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Lili,

A wonderful rant. Made me think of all those nights I spent huddled over the ducted heating with an X-Men comic in my hands and a look of total absorption plastered on my twelve year old face. I dined on servings of comics and pulp fiction (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E Howard...) and all the while my palate was being prepared for whatever was next. I eventually went on to teach Shakespeare to senior students which probably earns me some credibility in somebody's eyes, but that's not the thing. What's important is I was permitted to read whatever I could find and that freedom to choose my reading matter without any conditions placed upon the medium encouraged my appetite.

Nothing has changed for today's kids except the menu is considerably longer and more diverse. Not only can they read online, on iPods, Kindles, phones etc. but they can also easily produce their own works and deliver them to a massive audience. Today's kids can also be involved in a new sort of critical literacy via the crucible of debate that messageboards give rise to, and in expressing their point of view, they grow as writers, readers and communicators, contributing to - as you say - the story machine. (I wonder if Dana Gioia has ever put forth her views in that context?)

Oh dear. I've ranted too.

Thanks - a most enjoyable post.

Thank you for this post! It is excellent and rational.

Rohan

I attended a seminar a little while back at which the presenter (whose name I can't remember) said, "a book is just a prop for telling a story".

As are so many other things, as you mentioned.

Wonderful post, thank you.

This is an excellent piece of rantology.

I think it is really lucky that we have people like you, ones with a 'profile' (ooh-er), standing up and saying this kind of thing, because there are an awful lot of loud-voiced gibbons out there who just. don't. get it. We need to hear more from the likes of you and less from the likes of them.

Wonderful post. The writer of the New York Times conveniently forgot that stories were once passed around by bards and storytellers--a decidedly oral tradition and not a writen one. As you said, feeding the story comes from many sources and we stifle creativity if we limit it to only one.

spends several paragraphs pointing out that some fanfic has lots of spelling mistakes

In my experience as an editor, I can tell you that lots of 'real' writers can't spell either. But that doesn't make their writing any less brilliant.

And the rest of the article: daft.

Your post: spot on.

I agree with you, the article was ignorant, at best, and ignored the core element of love for story.

It seems the people bemoaning the state of reading and technology are the same ones who use technology (like Leapfrog 'self-reading' books or the 'jump-start' video games) in place of actually sitting and reading to children. Or sitting and talking with a child/young person about their story choices (I like fantasy novels, but not every single one ever written).
KP

By the way--
Tag. I hope you'll play Eight Random Things blog tag with us, because you are interesting. Click on my link for more info.
Thanks,
KP

There are vending machines for renting DVDs so why NOT books? It's about time. Thanks for the info, Nathan.

"...and thus I would not be affected by any possible joining of the two."

But Nathan...don't you believe in The Butterfly Effect? Life's more fun when you believe everything will eventually affect you.

:)

Rob

Library ATMs--LOVE the idea. They do it with videos, so why not books? Even Netflix now has its twin in the book world in the form of Bookswim.com (among others).

Can't wait until they install one of those a-Go-Go things in Pleasant Hill. CCC Library has a very useful online catalog and book reservation/renewal site. I wonder if they'll allow people to specify what they want online and then pick it up through the kiosk, or if they'll only have the most popular titles like airport bookstores do.

And I love the name. Back when I was in college in Berkeley, there was this little hole-in-the-wall sandwich dive called Sandwiche A-Go-Go. Cheap, not awful, and you couldn't beat the name. Not sure if it's still there, but Google reveals that dinesite dot com has this to say about it: "Visit Sandwich A - Go - Go and you`ll get a place that serves up American cooking especially known for sandwiches." Uh, yeah. I don't remember a lot of cooking going on.

1. The new firm will be called ICBM UK and then get sued by Iran for stealing the name of the nuclear missile they're building to aim at London. Sounds like the beginning of a wacky comedy.

2. I heard that Random House had to stop branding their authors in the 70s. Too many of them were calling their next book: "Oh My Burnt Ass."

3. I also heard that Cormac McCarthy won the Ohio Primary, and he wasn't even on the ballot.

4. I guess the Quills people just couldn't get a TV network interested in broadcasting a bunch of pasty authors in ill-fitting tuxedos, wolfing down the free food and booze. I don't know why?

5. A book ATM? I guess every time you take out or return a book, your bank charges you a $1.50.

Furious D-

I'm laughing really hard over here at ICBM UK.

I will only use the library ATM if they can also give me a latte with three equals and a shot of cinnamon along with my oatbran muffin.

Orion: that would require another vending machine.

International Creative Management and Curtis Brown UK are merging? Wow. Would that mean that it's only in relation to the UK ICM branch (and not NYC) or is it the whole shebang?

Trivia a-go-go/a-snow-go (Regis and Kelly)

"Wake me up, before you go go" (Beach Boys I think)

and now there is a library a-go-go. Brilliant. Instead of picking some crap leaflet from the train station I can get a good book. I'm in. Who want's fast-book?

Sigh. California is so much cooler than DC. Our government officials would never have made up a name like that. It would have been called something like "Metro Book Drop Off and Pick Up Receptacles."

And, adaora a. No you didn't! Mixing up the Beach Boys with Wham!? That is so wrong.

*giggles* Library ATMs, Books a GO-GO, just wonder when my library system will suggest this for our patrons.. The idea is great but how often are they going to fill these machines up? Plus how are they going to get those people to pay fines on overdue books.

And when you get branded do you get a choice of where they put the brand? I wouldnt mind the ankle or upper thigh something I can show off to others. :)

You have libraries at your train stations? I don't even have a train! I'm amaxingly envious and vow to try and move closer to civilization.

My one question for the library books is how are they going to police the books? A year or so ago a person in Denver was charged with borrowing books from the library and selling them on e-bay, they didn't make millions but they did make some nice petty cash. I'm curious how the book ATM's will prevent similar thefts.

Love the idea of the library ATM. Here at the airport in Edinburgh, we do have a book vending machine with current popular paperbacks, which I think is way-cool. If there's ever a time when a non-reader is going to consider buying a book, it's when they're about to get on a long flight.

I know I've heard the term Library-A-Go-Go someplace long ago. Were there mentions of this project idea in the 90s? Because I lived in SF in the 90s. Anyhow, it's a great idea. Book Cafe might be a cool name if you had a kiosk that also made lattes, lol.

Mixing up the Beach Boys with Wham!? That is so wrong.

I hate to age myself here, but I agree!

Oh wow, a book vending machine. This is another reason I love the Bay Area. There are times when I wish I lived there still--civilization!

Books a-go-go?

All I can imagine is going back to the closet and dusting off those old white party boots and calling my old friend, Goldie Hawn up and asking if she still has that hair iron I lent her... or does Cher have it still?

The new fashion for train apparel?

Nathan -

I love your sense of humor ... you are too funny.

Now every time I am feeling frustrated with this whole world of publishing - I'm just going to think about the cows. The cows always have it worse than me...

:) Jan

Book vending machines aren't new. They're how Penguin got started.

Furious D -- ROFLMAO!

\

Nathan, I'm curious re: your lack of mention of Diablo Cody's Oscar win for screenplay. Whether or not we are all thrilled by her style, it seems only fair to give a nod to a relative newcomer who managed to grab the award.

Her work obviously has struck a chord with both the public and Hollywood; not an easy fete.

LOL - "feat"...

just went and got some more coffee!

anon@6:08-

I liked Juno and all that, but this is a publishing blog, hence Cormac McCarthy.

Four degrees to Diablo Cody mention in Nathan's blog:

1. Diablo Cody is an author who has written both book and screenplay.
2. Screenplay won an Oscar.
3. Agents represent some authors who write both books and screenplays
4. Nathan is an agent who blogs about authors

Chill...just funnin' with ya

Screw the flying cars, I want a book ATM.

See all you lovely blogging US agents, you make it so much easier for us lunatics, I mean aspiring authors, to track you down. But UK agents seem much less keen on blogging – or is it that I haven’t managed to find the ones that do yet?

It's true. The wealth of information available online is amazing. Aspiring writers can connect with agents to figure out the basics of what is required when submitting so you don't make a fool of yourself. I'm releaved it's not Leo Tolstoy or Charles Dickens (two of my favorites), era.

@sexscenes - This blog is definetly still king of them all.

Welcome to another 'agent who blogs.' It's time to add her to your blog roll ladies and gentleman!

OOh I feel like I'm onto something- I already read 5 out of those 6 excellent blogs.

I agree that this is a great time for writers. My education doesn't reach much further than high school, so I feel pretty lucky to have Blogiversity! Thanks for putting everybody together.

It's a lot of fun to read agent blogs, and very inspiring. Real people out there! Who are interested in finding good writers!

Without Miss Snark, I would never have got the courage to query anyone at all.

Like ss@s, this is my favorite agent blog.

I love The Swivet. After discovering it a couple of weeks ago, it's now one of my favourite blogs!

"I have to say, this is such a great time to be an aspiring author."

And this really is no understatement. Fifteen years ago when I was just out of college all you had were trade journals and contacts you met through work...if you were lucky enough to land a job with a publisher...in any capacity...even magazines. And, you had to be in NY if your were serious. All info about lit agents were in books that weren't always very accurate. And, all queries were done through snail mail. The web really has opened up many opportunities for writers, editors and agents. I have an editor who works for a NY publisher, but now actually lives in Spain. That wouldn't have been possible without the Internet.

My bookmark list is going to be huge after this.

Thanks for the links I have to check them out.

OMG! I've never heard of Colleen's blog until you mentioned it.

In addition to the stunning blog banner, she's a cat lover! And she supports lots of great causes, too.

She had me at "hello!" but I positively fell out of my chair when I saw she not only knows who I am :-O but did an enire linked post about my Donald Maass series!

Woot!

But to hell with me. The cats are still my favorite. Between pictures of them, and the images of Agent Kristen's Chutney taking Manhattan (in a doggie hoodie no less), I'm convinced that you, Nathan, need to post your own pet pics.

Do you have a pet? If not, maybe it's time you got one. (Want one of mine? I have plenty to spare. Ten!).

Ryan,

Seventeen years ago you could have signed up for Genie and Compuserve and chatted with bestselling authors, agents, and editors from major publishing houses in a way that is completely impossible now.

Back then everyone used their real name and treated the people they met online with complete respect.

