• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Blog
  • Writing Advice
  • Publishing Advice
  • About
  • Take a Class
  • Get Editing

literary agents

Watch out for book to film scams (This week in books)

June 17, 2022 by Nathan Bransford 3 Comments

This week! Books! First up, we continue to live in a golden age for scammers, and Anne R. Allen has an important post about a new, more polished publishing trap: the book to film scam, where a “film scout” suggests you pay for a new screenplay or treatment so they can shop it to streaming […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Alexandra Alter, Anne R. Allen, Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Elizabeth A. Harris, Ian Bogost, literary agents, Scams

How (and why) to personalize a query letter

October 4, 2021 by Nathan Bransford 24 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

Is it OK to resend a query? (This week in books)

November 13, 2020 by Nathan Bransford Leave a Comment

This week! Books! President Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land arrives next Tuesday, which is going to have massive reverberations in the bookselling world, not least of which because it clocks in at a hefty $45 list price. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reviewed it for the New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine looks at where it […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Barack Obama, Charles Dickens, Dan Blank, Fuchsia Dunlop, Jessica Faust, Kate McKean, Kristin Nelson, literary agents

Are you willing to stand out from the crowd? (This week in books)

September 18, 2020 by Nathan Bransford 1 Comment

This week! Books! I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting these past few weeks on what’s next for my creative life and where I want to devote my energy, so this post on the Freelancers Union blog by Justine Clay was just the right thing at the right time: Are you really willing to stand […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Barack Obama, Colin Hester, Diversity, Donald Trump, Justine Clay, literary agents, Macmillan, Matthew Salesses, National Book Awards

How to choose a pen name (This week in books)

August 14, 2020 by Nathan Bransford 3 Comments

This week! Books! First up, I had the good fortune of stopping by the Red Sneaker Writers podcast to talk about advice for the publishing journey and my work as a writing coach and consultant. Give it a listen! What’s in a pen name? In a world of social media and Google-able everything, I’m getting […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Angie Thomas, Jessica Faust, Kate McKean, literary agents, Neko Case, Red Sneaker Writers, Vikram Chandra, William Faulkner

J.K. Rowling…… (This week in books)

June 12, 2020 by Nathan Bransford 22 Comments

This week! Books! As thousands of people around the world continued protesting injustice and brutality in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and at the start of Pride month, J.K. Rowling decided to double down with views on transgender people widely seen as transphobic, first in a series of tweets, then on a more […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: #BlackLivesMatter, J.K. Rowling, Jane Friedman, Janet Reid, literary agents, Trans Rights, writing advice

Primary Sidebar

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!

My blog has everything you need to know to write, edit, and publish a book. Can’t find what you need or want personalized help? Reach out.

Learn more about me

Need Editing?

I'm available for consultations, edits, query critiques, brainstorming, and more.
Learn more!

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

Forums

Need help with your query? Want to talk books? Check out the Nathan Bransford Forums
Footer Logo
Nathan Bransford

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Editing Services
  • My Books
  • About Me
  • Blog Directory
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Logo Facebook Logo Instagram Logo
As an Amazon and Bookshop Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and Bookshop links are usually affiliate links.