We’re now three years into the lifespan of this blog, and in that time it has seen many changes. I’ve gone from breathlessly discussing what is happening on the Hills to seeing an ad for it the other day and thinking, “Wait… there’s another season? I thought it was over a year ago!”
The world changes so much in three years.
But that’s not what this post is about – I thought I’d check in to see what you’d like to see more/less of on the blog and to solicit feedback. I aim to please!
More/less queries?
More/less writing?
More/less publishing news?
More/less Nathan’s writing life?
More/less Nathan speaking in the third person?
More/still-more/no-really-I-mean-way-more monkeys?
The last time I checked in people asked for Forums, so this isn’t an idle exercise. I am definitely curious and very much appreciate your thoughts.
And I can’t thank you enough for reading and commenting – some of you have been around since the beginning and it really means a lot! Thank you thank you thank you.
I think what all the people who are asking for more queries are really saying is that they want more guest posts by Canadian writers.
Surely that's what they're saying.
You give so much of your time and effort to this blog, Nathan. And it's so incredibly helpful. Just keep doing what you do, and I'll keep thanking you for it.
Please keep doing what you're doing–it's a nice mix. This includes continuing to come up with new ways to say, "This Week in Publishing." Cracks me up. 🙂
More/less queries? DEFINITELY MORE
More/less writing? more
More/less publishing news? less
More/less Nathan's writing life? less
More/less Nathan speaking in the third person? okay
More/still-more/no-really-I-mean-way-more monkeys? only owl monkeys
I guess I'm in the minority, but I'd love to see more publishing stuff– your opinions on trends, the future of the novel, genre mixing, etc. Thanks for asking, Nathan.
I'd love to see more about the publishing process after you get an agent/publisher. More about marketing, foreign rights, etc. 🙂
This is the best blog ever and such a tremendous resource for us aspiring authors. Thank you, Nathan.
I vote for all of the above.
bc
Ink is correct, and he meant to say Canadian writers from the Eastern parts, who also speak French.
Right Ink?
Hi Nathan,
What would I like to see more of?
1. More queries. It might give me an insight on what agents will be looking for. Differences aside, there has to be some commonality. Right?
2. More writing. What sort of advice do you have? What seems to be the common link that makes your clients a success? What do editors look at when they go over an MS of a client? Grammar. Building the plot. Cutting detail.
3. More publishing. I always enjoy those. So much so, friday is my favorite day for more than one reason.
4. More about Nathan's Writing adventure. What does his writing group say about his story? How many times have you revised the first page? Did you start with the dreaded: Nathan woke up with the alarm clock. His arm stretched from beneath the blankets to rid himself of the noise.
Speaking of Nathan's story, I hope it coming along all right.
I'd like to see more on writing. Monkeys are good, too.
Every blog needs more monkeys. It's crazy for you to ask that!! 😀
Seriously though, more Nathan talking about himself in 3rd person cause that's funny, more about Nathan's writing, and more publishing industry news.
Francis,
I thought you guys already seceded. Are you still Canuckian? 😉 I've got to keep a better grip on current affairs.
And the french-speaking thing would kill me. Je parle un petit peu. With a strong emphasis on the petit part. "Bonjour. Um. Yeah. Ca va bien? Un cahier es loco… oh shit, that was my crappy spanish seeping in. Un cahier es mucho… I mean, tres, um, good. Yeah. Um. Au revoir. Right? Au revoir. I have a, um, telephono call. Damn."
Wow, it has been a while since you talked about The Hills!
Definitely more monkeys, and more queries and tips on things to do/not do in your first few pages. Those are always interesting to read.
And as much of your life as you're comfortable sharing.
Third person is always fine.
It's been great following your blog, Nathan, I'm really glad I found it! 🙂 Congrats on the three years, that's a long time.
More writing and publishing news please! I also especially like it when you have activities such as You Be the Judge/etc. that involve us readers. 😀 And your reviews on the iPad and such are very interesting as well!