There was no spam. Imagine that! No viruses. When you met someone online they assumed you were an educated intelligent person and were eager to connect with you, see what you were up to, and if there was something they could do to help you out, they'd do it.

I was a mom stuck at home in a small New England town with two toddlers living--hardly a publishing insider. Even so, I would message every day with authors who were on their way to becoming New York Times bestselling authors. Two of them gave me author referrals. Another successful author introduced me to his editor who bought a book from me.

Because people still read magazines and magazines still paid freelancers, I was able to earn a decent living writing magazine articles from home at $1 a word. I could get as much work as I could handle.

And of course, back then, people were buying books in numbers you don't see any more. There was no Google to answer every question, so when people wanted to learn something, they bought a book.

There were two or three times as many publishers competing in every genre as there are now. Most of them read over the transom submissions. Paper was much less expensive. Advances were the same as what they are now, but money was worth a lot more.

And back then, everyone was always telling us about the REAL golden age that had been twenty years before . . .

Nathan, with the current influx of agents embarking into the blog zone, I am curious as to what your motivations are? (I for one, am thrilled of course for any and all information related to the publishing industry). Sorry to turn the tables on you. Just curious!
Lisa

Lisa-

My motivations are twofold -- I really do want to help people navigate the publishing process as a way of giving back, and because it really isn't very fun rejecting 10,000 people a year. I try to give advice that people might find helpful because I just can't really help people out individually because I just don't have the time.

And also the blog affords me an opportunity to give prospective clients and people in the industry a sense of my personality and to see the way I work, in the hopes that I might be someone they would want to work with in the future. I've said previously that I want to be the first person that people think of when they query, and that's a big reason I blog.

Nathan,

You've acheived that goal, at least with me. You were the first agent I queried even though I suspect our interests don't entirely overlap. Thanks for today's links. I hadn't seen Janet Reid's blog yet.

Same here. You were my first query!

Thanks for the links. With so many great blogs to add to my reading list, when will I find time for writing? :)

Lots of info.
And yet you'll still get queries that start with a rhetorical question, and are for a 170,000 word fantasy romance memoir.

"It's all a plot to keep us from writing." Scott

I think it was Flannery O'Connor who complained about Writers' Schools encouraging more writers than the world really needs. Could the surfeit of agent blogs be the answer to her prayers? Beware! (I have to admit, it's not working with me!)

I'd like to add one more thing: The amazing, interesting people with whom I've connected as a result of personal writer blogs, and the web in general, in the past five or six years still astounds me. When one of our books comes out, we plug for each other as much as we can. When there's a personal crisis, we offer support. And the learning that goes on is better than any course I ever took in college.

Nathan,

You have achieved that goal...you make me want to write something outside of romance and erotica--so I can query you :) You are a doll! And I'm addicted to your blog! You offer so much, in industry info and charming personality...

I loved the links and am about to check them all out, but I had to tell you that your last paragraph expresses exactly the same sentiments I have had lately. While some declare that publishing is doomed and new authors have no chance, I still feel lucky to be trying to break in at this time because there's so much out there if you're willing to do a little research. Agents, editors, and authors are available on an unprecedented level. It's amazing.

So I guess the real question is, with a bloggosphere of a million and a half good agents, editors, and pro writers out there all offering their brilliant insight into the industry, who has time to write?

How do you divide your time up? How is a writer supposed to?

I'm not really complaining, I'm simply curious as to others opinions on the matter.

Interesting question, filamena! I stay at home with two small children during the day and have a strict no-writing rule while the children are around, as I could easily get caught up in writing and not notice that they are halfway out the window! So during the day I do quick things like check the agent blogs and the websites like Absolute Write, and then I do all my writing at night, after the family is in bed.

It's a wealth of information at typing fingertips. Finally! Agents don't seem so unreachable or impersonal now, like robots hidden in editor's closets at conglomerate publishing houses.

I'm actually talking, or rather writing, to a live person!

I’m with Josephine on the pet thing!

Nathan, IMHO, your blog needs animal pictures. If you don’t have a pet, why not make one up? Even Miss Snark had her poodle! (But no way am I suggesting Killer Yap was/is not a real pet.) ;)

I found your blog through Agent Query and want to say how much I have enjoyed it. Thanks A LOT for this round up.

Hey, Nathan!

Thanks for the shout-out!

:-)


Colleen

I just came to your blog through Publisher's Marketplace. What a great round up of info. It is a nice time to be aspiring writer. Hope I figure out how to put all this info to good use.

thanks

showering you with praise for being so nice too

This might be a silly question:

When you're reading a full, do you cringe, feel indifferent, or hate when every chapter has a title to it?

I've always been curious about that.

adaora-

Mostly indifferent. It's one of those things where if it works it works.

Another question Nathan-

How do you feel about page breaks instead of full chapter breaks? I've seen published books written without chapter breaks and they work, but I don't know if the author queried that way or not.

And when would you introduce the idea of wanting to use a pen name with an agent? When you first query or later down the road?

Thank you!

Nathan, what do you think about quotes in synopses? I've dropped in a few, mostly because I use a great deal of dialogue, and I'm trying to get that point across (with something less blunt than a shovel).

just me-

I prefer page breaks after chapters, but that's just me. I think it creates a mental break.

And a pen name could be discussed at any time -- situations vary, and pen names can actually be a bit of a pain for some authors, but for others it works well.

benwah-

I've seen effective synopses that have quotes, and effective synopses that don't. It's not essential though, and I'll go with my fallback "if it works it works" on that one.

Thanks. I'm fond of the "if it works, keep it" approach to things. Deluged with queries post conference yet?

benwah-

It's actually been a pretty steady torrent since the beginning of the year.

Thank you Nathan.

You're the MVP or er MVB*

*B is for Blogger!

Well >phew<

At least that won't be the reason for my rejection. Keep these great tidbits coming. It gives us a few more things to eliminate when we're trying to figure out why we didn't make the cut.

OT, but interesting article on e slush piles in Publisher's Weekly.

Ah, it's so nice to feel smug when I read your post and find I am NOT GUILTY of some query crime. I despise rhetorical questions and won't let my students use them on essays, and I would NEVER give a cheesy opening like "So begins...." It sounds like a talk given at church: didactic. Yuck.
Okay, I feel good about myself now. Thanks, Nathan

anonymous, I'm impressed that you've even THOUGHT about a dedication when your book's still in ms form. Wow.

I was going to give you the opening quote is a rhetorical question gag, but someone beat me to it.




;)

Nathan
You're the kind of agent who can give a powerhouse agent like Don Maass a run for his money. Keep up the fantastic work.

a paperback writer...
you assume...???

But even if in ms form,
some things are inspired by others,
and the work, even if never published out loud, is grateful enough to prepare to take a private if not a public bow.
Dedications, like thank yous,
are always in order,
at least to keep in my mind.

For a change of pace, I've decided to start my query with a rhetorical answer.

Pet peeves of literary agents? I would guess, after reading the blogs of several agents, there are plenty out there. So many, in fact, someone could write a book.

Thanks for the info, Nathan. It's a pleasure to look into the mind of an agent -- in a non-surgical way.

Darn, I missed the question/answer session last night. But maybe I can still sneak in one for your morning coffee.

I've already finished my query, and I'm glad I didn't start it out with a quote or question. What has me worried is the length.

I basically summed it up in a three-sentece paragraph (this doesn't include the title or genre, but it's in the letter). I'm wondering if that's too short? Do I need to add more content or stick with the main plot and not add any secondary elements? I'm fighting with myself over wanting to add more, then banging my head against the wall thinking that this would be too much at one time.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling question.

I've only written about ten queries so far and that's enough to last a lifetime...

I have begun with a line or two, I admit. But I've never followed up with "So begins my..." You can just hear John Boy's voice-over. "So began the days when Grandpa dressed like geisha and we all had chicken feed sandwiches for lunch . . ."

I can see why it would annoy D.M. (By which I mean Donald Maass, not Danger Mouse.)

Thanks for the tip(s)!

I'm really enjoying your blog - you give such refreshingly straightforward advice.

I've looked for a good place to ask this question, and you seem fairly generous in answering them in this post, so I thought it was worth a shot:

In a query from a new novelist, is it a good idea to mention that you have ideas for a series involving the characters of the novel, or is it best to just stick to the one novel at hand? (I'm not suggesting pitching several novels at once, but maybe stating that the author is at work on a second adventure for our heros?)

What is your advice on that?

Thanks!

L.P.-

Thanks so much for the nice comment. Here's the post on how to discuss series in a query.

Thanks very much - sorry I missed that in my reading.

Hallelujah sister.

first of all, I agree.
Secondly, I have learnt that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, ever since I read a book when I was 11, that had horse poo on the cover, but in a little bubble said "do you judge a book by its cover?". It was a really great book...
So, now I judge a book by its title, which is essentially on the cover, but blurbs are evil and misleading, and well, the 'Horse Apples' book knows all.

>Shaggy and proud.

Shaggies unite!

I'm always shaggy, but now that I'm working at home full time, I tend to get scruffy too. Shaggy, scruffy, usually shabbily dressed, and being paid pretty well to be that way. This writing thing is pretty cool. (Even if most of the money isn't coming from the fun kind of writing...)

Hey there is a Jave house in Ontario, Canada too.

The best Burrito is on my Uni campus - Taco Villa. I hate Taco Bell because it's too greasy. I'm pleased to end my reading week only to rush back to Taco Villa after lectures with friends. Yum.

LeBron James is a better player. There just isn't a contest.

Now oh shaggy haired one; aside from the fact that Shaq is getting older (and wearing thin), think of his prime days. Who owns? Shaq or Kobe? I always use to say Kobe because of his long range and how he just would float across the court - that's LeBron now.

The best chinese food I've had anywhere in the country is at Chef Jia's(925 Kearny St.). It's inexpensive without sacrificing quality. Not to be missed.

I hope everyone who's going has a fun, productive time at the conference.

clara

Oh, and for burgers in the SF Bay Area, my guilty pleasure chain of choice is Nation's Giant Cheeseburgers. Big, sloppy, and greasy. Everything a burger should be.

And, if you get down to Pacifica, there's a hole-in-the-wall fish & chips place in the Safeway strip mall, Camelot Fish & Chips. I've had fish & chips in SF, Seattle, Vancouver, Boston, and London (and smaller places too), but Camelot is my favorite anywhere. I've actually seen them take the fish out of a bucket, dispatch it, prepare it, fry it, and serve it. Just do it. You know you want to.

