Yesterday marked quite a milestone. Fifteen years ago, I signed up for nathanbransford.blogspot.com and moved over from MySpace (!) to put up this post where, among other things, I begged smokers to not smoke around their paper queries because of the hideous stale smell when you opened them… (a smell I can still conjure vividly).
And here we are fifteen years later!
There have been a few URL and design changes since then and I’ve gone through a career odyssey from books to tech to nonprofit to finance and then back to books.
Many of you have been with me all fifteen years, which is seriously incredible. I’m so lucky to have you all, as well as everyone who has joined since. This blog has led to some really great friendships both IRL and virtual, and THANK YOU for sticking with me all this time and contributing to the community with your insightful comments and emails.
It’s hard to keep track of the stats across the various platforms, but here some eye-poppers:
- 2,117 posts
- 14,216,207 pageviews
- 152,455 comments (I think this is actually an undercount due to an old migration)
Here are some of my own personal favorite posts of all time:
- Be An Agent for a Day
- Third person omniscient vs. limited vs. head jumping
- How to write clear physical description
- Writing advice from some old guys at my gym
- The key to a good query letter: Summarizing through specificity
- Does your novel have a plot?
- Query letter mad lib
- The end of truth
THANK YOU AGAIN to everyone who reads this, casual and regular alike. I deeply appreciate your presence.
Here’s to fifteen more years!
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!
Congrats, Nathan.
Sincerely,
A regular since 2008.
Thank you for being here (nearly) all the way!
That’s awesome, congratulations! I haven’t been following you since Day 1, but pretty close! I think I started following you maybe…12 or 13 years ago? Crazy how time flies.
Thank you!
Congratulations! Has it been that long? I don’t think I started on your first day, but it had to be close.
Thanks for being here. You’ve been an encyclopedic source of all things writing/publishing.
Here’s to another 15! If you can stand it… or us.
Congratulations, Nathan! I’ve been following you for over 10 years. Thanks for all the information, the insight, the encouragement and the oh-so-important wit that you bring to your work. Keep it coming. Celebrate big!
Thank you!
It hasn’t quite been 15 years for me but I’m definitely a long timer! Congratulations, Nathan, and thank you.
Thanks, Kia!
Happy Birthday to Nathan’s blog and many happy returns! How wonderful that we’ve lived to see a world where we can smoke in the library and our emails won’t smell. Just as well you retired from agenting now you can’t use the paper queries to make roll-ups or paper hats or planes. Here’s to another fifteen great years at least!
Thanks, John, and for all your help making sure the Forums extension cords are plugged in properly and keeping the lights on.
Congratulations! Thanks so much for your posts. I especially like, and learn from, your query and page critiques,
Thank you!
Oh, another thing. Do you have a favorite query, even if it didn’t result in a published book? How about the worst you’ve ever seen? Just curious. Thanks
I think Lisa Brackmann’s query for ROCK PAPER TIGER is one of my favorites, it’s such a cracking one paragraph plot summary: https://nathanbransford.com/blog/2009/07/anatomy-of-good-query-letter-iii
I definitely remember some of the worst queries I received, but I’m afraid those records are sealed!
I remember this one! You’re right, it was good, a fine example of the art. Thanks.
Whoa! So awesome. I think I’ve been reading since nearly the beginning. It’s been such an important part of my writing life. Thanks for all the advice and wisdom and laughs and encouragement and memories!
Thank you!
Happy blogoversary!
Thank you!
Big Congratulations and even Bigger Thank Yous for all you’ve taught and shown me! I don’t precisely recall the year I found you, but am sure it was pre-2010. And … I found your blog through the inestimable Ms. Snark! Here’s to another terrific decade-and-a-half ahead!
Thank you! And ha, Ms. Snark!
Nathan, I’ve followed you since before we met in person at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference in 2008 (I think it was). I remember how excited I got when I “won” your critique of my first 30 pages. You did not show much enthusiasm for my novel, but you asked if I had other projects, I told you about my Dutch aunt and her heroism during WWII. You urged me to pursue that story, and in 2015, the “family memoir” was published. As well, you motivated me to continue blogging. Like you, I’ve undergone several moves and one “inadvertant deleting”, but I’m still at it. My hearty congrats. I’ve followed quite a few writing sites over the years, and yours is the best. Nathan, thanks so much for the 15 years of generous advice and interesting reading.
Thank you, and I’m so glad the memoir worked out! Definitely need to get back to the San Miguel Writers Conference at some point.
Congrats on the anniversary, Nathan. Having started and ended many online efforts in the past 15 years, I truly admire your dedication and consistency.
Thanks David, and I’m enjoying your current online effort!
Congratulations! Definitely something to celebrate…
Congratulations! I remember when you started, Nathan. Amazing how time flies when you’re having fun, but kudos on the anniversary, because I understand what it takes to stick around that long. From: C. Hope Clark, http://www.fundsforwriters.com (originated 1999)