I like getting to know the people who are blogging the blogs I follow, but it's totally up to you how much about your own personal life you'd like to share. But less Nathan speaking in the third person. xD More speaking in first person!
Monkeys! TONS, and tons more monkeys. :3
I've got to put in a vote for publishing news. The Friday pub news post is a can't-miss for me.
First off, thanks for providing us with such a great blog (and forums!).
I like to read a mix of all things writing/agenting/publishing. My favorite is the interactive stuff like Agent for a Day and contests.
Maybe some more personalized analysis from you: what YOU think is hot in publishing right now, why you choose one project over another, etc.
Okay, I too love the "This Week in Publishing" and the overall trends.
And cat videos.
Wait! Waitwaitwait!
Are *monkeys* the new angels (which are the new zombies, which are the new vampires)?!
ZOMG, Nathan…I can't keep track of all of this without my head caving in a little bit!
I'm knee-deep in the query process, so I selfishly vote for more of that, but honestly? I really glean a lot from all of it- even the comments from everyone else. So if you just keep doing what you do, I'm a happy girl.
My word verification is "parflute". I head those tricky cats play a mean one of those…just ask the monkeys.
I think it would be interesting to hear about the process of contract negotiations, especially regarding the new ebook formats.
More on… everything but the monkeys, I think, and the publishing news. And way, way more third-person writing, yes?
More of anything on your list sounds good. And maybe talk about candy too, just because I've never met anybody who doesn't like it. And if they don't like (other than for health reasons) then they're weird.
Definitely more third person Nathan but would love to hear more about your writing and Jacob Wonderbar
I'd love more queries and writing. Those are my main interests.
I'd like it if there were more comments on your posts. Just kidding.
What I'd really like to see is non-fiction writing/querying/publishing topics addressed more fully.
But even if this doesn't happen, I will still see your blog as an amazing gift.
Tell us how you get 3500+ "admitted" followers in three years…
Would love more queries and generalized writing advice (like what you see a lot of that doesn't work – gimmicks).
Publishing news seems about right because it's a solid basic foundation without spending hours ourselves searching everything.
By the way – how on earth do you get everything done that you do? I'd love to see a time-based breakdown of your day or week activities. Do you ever even see your wife? Nestled in there of course would be your personal writing experiences (I hope).
Thanks, Nathan. Your blog is my favorite one to follow for more reasons than I could list here.
Monkeys who serve, works. And a straight shot to the first comment after you post. Dang it! I check, check back, wait…and I miss it every time. I end up in the slush pile of Bransford's comments. Yikes!!
More queries and more writing!
I had another idea, either for your Blog or Forums. The Feedback section of your Forums is fantastic for writers to receive critiques on their work, but I wonder if writers might enjoy an additional place where they could post excerpts more for discussion than for critique. The volunteers would definitely have to be brave souls to just put their work out there for everyone to discuss, but it might be fun. If you did this on your Blog, you could pick the submissions for discussion. There are only two main reasons why excerpts are usually posted on the Internet: for critique or as enticements to "buy the book". The hugely famous and popular Neil Gaiman is having one of his books, AMERICAN GODS, featured for discussion by all of Twitter, but there isn’t much of an opportunity for unknown writers to have their work discussed in any similar open forum.
Ink,
I am VERY much still a Canuck! Always have, always will be…
Currently enjoying the playoffs VERY MUCH, as our beloved Habs kicked the Capitals' asses, and though the shady penguins have us beat at 3-1 so far, that how it was with the caps… WE SHALL PREVAIL! Go Habs go!
Your first French lesson shall begin here: "Le train s'arrête doucement, surtout quand je suis sous l'effet de notre plante verte préférée."
More of what works for you, and why.
And thank you for your efforts.
Queries are like crack. Monkeys are cute. Third person cracks me up. I'm going with those.
I enjoy hearing about your writing, and the week-ending caps of the publishing business are a great way for me to stay current, even though technically I'm not in the publishing business.
I'd love it if you could do some YouTube vids with full-on jazz hands.
All of the above. =) And contests, I'm always up for contests! They keep me on my toes.
