you are, and that will contribute to the well-being of others.

Second, if I read another agents blog that have these words prominently displayed, "I used to ... but ... I'm going to reach into my computer and yank you out by your shirt collar.

I don't let anybody dictate to me on how I'm going to conduct myself professionally, or socially. If I did, I'd pass up golden opportunities to meet some really, really fine people.

It astounds me that so many agents and editors don't realize that when you punish one group of writers, you're in effect bitch-slapping us all.

So, how does one handle dealing with two disparate groups of writers?

Easy, you quit worrying about your offended self, and concentrate your emotional energies on the multitude of writers who are grateful, who work hard and do everything necessary to get published.

You do that, and I'm betting the ranch I don't have yet, that you'll be a much more successful agent.

I was just having a look on the Query Tracker webs...

2008-03-04T05:44:21.478-08:00

I was just having a look on the Query Tracker website, and I took a 'tour'.

Your name and agency comes up as an example on the tour.

It made me chuckle, coz I'd read your post about receiving lots of cr*p queries recently before I saw the Query Tracker tour. Perhaps that is a reason for so many queries to you. Perhaps Query Tracker has been getting some attention lately by newbies, and they've also taken the tour and seen your name and jumped on it.

I think its a blessing agents respond to queries. ...

2008-03-04T04:04:28.788-08:00

I think its a blessing agents respond to queries. I've sent ones that must have been lost somewhere-because I never heard a word. Others took a year to come back with anything. Of course, the majority respond fairly quickly and the best are when they leave handwritten notes! (I live for those.) What really bothers me is when I get a sliver or half a piece of paper-am I not worth a full sheet of paper? (I admit I haven't seen one of those in a long time-maybe because I've crossed them off my list?)
I figure if an agent responds its because they are being nice, not because they have to.
I've never queried you before...but its coming. I think the blogs help us understand a little more about what an agent is up against on a daily basis.
So, Thank you! Most of us appreciate all your help in perfecting our proposal.

Having not trolled thru 71+ comments, I may be rep...

2008-03-04T02:06:16.194-08:00

Having not trolled thru 71+ comments, I may be repeating someone else BUT... why not set up a separate mail account for e-queries and then have that send an auto response to those who query via that email address. The auto can give links to your blog/website etc., and tell people to get it right and THEN email another account with their revised query...?? Would only take 10 mins to set up.
Just a thought...

Happy day!

WOWYou even reply to comment questions super quick...

2008-03-03T21:57:37.209-08:00

WOW
You even reply to comment questions super quick. Thanks.

You are on top of my agents-to-query-list. I am from India by the way.

KJ

KJ-The website you see is Curtis Brown UK. Curtis...

2008-03-03T21:41:30.790-08:00

KJ-

The website you see is Curtis Brown UK. Curtis Brown is a separate company. Our website is under development.

ooo I like the drinking game!!!sounds fun!one shot...

2008-03-03T21:41:16.665-08:00

ooo I like the drinking game!!!
sounds fun!

one shot, and I'll push send

two shots, and I'll push retract
and second guess myself

three shots and I'm brilliant, I'll push send three times

four shots and I'll rewrite an even more brilliant query letter, but whoops, I'll forget how to use language, but I'll hit spell check and cross my fingers and have another shot and hop for the best

the whole bottle and I'll mass mail it everywhere, to the laundromat for cleaning, the bakery for a cake for my celebration party, the mayor for the key to the city...

tomorrow morning, I'll be under the keyboard wondering if I can get a more appropriate job
with my keyboard,
like in a bar or something...

Sorry I missed the question mark.KJ

2008-03-03T21:38:15.684-08:00

Sorry I missed the question mark.
KJ

Unrelated but here it is:Why don't I see you on th...

2008-03-03T21:35:06.924-08:00

Unrelated but here it is:

Why don't I see you on the Curtis brown website. I don't see Ginger Clarke either. Why is this so?

And I love your blog.

KJ

Nathan, I like your idea of SHOUTING REALLY LOUD. ...

2008-03-03T20:21:00.225-08:00

Nathan, I like your idea of SHOUTING REALLY LOUD. I think I'll use it from now in in my e-queries to get more attention. Maybe in my snail-mail queries, too.

Sadly, I think what you're seeing is a hazard of t...

2008-03-03T20:15:38.667-08:00

Sadly, I think what you're seeing is a hazard of the agent's profession. It seems to wear down every agent sooner or later. Just as, I suspect, many authors get worn down and become snappish from the hazards of their side of the query process.

I recently e-queried an established agency with a new book. This was two years after the last e-query I sent them. In those two years even their auto-generated "we got your query" response has gotten more terse and impatient-sounding.

The availability of spam queries is probably a factor.

There's also a steep learning curve for authors who are writing their queries. It's hard to get useful feedback on a bad query, even from a writers group. Also, there is a lot of poor "official" advice out there that recommends some approach or other that is already driving agents crazy. And authors don't generally get mentors the way agents, who start as agents' assistants, seem to do.

I think all you can try, short of growing mean and dismissive (which only hurts the authors, makes them pissy, and makes the situation worse for everyone), is to come up with quick ways to filter out as many poor queries as you can. The on-line form is one. Posting subject line requirements and then filtering out any emails that don't follow the guidelines might be another. Maybe setting up a search filter to catch the worst of the buzz words...

Maybe you could get ideas on one of your "You Tell Me" days?

Nathan - hoping my query doesn't fall into that ca...

2008-03-03T18:56:00.866-08:00

Nathan - hoping my query doesn't fall into that category! but how long is your response time? maybe this is a crappy place to ask this and i'm really breaking a rule. but I sent it about a month ago and haven't heard back...

Sorry you have to deal with the goobers of the wri...

2008-03-03T18:31:15.525-08:00

Sorry you have to deal with the goobers of the writing world, Nathan.

In the just-as-depressing category ... are you ready for the Series Finale?!?! I must say, I'm not too happy with the direction things are going. Looks like we're in for a gloomy (though hopefully satisfying) ending.