Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

Announcing: Writer Appreciation Week!

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I’m sad to report that Summer’s just about over. Soon the kids will be back in school, agents and editors are gearing up for a busy fall, the weather will gradually start turning cold (or hot! Hello, Southern Hemisphere!), and we will soon be learning about the exploits of bizarre people on reality television shows of questionable quality. I’m always a bit sad to see summer go.

So on this-here blog I thought we could have a week of appreciation for a very special and important person: the writer. (And yes, this may mean you.)

Nearly everyone I’ve ever met in my entire life has thought at one time or another about writing a book. There is a widespread belief that everyone has a book in them, that if we could quit our jobs and set aside enough time under a shade tree with a pen and paper we too could be the next Ernest Hemingway. Or at least the next J.K. Rowling. How hard could it be, right???

As anyone who has actually tried to write a book knows: it’s hard. Really really hard.

And as the recent blog reader survey shows, most of you have written at least one novel and just about everyone has tried, meaning you have done something that millions out there haven’t: you went for it.

You made the leap of faith, put pen to paper, devoted hours and hours and hours to building a world, and after months of hard work and sweat and blood and tears, those of you that finished had something to be rightly proud of: a manuscript.

Then you find out that the writing was the easy part.

It’s sometimes a thankless pursuit with uncertain odds, so this week: let’s hear it for the writers out there, published and unpublished. We’ll have a series of posts in appreciation of writers, those people who give us hours of entertainment, unsurpassed knowledge, and untold insight.

Hug a writer!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Missy says

    Thanks Nathan! It was so nice to see such appreciation on the day I returned to college in hopes of one day receiving the infamous degree in English.

    I can almost hear everyone singing "What do you you do with a BA in English?" I'd like to know too, so if somebody has a clue, can they lend me one?

    Word verification: Masetat. What happens to Lestat when he has a mastectomy.

  3. Gayton says

    I could use some appreciation this week. Bring it on!

    Thanks for the blog, by the way. I'm trying to put together a query letter now, and you've been a big help.

  6. Donna Hole says

    Thanks for the thought Nathan. Hugs are good. Be sure to find the person who's hug you would value the most also; Constant Bloggers are also Constant Writers – not to mention all the e-mailing and fast talking (writing) you do on your client's behalf.

    Kudos to yourself also.

    And Fall is also my favorite season; the ground is warm and soft, the air cool and damp. Stew weather; blanket and good book on the sofa weather.

    And wine, of course. All aspiring writers should be wino's.

    Looking forward to the week's worth of posts in favor of writers!

    dhole

  7. TC Laverdure says

    Having just put my four children in school, and constantly thinking of Uruguay because I love the people. S.A. is moving into their summer and I live in Calgary, Canada and our winters are hell. I constantly am thinking about my writing and often feeling that my hope of being published is so far off in its practicality that it seems hopeless. Then I read this post and feel so inspired to move forward.

    Muchas gracias, Nathan. Beyond words.

    Hug a writer should be a bumber sticker.

  8. Catherine Hughes says

    I have another couple of days before my children go back to school. And the weather here in the UK is doing crazy things (torrential rain, thunder and rainbows yesterday in our little neck of the woods)!

    So summer may not be quite over for me just yet!

    That said, this is the third little bit of encouragement that has come my way during a week that ahs been really difficult. A few hugs certainly wouldn't go amiss here!

    I have to be cheeky, though, and add that an agent willing to represent my work, huggable or otherwise, would be even better!

    Onwards and upwards!

  9. wendy says

    Wow – indeed. Nathan and this blog are certainly tops with me.
    A post like this can go a long way to making someone's day…seem nicer. Thanks, Nathan.

  10. Anonymous says

    Next, should come a week, to appreciate the agents and editors who do the heavy lifting after finding those initial manuscripts..

    Bringing them

    to the status, of published work.

    Without the one, you can not have the other.

  12. Mira says

    Nathan, I was thinking about this last night. You're wonderful.

    Sometimes when I go to other industry blogs I'm not sure the agents or the editors even LIKE writers.

    I think this is the heart of why your blog is so popular. You treat writers as intelligent, people with something important to offer. You don't lecture or chide. I have never, not once, ever, seen you make fun of a writer for anything. You're direct and offer advice, or make requests, but it's from a dialogue of mutual respect.

    I really appreciate you and what you offer here.

  15. Carpy says

    Thank you, Nathan. You've touched my heart with your Writers Appreciation Week. In fact I had a dream last night that it was time to get back in the groove, so again, thank you!

  16. slcard says

    I love it! I'm a hugger, I admit it. Hugs for everyone! Except Ulysses. I can respect degrees of personal space. Plus… ew. Pit stains? How did you ever get that date in the first place?

  19. Alena Thomas says

    Thank you, Nathan, for always thinking like a writer…wait, a minute, that may not be a good thing. Oh, well, it's nice to have good company as you fall into madness.

  22. Seidel says

    I'm not a hugger but I love writers and I like beer. I'll take the beers without the hugs although I'll probably hug after the beers.

    Yea for writers and all the glorious words and ideas, published and unpublished. Yea for being out there past my shadow of light as I type at night. Yea for being a reader so I have an audience as a writer. Yea for me, a reader who is a writer.

    Let's have a beer. Should have a national 'Buy A Writer A Beer' Day. Or week. Year.

    Here's to you. Cheers

  25. Jen W says

    That is TERRIFIC news, Nathan! You totally deserve it after all the help you've given to us writers. I've never posted a comment before but have read your blog religiously since I started looking for an agent earlier this year, and lo and behold, my book will be published by Sourcebooks in 2010! I will be at your Books Inc. workshop on Sunday and congratulate you in person!

  26. Shira Miller says

    Congrats on your book! You have been a terrific resource for writers and deserve all of the positive energy back tenfold. Will be happy to use my big mouth to tell everyone to buy it when it comes out…keep us posted!!