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How to Write a Query Letter

How (and why) to personalize a query letter

October 4, 2021 by Nathan Bransford 28 Comments

Authors often gnash their teeth at the nearly-universal advice that you should personalize your query letters. It’s time consuming to research agents individually, people don’t know what to say, and there’s something about it that just rubs people the wrong way. It pays to personalize. Just do it. In this post I’ll explain why and […]

Filed Under: Query Letters Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter, literary agents

Query mastery! Hone your research and pitch

May 4, 2017 by Nathan Bransford 2 Comments

In my post on Monday, I mentioned a service called Query Mastery but wanted to do a full post to make sure you knew about it. Query Mastery is an awesome service created by my friends Natasa Lekic (former editor and founder of NY Book Editors) and Rachel Stout (former agent at Dystel, Goderich & […]

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Query Letters Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter

Agent stats on personalization, credentials, comp titles, and more!

May 1, 2017 by Nathan Bransford 10 Comments

Does it really matter if you personalize your query? How much do writing credentials matter? Are young agents more likely to take on clients via queries? Opinions vary out there on the old Internet. Sure, I tell you to personalize your queries, but that’s just my opinion. Someone else out there might say something different. […]

Filed Under: Literary Agents Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter, literary agents

The key to a good query letter: Summarizing through specificity

March 30, 2017 by Nathan Bransford 38 Comments

Listen up all you query letter writers because this is the most important post on queries I’ve written in years. I’ve recently been devoting much more time to freelance editing and working with authors on their queries (need personalized help? Contact me!). This means that instead of just evaluating queries for a “yes” or “no”, like I […]

Filed Under: Query Letters Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter

Last Week in Books 3/19/12

March 19, 2012 by Nathan Bransford 12 Comments

Last week! Books! First up, if you’re in the San Francisco area it has come to my attention that there’s a pretty cool film festival going on that’s built around cell phone cameras and nonprofessional cameras the like. It’s called the Disposable Film Festival, and it was recently covered by the Wall Street Journal. Now […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: How to Promote a Book, How to Write a Query Letter, Life of a Writer

Five ways to stay motivated while writing a novel

November 2, 2011 by Nathan Bransford 59 Comments

Believe it or not, there are many writers out there, including published writers, who don’t particularly like writing very much. It’s true! Some find the process tedious, even torturous, and find it difficult to stay focused for the length of time it takes to finish. Like many writers out there, I’m someone who finds writing […]

Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Advice, Writing Novels Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter, Staying Sane While Writing

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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My Books

How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

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