Comments on Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent: The Query Points System and Rulebreaking

anon-Well, you either write a proposal so amazing ...

2008-08-19T19:49:59.136-07:00

anon-

Well, you either write a proposal so amazing it doesn't matter that you don't have a platform, or, if your lack of credentials is a true impediment, the book may just not work.

I read your FAQs, and I have a question:I've writt...

2008-08-19T19:21:31.487-07:00

I read your FAQs, and I have a question:

I've written a book that I feel is needed, it fills a niche, but I have absolutely no credentials nor any platform.
How do I get around this, or through this, as I query agents?

Thank you!

Nathan may well speak a second language. I speak t...

2008-06-22T09:58:46.624-07:00

Nathan may well speak a second language. I speak three; it doesn't actually affect your ability to speak your native language.

But I suspect the issue is simply what you wrote isn't what you meant. I'm sure if you keep an open mind, your writing will improve.

It's ridiculous that anyone who writes as poorly a...

2008-06-22T09:26:01.748-07:00

It's ridiculous that anyone who writes as poorly as you do, with such awkward sentence structure--seriously, it's almost as if you speak a second language--should have anything whatsoever to do with the written word.

Interesting that your example of the most boring p...

2008-06-08T14:33:19.277-07:00

Interesting that your example of the most boring possible plot is "a day in the life of an literary agent", Nathan. And yet here we all are, reading a blog about a day in the life of a literary agent instead of all those vampire/thriller/romances we're supposed to be scarfing up...

I personally think rule one should be all type As ...

2008-06-08T13:46:59.885-07:00

I personally think rule one should be all type As should take a sedative before entering. And I personally prefer agents and others who are willing to accept the human mistakes we all make.

Last year I paid good money to enter a writing contest and got disqualified because I accidentally put the agent's name on my query letter and got a "critique" that sounded like I was written by my 13-year-old. Wow-cool metaphor, good description. Your writing is nice. I will never enter that contest again because their rules are designed to trick you to reduce the numbers.

Another time I attended a writing workshop where we were inundated with daily emails asking us to respond immediately (as if we have nothing else to do all day) and they made us pay extra fees if we sent our submission "wrong" - ie. you taped the envelope shut, wrote in blue in instead of black, had the page number on the bottom right instead of top right. Give me a break! I was ready to strangle the workshop director by the end of the week.

Nathan, you poor thing. THANK YOU for running the ...

2008-06-08T06:15:40.288-07:00

Nathan, you poor thing. THANK YOU for running the contest. And thank you for being so gracious with the complaints. I noticed that one of the entries was longer, yeah. Did I care? No. Why? Because that is real life. Life is not bound by rules and regulations. The entry by the person who had too many words caught your eye. The rest of us didn't. That's real life. It doesn't mean that our life works are any less than this other person's work. Sheesh.

Well, let me just say that the first rule of the n...

2008-06-07T07:47:40.586-07:00

Well, let me just say that the first rule of the next contest is that anyone who is going to take it overly seriously should go play a nice game of backgammon instead. And that rule is going to be followed like it's written in gold.

Anon 12:18I hope you don't mind if I print that ou...

2008-06-07T07:44:29.902-07:00

Anon 12:18

I hope you don't mind if I print that out. Good advice.

Witliz -If you don't think contests are fun, there...

2008-06-07T07:05:58.106-07:00

Witliz -

If you don't think contests are fun, there's a simple solution: don't enter them.

Anonymous 12:18 -

It really is amazing the first time you wade through the sea of bad slush, isn't it?

At the publishing house I worked at, they would regularly have slush lunches for the interns and editorial assistants, who would then open the unsolicited manuscripts, reject them and toss them away. Every year some intrepid editorial assistant was determined to try to find the next great American novel out of the slush pile. And by the third or fourth month, after reading so much bad prose, that intrepid editorial assistant was just as jaded as all the others.

:-)

Cheers!