Have you been to Alcatraz? I've heard that people grow up in SF and never go there. I always thought it would be a neat thing to see.

Have a fun weekend!

I'm a California transplant living in Iowa, and I really miss San Francisco. I'll probably go to RWA this year just to visit friends and go to my favorite places. I thought I get over not living in CA after 13 years. I now realize it's not gonna happen.
Have a great time in SF this weekend!
Allie

I don't suppose there's any chance that the San Francisco Writer's Conference is being held in New York this year? No? In that case, I don't think I'm going to make it. Oh well, enjoy yourselves.

Are any other regulars here attending the conference? As a volunteer, I'll be on site all three days and would love to put faces to some of the names. Nathan, I hope I run into you (not literally of course) and get to say hi.

not to turn this into a basketball thread, but...

maybe i should have said most talented player - lebron is massive, which ups his difficulty to defend. so yes, maybe if i were building a team around one guy, i might have to go with lebron (or KG), but in terms of pure basketball skill, nobody does it like kobe. oh, and kobe's better on d.

and thanks for the heads up on what to bring.

Oh, and the Lakers are evil. I grew up in New England when Bird, McHale, Ainge, Parrish, et. al. were playing.

Nathan, you've got me missing home. Wish I could go to that conference. Now I'm thinking food.

Any seafood lover visiting The City would do themselves a big favor by spending a little more at least once for a SF specialty at a good seafood place, cioppino. Mmmm cioppino! I don't know where the best place is, but it's hard to find bad cioppino, so any good restaurant that serves it will do for me.

Love to go to that conference, but I'm almost as far from Frisco as you can get and still be on the same continent.

Though having a bunch of writers and agents in San Francisco is no doubt a boon to the city's bar and tavern owners. ;)

All I can say is have fun, find the next big thing, and get a haircut you hippy!

(I kid, I kid. Since I once gone shaggy myself. It was a look I abandoned when I saw my picture with long hair and realized it looked like an IRA gunman's mug shot.)

In principle I should love the bay area. In practice, every time I've gone, I've ended up cutting the trip short and leaving before my planned departure date. I just have to leave. Not sure what causes it. My wife and I are heading up to Santa Cruz this weekend. It's not quite the bay so maybe I'll be able to make it to Monday.

I am really glad to hear that you are resisting the haircut!!

I think for me it's time though. I never got around to the "semi-" part of the "semi-annual haircut" last year.

Thanks for the advice on attending writing conferences. This may sound like an odd question, but...

Do you ever get attendees who just can't behave, and get a little too familiar and act like they've known you for years? I wonder if you'll start seeing that with people reading agent blogs and feeling like they know the agents already.

Not like I'd do that or anything, oh noooo.

So glad to hear that you don't like random pitches in the hall, the restroom or the checkout desk of the hotel. Common sense always told me that a verbal pitch meant nothing without the written words. Thanks for confirming my gut feeling. I'll stick to the written query.

Hope Clark
FundsforWriters.com

Okay...let's try that one more time...

Aloha nonLakerLovers,

Nathan,ummmm, I don't know how to say this, but we may have to cancel the surf lessons you won. To teach beginners I use the surfboard that your Golden State Warriors gave Kareem during his retirement tour . It's a Laker board through and through, even though Kareem gave it to me after his first few attempts to surf. The board bit him a couple of times. Now it's mine.

You can see the board at

http://www.hawaiilink.net/
~neptoon/htm/
downing.htm

Abdul...or Trindad Slim, as we often call him around these parts was a neighbor of mine here in Kilauea for 20 years. He sold his place about three years ago, but we still stay in touch.

I have been a Laker fan since Baylor and West, then Chamberlain...etc. etc. We Lakers fans understand the frustration of others.

As for your hair...go shaggy. Long is lovely! As a member of the Choctaw Nation I wear my hair traditional...right now it's mid-back.

I was once talked into cutting it back in the summer of 87. Here's a pic of Trindad and I the day he left Kauai to begin the new season... one in which he won another championship.

We were both slightly toasted at the time...

http://www.hawaiilink.net/
~neptoon/htm/
slim.htm

Enjoy your conference Nathan.

Aloha nui loa...

All these conferences sound interesting, but I'm traveling with the army now and they don't like putting us anywhere near New York, San Fran, or a place with writers and agents apparently.

Let me know how it goes, I'm going to continue living vicariously and missing the beach.

PJD,

You asked if any of the other regulars are going to be there. I'll be volunteering this year as well. Look me up because I don't recognize your name from the volunteer roster.


Nathan,

I'm in desperate need of a haircut as well, but this week was too hectic and I did not accomplish that task. Hopefully with the help of hot rollers and hair spray that I won't resemble a sheep dog too much.

See ya!

Linda

Don't be nervous? HA! You are the gatekeeper of dreams. How can we not be nervous? What if we turn into babbling idiots? What if forget who we are? Or what our book is about?
Are crib notes okay?
:)
Some women like the shaggy look.

That was a great conference!

I attended it several years ago when it was at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Unfortunately, it was my very first conference and I was completely horrified. Even so, it was a major step in showing me what I needed to work on in regard to writing. I found all the agents very friendly and approachable, although I shied away. Loved California! If I didn’t have responsibilities here in Florida, I’d pack tomorrow.

Maybe next contest, you could have San Francisco souvenirs for prizes. I was too broke on my visit to buy anything, and I certainly couldn’t tap into my cocktail fund. Have a great time!

The Minnesota Lakers rule! Can I trap you in a bathroom stall and go on and on about ancient basketball, Nathan?

Just kidding. I can't make it. Have fun!

Well, I'm stuck in Charleston, and there's no way I'll make it to the conference. Love San Francisco though. Great China Town, and I love the proximity to the beach, a theme park, and one of the nations greatest national parks (Yosemite. Go if you can. Walk to a water fall and get soaked).

My main advice for any first timers is if you stay in Foster City (just outside of San Francisco) do NOT miss your exit. I learned this the hard way when I missed the exit and ended up going over an enormously long bridge that I had to pay a toll on in order to turn around. Cool bridge though. Just hate me them tolls somethin' fierce. ;)

*Sigh* I visited SF with my fiance in 7 BC (Before Children). My dad was our host. We loved every moment of our stay. Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, The Golden Gate Bridge -- it was all so sparkly!

This was all before the big Quake.

I personally found this conference worth every minute I spent there, from the information in the sessions to the sheer entertainment value of most of the speakers, to the networking and contacts I made, to the ability to pitch one-on-one to four different agents and speak casually with many others. Perfect San Francisco weather and a fabulous venue (with a great conference room rate) didn't hurt.

I'm not sucking up (OK, not just sucking up) when I say that my favorite breakout session of the conference involved our very own hero, Nathan. His panel with editor Christine Pride of Broadway and author May Vanderbilt was funny and engaging and informative and insightful. My only regret is that I didn't have the opportunity to go hang out with them over drinks. What a fun trio they would be to hang out with. (Or so the first impression would indicate.)

For those interested, I've posted other thoughts on some of the sessions from SFWC. Sessions were recorded and are available on CD/mp3.

A quick thank-you to Nathan for being so approachable and candid. And the shaggy look is a good one for you, I think.

Hi and thanks for reading,

I found your blog because a fellow conference attendee mentioned it. (That was probably the best part of my conference experience: making new friends!) This year's conference was my first San Francisco writers conference and writers conference in general. It was a profound experience that has utterly helped me to (finally) define my career and personal goals. Thank you for being a part of this experience, Nathan. I'm sure being able to talk with you was productive, insightful, and pleasant for everyone, myself included, who met with you.

For those who attended this year's conference, please feel free to stop by and let's keep in touch! "Survivors of San Francisco Writers Conference", anyone? :)

PS: I vote yes on the hair.

My dad went to UConn and my twin sister and I were born i Conneticut (Fairfield County to be exact). I love the place and I drive in often. Too bad I will be smack in the middle of 'near end' term work, so unfortunately, I'm out.

I detect some disappointment, and it appears a demand for a recount on your end Nathan, am I correct in this assessment?

So sorry about the Wire, but as I always say with Sex and the City; you'll all ways have reruns.

Ada

I used to live in Minneapolis. Of course they read. The sunbathing alternative has limited appeal.

Aha. I just bought "The Arsonist's Guide . . . ." and will read it after I'm through with Ramsey Campbell's "Grin of the Dark (very very good) and get through a little number called "Don Quioxte de la Mancha" by some dude named Cervantes. My wife bought me for Xmas another quick read: the new translation of "War and Peace." I may have read the Classics Illustrated version of that one . . . .

Oh my god, I just finished the last episode of the fourth season of The Wire last night and I'm seriously considering getting HBO just to watch season five.

Instead of writing my book.

*damn* Stupid Goals and Dreams. Why can't you just die, so I can watch more tv?

On a more serious note, I've seen The Wire compared to a novel in about a zillion reviews. But I think the truth is there's just no way to describe how complicated and intricate and affecting The Wire is in relation to other (mostly lame) television shows, so the critics are reverting to other genres in desperation. The Wire - So Good You Might Mistake It For Literature.

Newbie alert, please be gentle. Actually, never mind the gentle.

Anyway, I love The Wire. I found out about it in my screenplay writing class when a guy mentioned it as an example of superb writing.

I saw one episode and was hooked. Not to mention Idris Elba brought his A-game.

I see most of the most literary cities are cold weather places....maybe all they can do when they're snowed in is read??? (or maybe procreate? I wonder what the average family size is in those places? Where's the study on that???)

Nathan, you can watch the first episode of The Wire now (as of last Saturday night, actually) if you have HBO on Demand.

My husband and I have watched it twice now ... I wanted to watch it once just to get absorbed in the story and again to marvel at the craft. It's going to be another amazing season.

Comcast on demand already aired the the first episode of The Wire. Yeah...it will be interesting to see who lives.

Bainbridge Island lies west of Seattle, a reading town. Trees were down, roads washed out but the bookstore was mobbed.

Rove got a million dollar book deal?
I just threw up all over my keyboard.

Tom:

I'm re-reading Don Quixote as well. I was in a deep "all writing is inadequate" funk, and it is curing me of it nicely. Ah, the surreal. Much more real than what most people call reality, if you ask me.