More writing tips.
More third person Nathanisms.
…I like monkeys.
…and shoes.
…and talcum powder.
Thanks for the perfect balance of wit and wisdom , as for monkey's I feel we could be getting a little more specific on the certain breeds , for instance , both the macaque and the proboscis nose could be mentioned a little more . Thanks Nathan.
More on queries since, judging by your contests, the majority of your readers are trying to find representation. Writing as well, since the two sort of go hand in hand.
This blog is wonderful as is!! You do a great job! Thx so much for all the awesome advice! The forum rocks too!
First of all, Nathan, I think the format you've developed over the years is outstanding. If I can cry for "more", it'd be for queries and possibly more info on your writing experiences. Publishing info is invaluable, but I think many of us feel very far away from needing a lot of it. Attacking some issues closer to the writing process would be way cool.
And if I may comment on a subject of which I know just enough to be dangerous: blog format. It's a huge pain in the hoop to change things, especially since you pretty much just did, but have you ever experienced "nesting" comments, where visitors can reply directly to individual comments. I know the forums handle this pretty well, but sometimes the topics heat up here much better.
Just a thought, and oh–more talk about yourself, but in the fourth person. Cheers!
What I'd like someone to do, so might as well be the fabulous you, is remark about trends they are seeing in queries and what publishers are accepting. Not to follow the trend, of course, but to know that there IS one would be nice. It'd be nice to know a query might be being rejected because there's umteen zillion others being queried at the time with the same/similar idea.
And not even a specific number or anything. Just a 'hey, this week's trend is intergalactic vampire cowboys and animorphic zombie football players. Seriously, peeps, wtf?' sort of note.
I predict that the accumulation of all these comments will imply that you just continue on with the same inspirational blogs in the same way as before.
I really appreciate those writing tips such as "Series bible".
Kermit Rose
I came to your blog when I had just discovered I loved writing and I was clueless on where to find relevant information and which materials to study. You showed me great resources that led to other great resources, and it is still going on. I don't have any suggestions, but I was looking for an opportunity to say thanks. So,
THANK YOU.
Anahita
I would like to see more publishing trends/news and more querying/writing tips, definitely. As an agent, you offer a unique perspective to the industry which makes your opinion (and thus your writing advice) pretty valuable.
And as for the monkeys… Maybe a ninja monkey here and there, but I'm not overly fond.
Things I'd likem to hear more about:
1) Anything having to do with queries. Seriously. It would be great if you could show us examples of what NOT TO DO. Not many agents talk about that.
2) More writing tips. I'm not picky either. It could be anything from how to find time to write, to revising…to…whatever. I love your posts on the subject. They have certainly given me much to think about as a writer.
3) More about YOU and YOUR writing. I don't know why but it always helps knowing that there is someone else out there writing right along with me. I'd love to see your progress on your book, your good says and bad days. It would really inspire me to keep going.
4) More stuff about publishing, finding an agent, how to get published, ect. It's always good for me to be reminded of the ups and downs of publishing and knowing that this will take some time.
There are other things, but these are my first thoughts. Really, any information you give us is gold. I'm just glad you have a blog in the first place!
Monkeys! 😀
I would love more about both writing and about your writing life.
I'm a newcomer to the blog, but I love what you do. You are a blogging expert, and out of the thousands of self-indulgent amateur blogs out there that suck (and I consider my blog one of these), yours doesn't. So if you do make changes, I'm sure I'll love them :))
Your take on the publishing industry is fresh and insightful.Information on queries and writing is always useful, but there are other places to find equivalent information.
~ Jim
I think you have a great balance at the moment. When you discuss queries, synopses, etc, I would really love to see more real life examples; good, bad and great. With your rationales for labelling them so.
Thanks for an excellent blog.
Francis,
Ha! That was funny. At least I think it was funny. If I translated it right. I'm starting to worry…
I found the agent for a day really interesting. Perhaps you can do a similar contest on a regular basis. For example non fiction one month, mystery/thriller another, memoir a third.