Colleen

Contests aren't really fun, Mr. Bransford. Maybe y...

2008-06-07T05:58:59.054-07:00

Contests aren't really fun, Mr. Bransford. Maybe you want them to be, or at least have the spirit thereof, but in the final analysis they are not fun for the serious writer who puts a lot of time and effort into the entry only to get blown away by a rule-breaker.~

You know, I try to be civil on other people's blogs because I feel it's kind of like visiting someone's home. Their home, their rules.

If the hosts asks a guest to stop doing something annoying, most people have enough common sense to stop. Where is it written just because a person is a writer, agent, editor, publisher, that anyone has the right to come into their space and be insulting to them?

If you are this "serious" about your writing, enter contests with prizes, publication and glory.

Some people enjoy the more informal chances to just toss something out there and look at how others handle a situation.

I once entered a rodeo queen contest. These things are usually based on beauty, horsemanship, poise, horse knowledge, etc. This committee decided they would give the most validation to the girl who sold the most advanced tickets.

Fair? Hardly. Crap happens. Move on and get over it.

With all due respect Mr. Bransford, I think it was...

2008-06-07T04:48:48.722-07:00

With all due respect Mr. Bransford, I think it was a mistake to delete the comments about the contest, particularly as you brought it up in your blog and even created a link to it.

And in the future, you might wish to forgo contests if you truly don't understand the validity behind the complaints.

There is rule breaking which pisses people off, and then there is rule-breaking which hurts no one, such as Ms Wood's query letter.

It's the first I'd be concerned about, because it showed a complete lack of integrity and respect on the part of the poster who exceeded the word count by a great margin.

It caused all sorts of problems for you even two weeks later, and for the writer who worked hard to keep the word count to what the rules stated.

Contests aren't really fun, Mr. Bransford. Maybe you want them to be, or at least have the spirit thereof, but in the final analysis they are not fun for the serious writer who puts a lot of time and effort into the entry only to get blown away by a rule-breaker.

When you have loads of complaints you need to respect the writer’s who are making them, otherwise have a contest where there are no rules.

Now that would be fun.

Jelliquarium? Hmm.....*jots down notes and begins ...

2008-06-06T19:28:59.173-07:00

Jelliquarium? Hmm.....*jots down notes and begins an outline* This just might work.

;)

Thanks for the insight. Makes me less anxious to get that query letter written.

Ha. I totally spelled your name wrong when I queri...

2008-06-06T16:11:15.074-07:00

Ha. I totally spelled your name wrong when I queried you -- but I sent another email to apologize because I felt rude, not like you'd reject me out of hand for it.

I think a lot of writers end up stressing about the small things like fonts and spelling errors because it's much easier to blame those things than to confront the idea that maybe the book is the problem.

I think when someone's query is rejected they want...

2008-06-06T15:23:52.124-07:00

I think when someone's query is rejected they want to know why, and when people want to know why something happens, they tend to look for that one reason to explain why. It's human nature, I think, to want to find one thing to explain everything.

Unfortunately, when little to no reason is given for a rejection, it lends itself to wanting to find that reason.

I actually enjoy the rejections where an agent will explain...for example, "not enthused about the premise" or something similar. That sort of response makes it easier for me to narrow down my query list for later works.

but the qualifications section of the query is "I ...

2008-06-06T14:48:30.920-07:00

but the qualifications section of the query is "I am Michael Chabon." 10 points!! I'm requesting the manuscript!!

Thanks, Nathan. Now I need a new keyboard.

I just started working at a publishing house and a...

2008-06-06T12:18:45.192-07:00

I just started working at a publishing house and am now reading manuscripts/queries. It's so odd to be on the other side and finally understand what Nathan Bransford (Or Kristen Nelson or Miss Snark) have been trying to communicate. All that matters in the end is a good idea and good writing. Sometimes ideas that could be good get rejected too. Sometimes publishers are on the fence but decide they can't pursue because they aren't sure. Sometimes I just have too much to do to take the time to write out WHY this manuscript doesn't work. In the end, I have rejected a manuscript because:

1. The first page was so boring I didn't want to go on. Ideas or premises are not necessarily boring. The writing did not present the idea well.
2. Good writing, bad plot.
3. Bad writing, good plot.
4. Poor character development.
5. I kept waiting for something to happen but nothing happened.
6. Writing talks down to the reader.
7. Some combination thereof.

