• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Blog
  • Writing Advice
  • Agents and Publishing
  • Self-publishing
  • About
  • Get Editing

Literary Fiction

Bestselling Novels by Year

September 4, 2013 by Nathan Bransford49 Comments

Last Wednesday, I suggested that there was no golden era where everyone was reading complex literary fiction. Is that actually true? Did past readers have more refined taste in fiction than we do now? Here’s a list of the bestselling novel by year from 1900 to the present (source), along with the books published that […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: BooksTagged With: book recommendations, Culture, Literary Fiction

Have we become uncomfortable with uncertainty in fiction?

August 28, 2013 by Nathan Bransford44 Comments

Over at the Rumpus, Rob Roberge ponders whether we as a society are losing our taste for complexity in fiction. He riffs off of an argument author Jane Smiley made that if society is largely governed by affluent men whose reading of fiction is declining, we are on track for becoming a more selfish and […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: BooksTagged With: Culture, Literary Fiction

Has Literary Culture Gotten Too Nice?

August 8, 2012 by Nathan Bransford55 Comments

Writing in Slate, Jacob Silverman argues that literary culture, driven by Twitter and blogging, has gotten too nice: if you spend time in the literary Twitter- or blogospheres, you’ll be positively besieged by amiability, by a relentless enthusiasm that might have you believing that all new books are wonderful and that every writer is every […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: CultureTagged With: Culture, Literary Fiction, Social Media

Self-Publishing and Literary Fiction

September 6, 2011 by Nathan Bransford50 Comments

“Ancient of Days” – William Blake Self-publishing is often denigrated in some circles as a dominion of poor quality, but even among people who don’t sneer at it, what springs to mind when they think of self-publishing is usually genre fiction. People just don’t often think of self-publishing and literary fiction going hand in hand. […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Self-publishingTagged With: Literary Fiction, Self-publishing

This Week in Books 8/13/11

August 13, 2011 by Nathan Bransford25 Comments

This! Week! Books! Saturday! First up, something I neglected to mention last week is that my former client C.Y. Gopinath’s truly fantastic novel THE BOOK OF ANSWERS has been published by HarperIndia, and it immediately shot into the Indian Top 10 bestseller list. TBOA is available as an e-book in the US and I can’t […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: UncategorizedTagged With: Amazon, E-books, E-Readers, literary agents, Literary Fiction, Publishing Economics, Young Adult Literature

Franzen, FREEDOM and the Era of the Blockbuster

August 31, 2010 by Nathan Bransford109 Comments

You may have heard from, oh, I don’t know, the Time Magazine cover or the Vogue profile or the rave reviews or the Picoult/Weiner spat or the author video where Franzen says he doesn’t like author videos or the fact that the President of the United States was spotted with it….. anyway, you might have […]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: BooksTagged With: Culture, James Patterson, Jonathan Franzen, Literary Fiction, Stephenie Meyer, Suzanne Collins

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 chase 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

Subscribe!

Subscribe to the newsletter and get a FREE writing, publishing, or marketing course.

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 LogoFacebook LogoInstagram Logo
As an Amazon and Bookshop Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and Bookshop links are usually affiliate links.
loadingCancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.