As for the ranking of cities, these are all bogus in their own ways. However, Saint Paul did come out third, which I happen to appreciate - mostly because they didn't lump us in with our younger sister to the West.

Nathan, as a direct result of reading your blog, DH and I are now both hopelessly addicted to The Wire after watching only the first 5 episodes of Season 1 on loan from the library. We do not have HBO so will not be able to watch the 5th season until the DVD comes out. This will undoubtedly cause us great anguish. But so far you have scored 10/10 on recommends for both "Spin" and "The Wire." Thank you!

I'm hoping the Karl Rove deal isn't a children's book. "Running for Class President: How to crush your opponents."

Don't knock the literacy of St. Louis. We have two spiffy universities with huge libraries and both a city and county library system...and fewer hills...

and a few people who read 10 books a month. *whistles innocently*

Eh. Who knows how they figured it out?

You make me miss cable.

Vampires will never die, it's just the nature of the beast.

Was that a bad pun?

Sadly, Lynne Spears will never die in the sense that there will always be another child-star mom pimping their kids out for bucks. However, few will flame out in quite the way this mother of a schizophrenic and teen mom has (and it was with a Christian publisher, fer you-know-who's sakes!).

Ahaha! Year in review for the win!

Thanks for your interesting, and always entertaining, views into the publishing world. Have a fantastic holiday!

So are you concluding that the vampire genre is undead?

Have a happy and prosperous new year, and thank you for providing such an informative and fun blog!

Thanks Nathan.
And you mentioned Robert Jordan! But now I heard that Terry Pratchett has a rare form of Alzheimer. :(

Happy New Year everyone.

They'd better not be dead, 'cause I got one more thing to say about 'em . . . or ONE in particular.

Happy Xmas!

Well I hope you have a peaceful and meaningful Christmas...and that you get to read some great books for the pure fun of it!!!

(Because this time of year brings out the sentimental side of me, let me just say THANKS for putting together such a great blog- fun, informative, and with occasional shots of rum!)

Sophie W.-

I'm thinking 2008 is the year of flying cars.

Any year now....

2007 - Condensed. I love it. :) You should come up with a list of predictions for 2008. Then come December, we can look back and giggle. Or laugh in a very manly way, in your case. I'll giggle.

I hope you have a peaceful vacation, Nathan, and see you in the New Year.

I was actually hoping for something along the lines of robots to do my calculus homework for me...

Whew what a year!

Nathan have a Merry Christmas and the same to all you bloggers who show up and make writing so very interesting!

See you next year, Nathan! Thanks for the info and the laughs.

Jet-packs in '08!!!

Hi Nathan, I'm on vacation, but do you think I'd miss your blog? I'm not even watching The Young and the Restless (the only TV I watch, sorry!)- but I'm tuning into you and Janet and a few others. And I'm actually having a lot of activity going on with a top editor and agent right now! So I'm glued to my Dad's computer. Thanks for all your sweet encouragement, and have a great holiday.

...And through all of 2007, Nathan Bransford remained the nicest man in publishing.

Your blog makes my day happier. Thanks.

Margaret aka Original Bran Fan

Nathan,
I hope you have a great holiday! Thanks for giving us so much in 2007.

Nathan, you’ve been a shining star of 2007.
Wishing you peace and joy. ☺

That face is meant is meant to look smiley!
Blogger seems to have made it frown.
Sorry!!!

Thank YOU, Mr. Bransford, for providing such a nifty blog all year. It's been a lot of fun to read every day. Here's to '08. Cheers.

Sing to the tune of Frere Jacques: You are clever and so funny yes you are, we know you are.
Mr Bransford, our fantastic Nathan Bransford you're a star. You're a star!

Have a wonderful, starry holiday. :)

Thanks for a year's worth of great posts, Nathan. Hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Thanks for the great blog, Nathan. You amuse and inform me every day. Except Saturday. And Sunday. And some holidays. And when you take vacation. Those are all sad, dark times. But I soldier on.

Happy New Year!

Thank you, Nathan! Thank you for this hilarious and very informative blog. I wish you much success in 2008 and a special thank you from those of us you took a chance on in 2007!

All the best,

Hilary

Thanks for the memories in 2007 and more than a few good tips and laughs.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good write.

JW

Happy Holidays!
You do serve a great need-
A book about doing this blog and the writer questions would be a great read...

Nathan - This blog has been awesome. Thank you for your insights, encouraging advice & engaging sense of humor. I've learned so much from you & many of your regular contributors. I really believe that great things happen to good people, so I hope you're ready for tons of well deserved success. Have a great Christmas & a fantastic New Year. You da man!!!

Congrats on a great year of blogging, and thanks for taking the time to impart your wisdom on all us eager hungry writers.

Aloha,

Mahalo Nathan for your insights, spiced liberally with mirth.

Hope the holidays give you a much needed rest.

Now, where did you want me to send your Xmas bag of poi?

Very funny and Happy Holidays!

"2008 will be the year of flying cars"
Zounds! A flood of Herbie the Love Bug stories? I guess it could happen.

Thanks so much for providing a great place for the write-minded to hang out, and especially for the groovy contests. I can't wait for the first Bransford Competition of 2008. Any hints as to what we might be sharpening our pencils toward?

Happy Holidays and wishes for a very prosperous new year. Thanks for blogging and providing such useful and entertaining information.

Merry Christmas Nathan!

Hi Nathan,

THANK YOU for your excellent blog, so useful to writers around the world. I enjoy reading your blog not only for the information, but also your style of writing.

Wishing you the best for 2008 too.

Happy New Year!

What an interesting year in publishing it's been! I didn't realize.... until this humorous post! Thanks!

Happy new year to you too! Thank you for your wonderful insight. Not only do we learn alot, but you make us laugh!

Happy New Year.

Bobby

Oohhh! ooo! oooo! I wrote a dog book! Where can I send it?
Jessica Faust is a saint...God bless her critique-ability.
:)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(I also have a Vampire book...I guess I should finish that before its really dead.)

I love the blog and think it's terribly witty.

I'm young, literary-minded and career hunting. Therefore I would be overjoyed if you would someday address how one becomes a literary agent and why anyone would ever be crazy enough to want to do so.

Thank you!
-Eileen/Speak Coffee

Sending you wonderful wishes for a great new year! Happy 2008, Nathan!

This was great, Nathan - as was your entire blog this year.

Happy New Year!!

J.F. Constantine

If you want to see projects first, you are doing something right, and that is responding quickly. Writers love agents who respond to queries within the day, and we tend to rank them higher when we're making our A lists and B lists. (Agents who say, "I only respond if interested" are on the Z list, or possibly lower.)

The magazine of F and SF is famous for responding on short stories within a week. That is their corporate culture, and they do it specifically so that writers will send stuff to them firt. They get first dibs on most stuff. What a great position to be in!

Margaret aka OBF

I got my first rejection letter at the tender age of 6 when I sent Princess Sophie and the Best Thanksgiving Ever (aka: a Piece of Literary GENIUS, complete with illustrations) to Highlights Magazine. They said it was too long.

Highlights turned me off of short fiction for the rest of my life. I can't even read the word "Highlights" without suppressing an urge to blow a giant raspberry.

That said, I can't imagine why someone would share previous rejections with an agent. I don't even share rejections with myself anymore. I live in a happy world where everything is peaches and I've already written 12 published books...

If it makes you feel better - I didn't query you first because I was afraid I'd screw up the first few queries and I love your blog! So, I thought I'd wait and make sure I got all the big errors out of the way before I queried my favorite agents. ;)

You still rejected me, but it was a very nice, personalized rejection - so thank you!

Just wanted to put a positive spin on not being queried first!

It seems to me that saying "X agent was very encouraging in their rejection letter" might trigger not only the response you mentioned, but an even worse one. I can easily imagine you (or any agent) seeing that and thinking, "X agent is brilliant and has been doing this for 40 years and knows the market like the age spots on the back of her hand. If she doesn't think this is good enough, who am I to think it is?"

Just seems like a bad idea all around...

In all honesty, the whole process sounds like dating. From the first cautious "Will you go out with me?" query to the the first date of the first chapter, everything you tell us about has all the markings of a dating scene, complete with bad nerves and mis-matched expectations of consumation.

And there's nothing that kills the whole process quite like talking about someone you've dated before.

Scott, once again, great point. A lot of agents seem to follow the herd mentality - they don't wanna be the first to say something is great, but as soon as they hear of agent interest, all of a sudden they wanna jump on the bandwagon.

I wonder how many agents would actually verify if someone wrote in a query "Binky Urban offered to represent me, but I wanna keep my options open and consider other agents before I decide"?

Nathan, in queries do you see more of "Agent X rejected this" or "Agent X said this project is the next Da Vinci Code"?

My philosphy? Query like hell and let each and every agent think they're your one and only.

The first agent I query will be an agent I'm pretty certain represents the sort of stories I write. I hate rejection so won't court it. I don't think you represent my style or genre but I love your blog. You're a funny guy and I can usually count on a good chuckle along with industry info. Not querying you first is no slight, just self preservation.

Blame it on the Divine Miss Snark. She told us to research agents before querying.

So, you weren't the first agent I sent the Holy Bennu to. That was because you were borderline on Young Adult.

Now, I have a Science Fantasy for grown-ups, but it's also romantic. And you don't represent Romance. Oh, what to do?

Jot you down as Second String.

Rejection doesn't bother me so much, but it's not like I'm in a hurry for an automatic one.
;)

Erik-

What a prefect analogy! I've also noticed that querying an agent is much like dating. I remember feeling the same way when an agent first rejected me that I did when a girl did the same thing. Sure the query letter for said project wasn't great, but who's to say my approach to asking out girls was any better? My wife can confirm that it wasn't. The same amount of mystery, need to impress, nervousness, and so many other things are involved in both the dating and querying process. Both experiences are equally nerve wracking, and I think most people look forward to the day they're off the market in both instances.

Also, love your blog Nathan! Always good for a laugh, and great for advice. You make life easier.

kimber an-

I'm not borderline on YA!

Erik and Taylor-

Ohhhh yes is it like dating. In fact, I have an old post called When Agenting Is Like Dating.

Seriously, who to query first is an incredibly difficult question. Not because I don't know what agent I want -- I always do -- but because the first queries are always the least successful. Like mystery robin, I don't think it's really a snub to not be queried first.

