Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

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My blog has everything you need to know to write, edit, and publish a book. Can't find what you need or want personalized help? Check out my editing and coaching services.

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Check out a few of my most popular posts:

How to write a query letter

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How to write a query letter

April 4, 2018

In order to have a book published by a traditional publisher, you will likely need to know how to write a query letter to find a literary agent. A query letter is part business letter, part creative writing exercise, part introduction, part death defying leap through a flaming hoop. (Don't worry, you won't catch fire and die during the query…

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The publishing process in GIF form

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The publishing process in GIF form

August 27, 2012

At first you're thinking of writing a novel and you're all... But then you have an idea! And you go... But then you hit page 50 and you're all.... And then you hit page 75 and you're all... But you power through!!   And then you're finished!!! You have finished a novel!! Only then find out you have to start…

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How to write a novel

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How to write a novel

June 21, 2019

Let me preface this article on how to write a novel by saying that my book on the topic has all the best advice I know: How to Write a Novel: 49 Rules for Writing a Stupendously Awesome Novel That You Will Love Forever. And if you need personalized help: Reach out for coaching or editing! How to write a novel.…

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Third person omniscient vs. limited vs. head jumping

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Third person omniscient vs. limited vs. head jumping

August 24, 2020

If a writing fairy popped out of an old typewriter and granted me the ability to fix one craft problem in all the unpublished manuscripts across the realm I would probably terrify it by how quickly I'd shout, "PERSPECTIVES! For the love of Melville fix the broken perspectives!!" You probably know there are three main perspectives to choose from in…

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Everything writers need to know about pitching their book

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Everything writers need to know about pitching their book

May 7, 2018

Like it or not, pitching your book is one of the most important things you'll do as an author. If you're trying to find a literary agent, you'll need to write a query letter. If you're self-publishing, you'll need to write good jacket copy (or at least know what good jacket copy looks like). When you're telling acquaintances what your…

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How to find a literary agent

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How to find a literary agent

March 20, 2018

If you want to have your book published by a publisher, chances are you are going to need an agent. Here's how to find a literary agent. Welcome to publishing, the land of books, writing, and agonizingly long waits. Pour yourself a drink. You're going to need it. In this post I'm going to give you an overview of how…

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Everything you need to know about novel word counts

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Everything you need to know about novel word counts

April 23, 2018

Ah, word count. Few elements of the book-writing process inspire such hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing as trying to constrain your novel within certain seemingly arbitrary bounds. In this post I'm going to tell you: Why word count matters for novelsStandard word count ranges for various genresThe word counts of some famous novels for comparison But before I do that, let me…

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Most recent posts:

Censorship comes to Congress (This week in books)

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This week! Books! Lots and lots and lots of links saved up. Limited captions, but enjoy the bounty. Also, a quick housekeeping matter. I’m having an issue with my discussion forums, which will likely be sunsetting soon. More to come on that. Why We Must Fight to Stop HR 7661 Before It Destroys the Lives […]

Here come the A.I. slop novels (This week in books)

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This week! Books! Quick programming note that this will be the last post in February as I’m taking a quick break. See you in March! The New Fabio Is Claude – Alexandra Alter, New York Times – In an article that seemingly doubled as Grade-A rage bait for wide swathes of the publishing-adjacent social media […]

Amazon founder guts books coverage at WaPo (This week in books)

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This week! Books! Bookshop.org Teams with Draft2Digital – Ed Nawotka, Publishers Weekly – I want to start with the good news first. Independent online bookseller Bookshop.org has partnered with e-book distributor Draft2Digital to make self-published e-books available for sale via Bookshop. If you haven’t already canceled your Amazon Prime and ditched the Kindle ecosystem, now […]

Words pull us through to the future

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“Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.“ -Ursula K. Le Guin In the wake of all the deaths in the past year at the hands of ICE (and […]

Two new publishing scams (This week in books)

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This week! Books! A day late because Abolish ICE!! Congrats to the ALA award winners! Among the honorees: The Margaret A. Edwards lifetime achievement and Children’s Literature Legacy awards went to Candace Fleming. Two New Impersonation Scams to Watch For – Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware – Publishing scams were already rampant, and A.I. has only […]