What I realized in the end: literary agents and publishers DO CARE. They DO want good, publishable stories. All I want is a story that'll grab me and that'll make me go YES! I found you!

Just FYI in case you don't see your comment, I'm d...

2008-06-06T11:30:58.573-07:00

Just FYI in case you don't see your comment, I'm deleting all posts about the contest.

For the love of Tyra, people, it was two weeks ago, it was for fun, it's over, it's done with, it's finished, it had a Survivor theme, some people had fun, I said the rules would be subject to my interpretation, take up golf.

Picking Up the PiecesOf writing a good query lette...

2008-06-06T11:13:06.438-07:00

Picking Up the Pieces

Of writing a good query letter. One piece: Your personality shining through. Who you are. Your "resonance." I recently completed a query letter that had this quality - it may have had nothing else going for it, but it had my personality in it, or rather, my project's personality. Not just my self-enthusiasm, the dreaded 'wishing myself all the success in the world,' tumbling words and run-on sentences spilling out after (or in the midst of) the mind-numbing "day job."

Personality: Thumbs up!
Self-enthusiasm: Run and hide!

Look forward to your post on resonance (I think of pine resin for some reason, that adheres to skin so unpleasantly, usually in a situation at a park or other outdoor area where there is no water available (not that water would help much). I guess that's the bad kind of resonance: "Reading this query letter was like stepping barefoot into pine resin. I apologize for the brusque tone of this rejection, but all my toes are stuck together."

Back to dayjobsville...my eyes adhere to my computer screen, as if with pine resin...

Hey anyone-Just started querying agents (queried N...

2008-06-06T10:19:45.914-07:00

Hey anyone-

Just started querying agents (queried Nathan first - he said no!) but two agents did ask for fulls and a one asked for a partial...

Now does anyone know what the timeline for a full/partial is? I've heard a month is about average.

Seems to me (after two weeks of dealing with literary agents) that in this business good news travels fast...

How long does it take to read partial/full manuscript?

Rule #1: Life isn't fair.Rule #2: Get over it.Rule...

2008-06-06T06:37:04.418-07:00

Rule #1: Life isn't fair.
Rule #2: Get over it.
Rule #3: Follow the rules even if others don't.
Rule #4: Follow the rules even if agents don't request your manuscript.
Rule #5: Never give up.

Look, I have to get back to work now.

anon-Yes -- you should tell the other agent that y...

2008-06-06T06:14:24.446-07:00

anon-

Yes -- you should tell the other agent that you've been offered representation.

A question, Nathan. If two agents are reading full...

2008-06-06T05:58:30.719-07:00

A question, Nathan. If two agents are reading fulls, and one comes forward and offers representation, say, via phone call, is there a way to give the other agent a chance?

My editor at the magazine once said she would rath...

2008-06-06T05:36:39.816-07:00

My editor at the magazine once said she would rather have a writer with natural talent and a teachable mind, than a degree and the latest copy of (insert famous style book) in their hand. Her absolute biggest pet peeve was to have someone fresh out of school, explaining to her the way she writes is all wrong and they will "help" her.

Her theory is you need to know the rules, but, if you have the right style, you can break them creatively.

I doubt many people would get away with multiple pov and massive epic fantasies, but George R.R. Martin seems to have mastered that.

It's all about how well you do it.

I don't envy you at all — it must be like sorting ...

2008-06-06T00:48:06.481-07:00

I don't envy you at all — it must be like sorting blood cells by sheen.

Seems like you have a workable blend of fluid/rigid.