Last time I tried querying (first time doing this) I tried my favorite agent first. Form reject. Tried a few others. More form rejects. Hm, something wrong with this query? Got some help and rewrote it.

Round two. Lots of requests for partials! Yay! But then... those were all rejected too. Something wrong with the opening? Fortunately one agent was nice enough to clue me in. Fixed that...

Round three. By now I'm querying agents I never even heard of, who don't specialize in my genre. Finally, some fulls requested! But then, like I said, not so appropriate for those agents. Didn't work out. (Just as well, really.)

I'm petrified about the next go. The only thing I can think to do is get some good short story credits so maybe my first pick(s?) can see beyond the unrefined query.

Still, I wouldn't actually tell an agent they weren't my first pick. Sheesh.

Nathan, honestly, if not for your blog I probably wouldn't query you first since you don't list fantasy as a specific interest. However, the, "When in doubt query me," got my attention. That earned you a first peek at Paladin's Pride. Lucky you.

I would not send the children's books.

Telling an agent so-and-so thought whatever, when I query doesn't seem to be a wholesome approach. It's kind of like telling a blind date you've had 59 first dates in the past two months, but none of them were right. "However," bats false eyelashes alluringly, "I know you are Mr. Perfect."

A lady should never query and telll.

Uh, oh. I did just that when I responded to yesterday's post.

I don't know about the others here, but I sometimes think of your blog as kind of a mutual support group for aspiring authors, with you acting as a facilitator with Olympian insight on the inner workings of the publishing industry. It's easy to forget, or miss, that you're just as excited or frustrated about the process as we are.

So, I for one, apologize. Truth is, I've been delaying querying you. Possible rejection from someone I feel I kind of know, and like, has a whole different connotation from rejection by some mega-agency. Hell, I just finished "Spin" to see what kind of writing you like. (It was great, by the way. Good enough I went and got "Bind Lake" by Wilson to read next.)

I share the same fear that my first queries will be less than stellar, and don't want to blow my one chance with my favorite agent with a crappy first attempt.

That being said, you're the only one I've got my eye one and I'm sticking to that story.

And now I'm off to read that "dating" blog! It's always seemed just like that to me too.

"A lady should never query and telll."

Spot on, Julie; that's my philosophy as well. And there are some agents in the UK who request that writers include a list of agents they've previously submitted to. Needless to say, they're not even on my Z list (or I'm not that desperate, yet) -- too tacky!

Nathan,

Since it is the end of the year, I was wondering if you might share with us how many new clients you took on this year and if possible, their genres.

Just to give us an idea of the trend this year.

Thanks!

Deleted stupid horse story.

I lost your bank information, but good news. You send again and I give you location of Lost Flying Dutchman diamond mine my father left to me last week. Must keep hush, hush tho so greedy brother don't want his cut.

Dude, you're too good looking to be a literary agent. Sorry for the non seq, but it's true. Are your rejections as good looking as you are. Want to post a couple at LROD?

Wow people really do that? That seems sort of tacky to throw that out in a query letter. Like "Hey I need you to do me this huge favor, oh and you weren't my first choice."

Not too nice, but good to know all the same.

But, Nathan, sometimes you are only just discovered the moment before the query was sent...like Charlie Chaplin chasing girl after girl, until the real vision of his dreams walks through the door. Then he's willing to throw it all down for the vision, including any encouragement he's gotten from the other girls. Right?

*Sigh.* Only to have his heartfelt plea ("You were the one I was really dreaming of all along!") deleted forthwith, on the grounds of being a "time suck."

I'd never tell an agent that they were number two three or whatever on my list.

Believe me, I learned that lesson when asking out girls to the prom. "Come on Sabrina, don't say no. really I would have asked you out first, but Jessica had bigger ... "

For some reason I never got to finish. It's hard to think right after someone slaps you.

Okay, strange coincidence my word verification is nbeboobm

Just wanted to add my two coppered Lincolns. Nathan, you and a few others have pioneered a phenomenon--a zeitgeist--a veritable paradigm shift in which you've opened the doors to the writerly masses. What I'm referring to of course is a gateway via the electronic medium. Even though 90% will ultimately be rejected, I appreciate your guidance, advice, and sometimes superfulous commentary on televison shows such as "The Hills". For this blog you will undoubtely be mentioned in a history book. This being said, you will be the first to receive my finished manuscript. Thanks again.

-Curt

I did query Nathan first and he asked for a partial. I told him in my query letter the names of 8 authors who were recommending me to their agent, two of them uberstars, but I wanted an agent I knew had a sense of humor.

Well he rejected me and you know what? He was right. The middle of my novel is great. The ending is great. The beginning is just boring, it's not even clear who the protagonist is. I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Luckily I haven't cashed in all my chits yet.

If Nathan's lucky, I'll query him again.

:)

I'd query you first, I really would. You're the only agent whose blog I read. I think it's safe to say that you're my favorite agent.

Alas, you don't seem to take erotica, even the literary variety, and the novel is tangled up in a contest right now anyway. Sigh!

Seriously, it's a hard call where to send out manuscripts. Sometimes the people I know or like don't take what I write, and sometimes someone will say that they take erotica, but I don't like the look of their website or what I can dig up on Google. Some say they take erotica, but when I look at their books, I find out that it's erotic romance, and that's not what I write. Then I find someone who seems perfect, and they're not taking submissions until 2015. So it goes in this business.

That's why I went with the contest. As long as I jump through the hoops correctly, I'm in. If they bounce me for explicit content, they bounce me for explicit content, but at least someone will have read the book.

It is, in general, rude to tell someone that they're not your first. I just don't see the point, not in this context or any other. Nor does one ask, I would assume. Why even go there?

But yes, if I thought you'd seriously consider it, I'd query you first.

Dave, you are right about "Spin." I just finished it too, also to see what Nathan considered a mind-blowing novel, and I see the bar is set appropriately high. Full of beautiful sentences I kept stopping to re-read just to think about their poetic aptness, and a storyline that's a real page-whipper. "I landed in a drainage ditch, thigh-deep in water green as papaya leaves and warm as the tropical night. The water reflected the scarred moon and stank of manure."

But Nathan, here is a question: if we have done a major rewrite on a novel you've rejected via query, and are about to query second-tier choices with a vastly improved project, would you want to see THAT query first?

Nathan I can't promise you'll be my only query but I do promise that you will be my first. You have answered several e-mail questions for me and proven to be most helpful with your blog. I already feel that I can trust you and whatever advice you have for me.

Ha! You weren't the first at all! I think you were umm number ... somewhere past twenty.

And this is where I get to say neeener neeener? Pixie Warrior was released this month. ...

I'm sure that beyond the mere technical aspects of writing, what you represent must appeal to you. I select what I read on that basis. Good writing doesn't mean automatic or sustained interest.

And I second what Scot said. Mentioning the positive responses of other agents doesn't change their "no" to a "yes." All it does is raise the question, "Why did they reject this?"

Positive comments are learning tools; they aren't selling tools. Rachel Vater said no. She also told me in some detail what I needed to change. Nice person! An editor at Baen took the time to send along their "readers" comments. They said all sorts of positive things, but the answer was still "no… not really what we publish." I got my share of "Oh, lovely writing, but not what we publish." I still feel indebted to an assistant at Harlequin who took the time to lecture me on characterization in an early version of Pixie Warrior. All these comments were helpful, but they didn't sell the book.

As far as agents go ... I think the world of two of them. And if I ever switch to hard-boiled techno detective, I'll query. I'm sure there are others out there who are just as nice and just as competent. ...

I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot in a query letter, if I can help it. But, I'm not particularly interested in an agent's feelings beyond the business relationship. I won't say, "hey, dude, I saw your ugly face at the Uppity Agent and Writer Conference, and think you need a face transplant." That'd be silly. Just write a business-like and to-the-point letter. And for goodness' sake, don't have a glaring misspelling in the middle of the letter!

Hi there.

I'm new to your blog, but I loved this post.

When my new YA is revised and I'm looking for a new agent, I promise to query you...one of the first. ;0

J.

Well, you were one of the agents who sent me a nice rejection letter. I'm afraid I didn't save it, but it was early in my submission process.

My more personal rejections occurred later in the process, probably because I improved the letter over the months.

Nobody likes to feel like they're being asked to the dance because everyone else turned you down!! Why on earth would you tell an agent they weren't your first choice? And if they aren't on your list of "would love to be represented by," why are you querying them to being with?

Nathan, I'd like to know how you come back to those writers who all of a sudden have an avalanche of interest and offers of representation. How do you make yourself stand out in a crowd? Or does this turn you off as a dog & pony show?

T.C.

TC-

In those situations I just tend to be honest and straightforward with people and not oversell myself. If they want to work with me, awesome. If I'm not the best fit, that's fine too. I'd much rather have a happy working relationship than have a bad situation with a good project. In my opinion this is better for me and the author, and usually people appreciate the honesty.

Well if it makes you feel any better, you were my first query...and my first rejection.

:)

Happy holidays to you too!

I just got an image in my head of you standing on my front step with a dozen roses, saying, "Query me first!" Aw. That's nice.

Nathan, thanks for addressing this. I consider the US my home and won't be in Mexico forever, so while I'm writing about Mexico, it's not my target market.

Sorry about the Hills - but thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Who gets custody of the jellyfish?! Nathan, you're closer to Hollyrock than I am, would you start lobbying for a Spencer spin off show?

C.J.

If I were in charge of the networks there would be a show where Spencer and Justin Bobby hit on random girls at bars. It would be huge.

nathan, do you know when the curtis brown website will be up and running? is there going to be one now at all?
thanks, emily

emily-

It's coming soon!

I know, and it's probably already happening - they'd just have to film it. Writers' strike, Schmiters' strike.

Sigh I wanted more detail about The Hills . . . I guess I could go to some MTV site or something. But I like your wrap ups best!

Must remind self this is an agent blog, agent blog . . .

Nathan, what if you're an American writer and you believe your work will be better received in Europe (most likely the non-English speaking countries)?

Any advice? Should you consider foreign agents for your query list?

BTW, a guy in my writers group who lives half time in the UK (and half time here in FL) says unknown writers don't need to have a complete MS to get representation, just a partial and syn., in the UK. Had you heard that?

