Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

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A query letter that worked (This week in books)

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This week! Books!

First up, author Marve Michael was kind enough to share her query for her New Adult novel FIRSTBORN OF THE SON, and it’s quite excellent. Note all the specific, judiciously chosen details as she details the plot! The way she escalates to a definitive choice where the stakes are clear in the last line of the plot description! Really strong query.

Also in authors sharing their stories news, YA author Lauren Kay received eight offers from agents for her novel, but it “died on sub.” It’s a good reminder that no matter how shiny things may look from the outside, it’s an incredibly uncertain process full of speed bumps, false starts, and good and bad luck. Even top agents are just hoping for a good batting average with the projects they choose to take on.

For those of us who are swiftly sailing through middle age *cough cough*, it can be bracing to feel a sense of mortality about our life and careers, so I very much enjoyed Dan Blank’s look at working artists in their 90s, who go to show that discovery and craft are truly lifelong pursuits.

Oscar Wilde knew how to generate some good #content, and honestly it’s a shame he wasn’t around for the social media era, as I suspect he would have been the greatest Tweeter and Instagrammer of all time. I really enjoyed Rob Marland’s look at his tour of the United States when he was twenty-seven, where he mostly gave interviews insulting the U.S. a lot and everyone loved it.

If you’re fortunate enough to be on the road toward traditional publication, you will likely be asked to complete a tedious extensive author questionnaire that would make the I.R.S. blush. Agent (and now author) Kate McKean talks about why this is actually a very important document.

And two new author profiles I haven’t read yet but have queued up for the weekend: Katy Waldman interviews short-story author Kelly Link, and Maya Binyam profiles Erasure/American Fiction (and fellow Pasadena resident) mastermind Percival Everett.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

  1. The Women by Kristin Hannah
  2. A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair
  3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  4. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
  5. Happy Place by Emily Henry

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

  1. Blood Money by Peter Schweizer
  2. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
  3. Outlive by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
  4. The Wager by David Grann
  5. The House of Hidden Meanings by Ru Paul

Young adult hardcover:

  1. Powerless by Lauren Roberts
  2. The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black
  3. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
  4. Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
  5. Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

Middle grade hardcover:

  1. Heroes by Alan Gratz
  2. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
  3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
  4. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
  5. Stay Curious and Keep Exploring: Next Level by Emily Calandrelli

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

Don’t forget that you can nominate your first page and query for a free critique on the blog:

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

And finally, medieval Oxford had a murder problem and the details are pretty fascinating.

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

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Comments

  1. Neil Larkins says

    I LOVE reading queries that snagged an agent and especially if it resulted in a book deal. They’re still hard to find, but not nearly like they once were: close to impossible. (I still find most of mine on Query Tracker. They go back to 2008 or so and one can see the change in their composition over the years.) Thanks, Marve Michael.
    The torture Lauren Kay went through is palpable, made worse by the isolation we were all enduring back then. I think I would have just given up, but it wasn’t long after she got that book deal… with another book. Sometimes angst has a positive effect? I don’t know.
    Good job, Nathan.