I'm so glad to see this question addressed, as it is something that I've been wondering about. I'm American, but live in and write about the UK and am very uncertain as to where I should begin querying. You mentioned that there is a difference in readers' tastes on either side of the pond. Can you elaborate on that at all?

Hi
It's great that you are willing to comment on a submission before it hits your desk. Bravo.

Anyway, I'm so relieved to hear that being overseas isn't an issue. While I'm a native to the U.S., I may be going to live overseas for a very long time, and this was a concern for me. Thanks for clearing this up Mr. Bransford.

Thanks for answering the question, Nathan!

Jessica, I think it's just the cultural differences. For instance, you might've heard heard of the bestselling TWILIGHT saga (by Stephenie Meyer). In the US they're huge, right? Well, here in Brazil, they're basically unheard of. There's not even a Portuguese version of the books. Likewise, Sidney Sheldon books are huge here, and in the US, they're successful, but they're not the constant center of attention. Every country has its own market, I suppose, and you should see where your book fits best.

:)

Nathan, here's a follow up to that. I'm up in Canada (eh) - I know some Canadian authors and their agents see benefit in selling US and Canadian rights separately because then the Canadian author will get a 'push' here at home whereas if they sell NA right all together, they may not. What's your take on this?

Hi Nathan,

How do you approach slang used in manuscripts from non-US authors? Is it a deal breaker if a Brit has used words like "wanker" and "plonker" and "numpty" in the text and references to UK shows/magazines etc, or are you more interested in whether the overall story and voice grabs you?

- London Lass

joanne-

The Canadian situation varies from publisher to publisher and from book to book, and it's tough to generalize about it. Some US publishers have Canadian subsidiaries and will try and coordinate publication, other times it might make sense to break up the rights with two different publishers. So it all depends.

London Lass-

Some slang and UK spellings shouldn't be an impediment for a US reader, but if the work is too dependent upon UK cultural references it may be difficult for an American reader to fully understand it. But ultimately it's all about the writing. I'm sure I missed more than half of the culutural references in James Hawes' SPEAK FOR ENGLAND, but I still really liked the book.

Nathan,
If I would translate my novel to Dutch, and be able sell it on the Dutch market (no bestseller, but no embarrassment either), would that increase chances to sell it in the US?
Or would the general reaction be: who cares about the Dutch market, go sell cheese!?

luc2-

Honestly, unless you're the absolute most beloved/famous author in a foreign country and your name is mentioned in conjunction with a possible Nobel Prize, US publishers aren't going to take notice.

FYI: Googling "Spencer Heidi unengaged"

You've made it to #1!

There was that monkey that almost caught me when I was a kid. He had a collar around his neck, connected to a chain, connected to a fencepost, which is why I got away. So that proves I was smarter than that monkey.

On the other hand, I was throwing sticks at him, which is why he came after me, so maybe I wasn't all that smart, after all.

(I don't know why I was throwing sticks at him. I don't remember that part. I mainly remember those enormous teeth and crazed eyes. Maybe he was a chimp. Maybe I was a chump.)

The same things concern me with e-books as with digital photos. I've been a geek long enough to realize that protocols and formats that are popular today are outmoded tomorrow (eg: vinyl, 8-track, and now CD seems to be going that way). With both books and photos, I want to keep them, to be able to read/look at them years from now.

Years from now, though, will my 2015 ebook be able to read my 2008 copy of Bartleby the Scrivener? Paper books present words in a format easily deciphered by the eye alone, with no need for decryption software, LCDs, electicity, or impending obsolescence.

ulysses,

In the cases you quote, the bigger problem is the hardware. As long as the formats are properly described somewhere, software can be written to convert content. For e-books, the content is a digital file, so the hardware changes shouldn't be a factor.

ulysses - I was going to say it but David beat me to the punch. I have some files done on Comodore 64 in WordStar in 1984... I still can read them by converting to HTML using an open source converter.

Paperspine doesn't sound like a bad idea for people who are housebound or who don't care to own a large collection of books, but I'd have to wonder about the shipping costs. A copy of War & Peace is heavier than a Beverly Cleary novel.

Jonathan Franzen: what a snoot. Classifies books into the erasable and the non-erasable. Kafka must survive! The books people actually read can go!

I'm disgusted by his comments.

Hmmm, Paperspine. They must be including a royalty payment to the author in the fee then, no?

*eyeroll*

Thanks for the heads up, Nathan. Also, the link to Moonrat was great. Bookmarking.

Lisa McMann
WAKE 03.04.08

The trend I'm seeing lately isn't for e-books but audio books from the net, many being distributed as podcasts. One of the most popular podcasts is for an audio book series called 7th Son. It seems people would rather listen to a digital download than read one. And it almost doesn't seem to matter what. The reading I'm doing of Beowulf on my Podcast Ping podcast (http://podcastping.blogspot.com) has been doing well.
And it really doesn't take more than a microphone and a computer to record one.

Believe me, if I could, I'd move to Sausalito in a heartbeat. Less than an hour from wine country and redwood forests...I don't remember seeing many people reading, though.

Nice lesson in literary economics from Moonrat.

Once you accept that we are a type of chimp, and nothing more, all the other comments about absolute truth and beauty become a little more amusing. And desperate, IMHO.

(I realize that the berry berry sophisticated among us will equate my comments with mental illness or something. That's fine by me.)

Thanks for the heads up on the Readius device. The e-book debates will continue for quite a while (several more years, at least) because it will be that long before the real e-book emerges. By that I mean the e-book that contains the winning display technology going forward. My guess is it will be a rollable/expandable display, but probably not of the type found in the Readius.

A must-have for e-books: integration with existing devices. People are reaching their limits as to how much electronic crap--cell phone, iPod, Blackberry, etc.--they're willing to carry around.

Amazon deserves a round of applause for producing the Kindle. The display is very cool as is downloading content via the cell network. But the fact that it is an e-book and nothing more ultimately relegates it to the also-ran pile.

My one major Kindle criticism: Its physical form is utterly lacking any aesthetic virtues (i.e., it's ugly as sin).

Conclusion: NorCal Monkeys are well-read junkies.
And a side-note, I do like that the article notes that Eureka is Northern California, but I've always let San Francisco join the party. Sometimes I'm even OK with Monterey being a part of it.
But never Fresno.

Nathan, I went to my university library today to get some books for my term paper for next semester (I like to start next semester's term papers on the same day the last semester ends).

Anyway, they only had one "book" on the topic - a f---ing e-book version of the text!

When I thought about how I rapidly page through these research texts, and use post-its to mark the sections that apply to my topic, I began to realize that wasn't going to be an option on a computer screen, or any type of reading gizmo.

So I found a real version of the book available through inter-library loan, and put in a request. The 20-something college student who worked at the lib. and helped me said she wanted no part of e-books either, which I thought interesting.

On a completely unrelated subject, if you want to read an eviscerating review of one of those NYT notable books, here's an "Atlantic" review of Denis Johnson's "Tree of Smoke."

I haven't read the book, but if the language quoted is indeed representative, I'm not gonna.

Josephine - I have worked with .pdf documents that have a post-it function. It is extremely useful because it has search capabilities that hard copy post-its do not. Seems to me this technology will be very useful for e-books, and would likely be available in an e-book future.

also, yay Northern California!

Nathan,

Thanks for pointing a link out to the PW article on the San Francisco Bay area as being a wonderful place for writers.

I agree.

I love living here and I concur that we are part of a marvelous literary community.

I especially liked the ending of the article:

"The writing life here is not about succeeding at the other guy's expense; it's about helping each other out. New arrivals are embraced, not viewed as threats. That might sound hippy dippy, but what you call it doesn't matter. This generosity alleviates the lonely, often frustrating grind of writing. It's not a utopia, but often it feels close to something like that."

Being a member of the oldest professional writers club in America, I will agree with that assessment. The people I've met in the California Writers Club (from any of its seventeen statewide branches) have been gracious with their time and advice. Likewise, I do my best to share my knowledge and try to inspire those just learning the craft whether they are young students or older people who are finally dedicating the time to write.

Oh, and living north of the Golden Gate is heavenly. I pass by vineyards everyday on my way to work, and the gorgeous Sonoma coast is only a short drive away.

Natural beauty, culture, fabulous food, world class wine, and collegiality are found all in this area. What else could you possibly ask for?

Oh, yeah, affordable housing!

(I'm glad I bought when I did.)

Linda

Kathleen, thanks for the heads up. I guess one of my biggest problems is that I only have dial-up where I live, and that makes it more diffucult.

Still, I use colored post-its to mark parts I'll use for intro, conclusion, etc., and I can go to a section quickly that way. I'm afraid this dog is too old to learn new tricks.

Other Lisa, I was in a book store and checked out "Tree" - read the first few lines and was unimpressed as well - I scratched it off my TBR list.

With eBook readers, I have to wonder how well they hold up in -50 celsius weather. Cuz that's how cold it gets here (once you factor in the wind.) Without the wind, it only reaches -35 celsius, or thereabouts. (Sorry, don't know the conversion formula to change it to farenheit.)

I ask because I have left both my laptop and my digital camera in the trunk of my car on reasonably cold days -- only -10 to -25 or so. The memory on both things were destroyed. I lost all my pics on my camera and I had to reformat and reinstall windows on my laptop.

If I chuck an eReader into the trunk and leave it there for a day or two -- am I gonna lose everything when it warms up again?

I'm planning on going to teach in Japan for a year, and I'm saving up for a Kindle. The only reason is because it's easier than lugging my entire library across half the globe and finding space for them in an apartment that's likely to be the size of my kitchen cupboard.

That said, I'll still always prefer regular ol' paper and ink. I like the tactile sense of turning pages, highlighting things or making notes in the margins. I LOVE books and I think (and hope) they won't ever be fully done away with.

Still, it's neat to read about all these new kinds of e-books coming out.

That book rental service just sounds ridiculous though. I'll just stick with my local libraries, thanks.

anonymous:

Solid state atteries all die right around -20C, and there's nothing that can be done about it as of now. What you can do is to plug them in to your car lighter, which is good to about -40C (the old fashioned lead-acid batteries still work to that temperature). Otherwise, you simply have to keep them warmer than that, ideally no less than about -10C.

Don't worry about wind chill, that's based on a the heat loss on a 2m tall ceylinder 1m across (roughly the shape of a human). It means nothing to a non-heat producing thing or a thing of a different shape.

Interesting that someone thinks they can compete with "free". I love libraries, but I guess there is a market for laziness...not wanting to drive to the nearest public library. This ought to be telling of our society, in my opinion!

On "fetishizing ink and paper" it really is kind of a fetish thing. Friends of mine are violently opposed to e-Books, saying that the tactile experience of turning a page, of smelling the ink and paper, is an integral part of the reading experience. It's like someone who can't get it up without hosiery being involved somewhere.

I agree with the sentiment, though. I can easily see myself churning through the latest trash that SFF has to offer, but if I were to sit down with Faulkner, I'd like to hold the book. There really is just "something about it."

As a side note, e-Books don't allow people to show off. How can someone know you're reading a drop-name like Proust or Voltaire if you're staring at pixels on a screen? What they need to do is have a scrolling LCD on the back displaying the author and title of the book. Gives you a reason to take it to Peet's and sit there while sipping your breva cappuccino.

RE: Comment #5

You're right to be skeptical. I checked out that website, and for $9.99, all you get is the right to browse their site. Renting books then costs $1.49, each. And they don't even have new releases because they won't send hardcovers. In searching around, I also found BookSwim.com. Their comparable plan starts at $14.99, but there are no stupid charges beyond that. Oh, and they do have hardcover new releases.

Doris Lessing. Nobel speech. A culture of books.http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2223780,00.html

God bless the author for allowing you to share this with us, and thanks to you for showing us what the problem areas are.

I found the writing interesting, but as you said, a bit stilted. I never thought of a person "snorting a laugh". I understand what the meaning is (laughing with a snort) but the phrasing is awkward.

I wish the author all the best though! Editing again and again is tedious, but it's the only way hone the craft and come up with writing that sings, without hitting a sour note.

Hugs and happy holidays!

I think they did a fabulous job - kudos to the author.

I agree, too, with Marti, revisions can be hard, but it's better to hear this now and get the chance to really hone the revisions so that the writing best showcases what is definitely an intriquing story.

It's a hard balance, too, that first chapter, really the first page, has to not only help the reader get his balance, but also pull him in... It's hard, I think maybe more so with a setting so far away from current reality, to include enough detail to ground the reader without slowing down the story's progress.

Great work, though, brave author... thanks for sharing.

And thank you, Nathan, for posting it with your critique for us.

Josie *waves* to the "mystery" querier. ;-)

Here's my (hopefully not mean) thoughts on the query alone:

I thought the personalized paragraph could have been a bit shorter, maybe a pithy, witty one-liner about what a fun and way cool agent Nathan is on his blog
(and no doubt everywhere else.)

Writer, nice job presenting the title, genre and word count in one concise line.

The parts of the query where the writer used dashes kinda bothered me, almost as if they felt the need to explain what they'd just said in the part of the sentence prior to part between the dashes, JMO. Thought those sections could be re-worked in a more plain and straight forward manner, and elinimate what seems like "aside comments" to me.

I thought the last paragraph conveyed the writer as a person with an interesting, diverse back-ground.

Marti: luv your avatar!

Nathan, thank you.

That was way more feedback than I expected, and it's clearly expressed, specific, and so very, very useful. Thanks so much for doing this. (Best rejection I ever got!) You're a star, and I really do appreciate this.

To the blog readers: have at it! I am honestly interested in anything you have to say about the piece, good or bad, and I thank you for being willing to help me improve as a writer.

I think Nathan hit all the main problems, and I think this will be more of a learning experience for me than anything, so I will sit back and watch.

One thing I must say, the author did a very good job of portraying sign language. Unfortunately, I thought Esfirre was some kind of magical familiar because she spoke in italics, until you explained that she was mute.

Since I often criticize your profession here, I think I should be one of the first to say thanks for that and it was very helpful. I really appreciated the level of detail and the more holistic view of what worked and didn't.

I think this is a very interesting concept!

Writer, you know you've got to do lots of rewrites and edits...WE ALL DO! It's part of the process. Let yourself relax and keep working!

I got my best rejection ever here too. And yeah, still working at it!

I like this query, and I thought the story sounded interesting. Why is one woman using sign language, the reader asks herself. Very mysterious.

Nathan, in looking up your submission guidelines I found you to be a query only agent. Is it normal for people to attach 5 pages?

Thanks for sharing.

r.c.-

It's ok if people copy in some sample pages into the actual e-mail, but I don't include this in my submission guidelines because I don't want to start receiving them as attachments.

Good query, Author. When I reached its end, I was really most puzzled about what Nathan might say regarding it.

Then I read your opening paragraph.

There is a delicate line between rich, evocative description that delights a reader and heavy, encumbered description that a reader must work hard to get through. Oftentimes, it's only the addition of a word or two that separates the one from the other.

For instance, the predawn light painting the sleeping initiates gray is enough. That shadows cling to the corners is unnecessary information. It's predawn -- of course there are still shadows.

And a room doesn't really whisper. Try A chorus of soft breathing whispered through the room.

Try Katirin's trunk yawned open, revealing a tongue of pale robes. Readers know where a tongue is located, so saying "forming the tongue of its mouth" feels very redundant.

Write your first draft as floridly as you like. Then edit ruthlessly afterward. Not every noun needs an adjective. And very few nouns need more than one adjective. Especially when noun and adjective say essentially the same thing, like narrow slot window.

I also thought at first, as Sophie did, that Esfirre was perhaps a cat or other familiar. Not only the italics but her name made me think non-human.

Best of luck! That you're reaching out and are willing to do what it takes to improve is 99% of the battle!

Thanks Nathan. I also wanted to mention to the author that something about the following sentence was confusing to me:

"K. is a princess of such embarrassing parentage her family forced her into a convent to get her out of the royal succession."

I think if my parents forced me into a convent, embarrassment wouldn't be my emotion of choice. I know you mean to say she has bad parents, but I think you can say this in a stronger, clearer way. "K's parents forced her into a convent to keep her from her rightful inheritance." That action kind of speaks for itself, you don't have to explain that her parentage is embarrassing.

Just my $.02. It is a great premise, so don't give up!

You are a brave girl! My own thoughts are that there isn't sufficient in the introduction for me to figure out where I am, who the speakers are and what their relationship might be. Because we know our characters and story so well, it's often difficult to get that balance just right so readers will instantly feel connected to the world we create. Good luck with your revisions.

Lovely query, zee bashful author. 8^)

I really like the unique set-up of your fantasy, but I couldn't help wondering what the real premise is. I understand a demon is after Katirin's soul, but why? How will devouring her soul destroy the nation? Without knowing the answer to these two questions, I don't get the point of the story.

I did enjoy your opening pages. Though tightening your prose is needed, as others have pointed out, I personally like starting to read a bid mid-action, and beginning with some opening dialogue works for me. It forces me to get caught up in events before I know what's going on, so by the time such needed information is revealed, I'm already emotionally invested in the characters. But that's from a reader's point of view, not an agent's or and editor's.

Good luck with this! 8^)

Um, yeah, what phoenix said...

I'm guilty of overwriting as well, so I understand where this author is coming from. But the good news is overwriting his quite easy to fix once you get the flow of it.

For the first paragraph try... In the predawn light the other initiates slept. But Katirin placed a pair of stockings in her trunk. "Help you. I can't even..."

Later on, instead of: "... Anger creased Esfirre's face and her fingers flashed through more sign language. "Not right away..."

Try: Estirre's face hardened. "Not right away," she signed. "Haven't you a spine?"

Really, you don't even need the "Estirre's face hardened," either... the urgency of the dialogue lets the reader know Estirre is panicked.

Lyrical writing is great but when you have to read a sentence a couple times to know what's really being said, then it's time to start cutting.

Thanks for letting us see your query/pages. Good luck to you and godspeed!

All right. Please accept this in the spirit intended. These are my opinions and opinions are worth what you pay for them. I’m going to treat this as I would one from my writing group, so please don’t be offended.

Nice opening to Nathan, but too long. A brief nod to the agent, letting them know you are familiar with them and possibly what they represent. I used to offer bribes of gift certificates for pralined pecans, but I understand enticing agents with food isn’t acceptable behavior these days. In lieu of pralined pecans, a few pertinent remarks about them is acceptable, I suppose, though I still think food is the perfect bribe. I liked your succinct presentation of the novel with word count etc.

The second sentence in the novel description is unwieldy to me. Em dashes should be used sparingly as they jar the eye. I want to get lost in a story. Don’t give me any reason to quit focusing on it. Roiled is a lovely word, but when an author tosses it through a story like confetti, like one who shall not be named does, I want to demonstrate roil to them. Same with punctuation. Use it in such a manner that it doesn’t draw attention to itself.

I tried reading the sentence aloud and it left me breathless from sheer length. Reading my work aloud is always helpful to me. My ear detects things my eye misses. Pretend you have sold your novel and it’s being made into an audio book. Do the words flow seamlessly? Do you let the reader come up for air?

"Katirin vows to stop the creature, but she needs to answer one question first--how do you kill a demon that lives in a thousand bodies?"

This could be dramatic, but posing the question like this loses the punch.

Killing a demon who lives in a thousand bodies is impossible, but Katirin knows she must to save her country.

Clumsy, but you get the idea.

"Shadows clung to the corners of the dormitory as predawn painted the sleeping initiates gray. The room whispered a chorus of soft breathing.

Katirin's trunk yawned open on her bed, pale robes forming the tongue of its mouth. Katirin tossed a pair of stockings in, then turned to face Esfirre again. "Help you. I can't even help myself. What am I supposed to do, hide you under my wimple?"

Beautiful description is hard. I don’t do it well and finally resigned myself to the truth. I have some friends who leave me vowing never to write another word because they do it so well. I’ve found for myself, the answer is to do a Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes wearing a simple, well-designed black dress with gold heels is much more attractive than layers of flounces and frills.

Lines like, “skies the color of torn plums,” and “cows drinking their reflections,” can be more powerful than paragraphs of description. Concentrate on the action and toss out a gem of description carefully so it is treasured.

You have an intriguing situation here, don’t dilute it with unnecessary description or confuse the reader.

Write to your strengths. What do you do extremely well?

I think the premise of your story is fascinating and has some real potential. Let that shine through.

Best of luck with your novel.

Now, see, I like the question raised in:

"Katirin vows to stop the creature, but she needs to answer one question first--how do you kill a demon that lives in a thousand bodies?"

- even if I guess it's kind of a rhetorical question.

I'd just shorten it to:

"Katirin vows to stop the creature, but how do you kill a demon that lives in a thousand bodies?"

Or something like that.

I think you're trying a little too hard to make everything unique and interesting. This has the paradoxical effect of flattening the prose. Try to use flourishes sparingly; only when what you're saying needs it.

You can obviously write: I'm just feeling your effort a tad too much.

I'm just impressed that the writer is a physicist. Keep that in your query - it's cool.

Love the query, and premise!

One thought. It's a small thing, and just my opinion, but when you do have those descriptive dialogue tags (and I think Nathan is right that there may be too many of them here), I generally prefer to place them after the dialogue or within the dialogue.

E.g., "And what would that accomplish?" Katirin made her tone cut. "My guards would find you."

Good luck, bashful! :)

I've seen this before on Crapometer, so kudos to the author for taking it a step further here. Nathan is a valuable critter, nice guy, yada yada. :D

I think the descriptions here get in the way of your characters--especially your verb usuage in relationship to things and your metaphors. Two points about this. Remember, we've just met Katarin. The more the first pages focus on her, the more willingly we will follow her around in her strange new world. Which leads me to my second point, we're in a strange, new speculative world in this book. How do I know that vines in this world don't literally "hiss" when they're tugged on? It seems dumb, but really, when we're tasting a new fantasy, we're ready for anything to happen, so you must be careful how you present things. Save some of your intriguing description for later when we're better grounded.

Just a thought: Could it be that this is not quite where your story begins? Is this conversation really the propelling event of your story? Only you can answer that, but it's something to think over carefully.

But my major issue is easily remedied, which is scene setting. From your query I know she is supposed to be sent to a convent, but I don't know where she is--not from your pages. Initiates and dormitory could signal a cult or a college fraternity, for all I know. Plain old boring clarity is an important issue to tackle here. In focusing on your forbidding details, maybe you forgot to back up a bit and give the reader the widescreen view.

"She said" would solve a lot of Nathan's quibbles with facial expressions. Make your dialogue work for its keep and express more than just the spoken word. I can see the potential for you to do that here. Read it aloud; I'm sure you've heard that before.

Sorry so long--but I don't waste time on worthless writing. There are gems in this and the premise is solid. Keep at it and good luck!

Thanks to Nathan and the author! Examples like these are incredibly helpful!!

This crit is probably a little off the wall, but, I know a few things about sign language, and when it's 'spoken' well it's a language of few words. It's also a language of concepts; for instance, the sign for 'brother' is 'man-same'. Not that I assume you are using American Sign Language.

Anyway, to the point, I think the signing character's dialog should be a little more choppy, and to the point, especially when she's signing quickly, or angrily.

I really liked the idea of the demon in multiple bodies, but I agree with karen duvall - we need a motivation for the demon.

My other comment is something that I'm running into with my own manuscript. Maybe here it's just a lack of info in the query. Katirin sounds, well, kinda vanilla. I would suggest incorporating a couple interesting details about the main character in the query.

Thanks Nathan, and author.

I liked the query, but the wordiness of the pages got to me. Good luck with the rewrites. Some solid suggestions here.

Nice quote at the end, Nathan:
Emotions and facial expressions are universal -- how people deal with emotions and express those emotions are unique.
So true, but I sometimes forget it while writing.

Author ... you're one gutsy critter and I have total respect for that! And you can definitely write -- evocative language, good visuals, etc.

I think starting with dialogue is very, very hard, because it means you have to convey setting, tone and voice while using someone else (i.e., your character). It's a trick to pull off, and unless your dialogue is the voice (a la Anthony Burgess), I don't think I'd try it.

One of my writerly friends once told me that "plot over prose" is the way to go, and I guess I agree. I like to start in the middle of action, keep the prose lean and tight (save your admirable flourishes and wonderful descriptive abilities for later, dole them out like truffles) and plunge me headlong into the story. Thus, maybe start with the climb ... or whatever happens beyond. I've read that Dickens was a madman for first sentences, and I know that John Irving pays particular attention to them. So I always try to give a first sentence that's like a smack in the face with cold water. My belief: you give one good, active sentence at the start, and you've bought yourself a page. You give one good page, and you've bought yourself a chapter. A good chapter ... and you've got a reader. Pace, pace, pace. Was the DaVinci Code art? I dunno ... but, man, was it ever a compelling read.

Your writing is very strong, and I think the hook is wonderful. So inventive! Really, my only advice is to maybe start with plot, not character, and let the unfolding action reveal who your characters are, because after all, aren't we really defined by what happens to us and what we do about it?

Jon

Two questions:

1. Can the author revise and resubmit or is that not a usual process?

2. You said you liked the story. Is it too much work to guide the author along or did you feel it was not sellable at all?

Everyone's said what needs to be said, so I'll just chime in with a, "Great query! The story sounds very promising." And add, "But upon reading, you need to pare it down. It's overwritten. Although, with revision, this is probably an easier problem to fix than, say, an incoherent plot or ridiculous pacing (which are, ahem, MY problems)."

Good luck!

but I'd be very careful and very judicious in how you use it -- descriptions of facial expressions really only thinly veiled ways of telling the reader what emotion the character is feeling. Unique gestures, dialogue and actions tend to be much more interesting ways of describing the way someone is feeling and go further toward creating interesting characters.

I think I am guilty of this in my writing. It's definitely something I'm going to keep in mind when I start rewriting again. Thanks very much, both to the author for allowing the critque to be posted and to Nathan for doing it.

but I'd be very careful and very judicious in how you use it -- descriptions of facial expressions really only thinly veiled ways of telling the reader what emotion the character is feeling. Unique gestures, dialogue and actions tend to be much more interesting ways of describing the way someone is feeling and go further toward creating interesting characters.

I hope writers don't stop describing facial expressions because of this, lol! I think the important distinction her is what Nathan said about "telling." It's the viewpoint character's interpretation of those expressions that can be key. Esfirre's face creasing with anger doesn't reveal much, but if her jaw tightened as if biting back the words she couldn't speak, that tells us something about the character. 1) that Esfirre's a mute; 2) Katirin knows her well enough to understand her unspoken emotions.

When other writers usually had me a WIP its usually a fantasy or sci-fi type of novel. I think the hardest thing about writing one of those is establishing the world. From my experience, I think the writer usually is either trying to make that world unique from all the other fantasy books out there, or they know that world so well in their heads that they neglect to fill the reader in on what elements that fantasy world is comprised. On top of that, I think there's also a bit of balance that takes place at the start of any book because on the one hand, there is a whole world to introduce but also, the story has to draw in the audience.

And actually, I thought this one did a good job of introducing things like the sign language, which I didn't understand at first, but I didn't have to read much further in to get that aspect of the world to click. I mean, there are even a few clues as to where Kaitirin is (i.e., "wipple") but I agree that maybe this book starts before this; how and why she's in this convent.

First of all, thank you Brave Author, for sharing your query letter. You're braver than I am, so good show. Your query letter is actually really good and interesting, and I was asking myself why the devil Mr. Bransford passed it up. But as he said, the issue is with your attached writing, not the query.

I'd agree with Mr. Bransford. The start of this piece left me feeling more than a little confused. As a result, I kept trying to catch up or fill in the blanks in my head as I read along, which only made me feel left behind and like I was missing more stuff.

The beginning of a book of any subject or genre is so important. Most people will read the dust jacket, and then the first few lines. I may give a book a few pages to get rolling if it's a little slow at first, but if it's confusing I just give up. If I'm having trouble keeping up with the story, I can't really enjoy it.

Best of luck to you though, this sounds like a really interesting premise.

The query was phenomenal - I hope the writer keeps working on the manuscript, because I'd love to see this in print.

Thank you to everyone who commented; I really value this feedback. You've all given such great (and detailed!) advice, and you've been incredibly kind about it also. I will study and assimilate all your comments before planning how to rewrite this book.

Thanks so much, to all of you, for your generosity of spirit. This experience has been just wonderful.

(And, y'know, painful. But I thank you anyway! :-) )

Cheers,
JJ

"and you've been incredibly kind about it also."

JJ, Nathan threatened us with military operations and so forth. Well, he threatened mean, anon people, but wise people understand the implications.

Seriously, what good does ripping someone's heart out accomplish? When I crit for people I try to find the things that work as well as the things that don't.

As I said in my comments, find your strengths and write to them.

I come from a ranching background and raise Quarter Horses. I've been a staff writer for a racing magazine for seventeen years. I like puzzles and I have a warped sense of humor.

I gave up trying to write prose that makes a person want to read something over and over because it is simply so beautiful. I can't do it. Now I stick to stories with horses, plots that fit together like a puzzle and characters with very odd personalities. I may not ever be a household name, but I'm comfortable in my skin and I enjoy playing with my characters.

You've got a lot of things going for you. Play to your strengths. Improve your weaknesses and hit your stride.

((Deleted first post because I screwed up quotes.))

Just found this blog - a worthy successor to Miss Snark. I'm an author, but I also do critiques for an editorial service, and it's fascinating to see other people's take on this kind of thing. I also know how much courage it takes to put your work up for this kind of scrutiny, so respect for that.

And thanks, Nathan, because your discussion of the hard work of starting to read a novel prompted a post on my own blog, so thanks for that, too!

How about fantasy - science fiction hopping?

How about the genres within kidlit? What if you write a few picture books, a couple of mid grades and some YA?

I have this talk with my agent all the time, and her answer is "write what you love."

anon-

Fantasy and science fiction are a bit squishier than others since they're a bit more closely related, and it really depends, but I'd still prefer that the author tries to build a brand and a signature style rather than hopping if the differences are too great. At the end of the day they're still different genres, and while there may be a bit more overlap in terms of readership, too drastic a shift could be negative.

A clear exception to this would be, for instance, if the genre of the first novel was dark urban fantasy and the second book is dark urban science fiction. If the worlds and style are similar and the genre distinctions are only technical (i.e. whether it's present day or twenty years in the future) I could see it working more seamlessly.

Still, it comes down to that last question -- whether it's part of building a brand/career or whether it's for fun.

cynjay-

Good point. Kid-book-dom is a bit more fluid than the adult side.

If you just have to do it what do you recommend? A pen name or an understanding agent?

loren-

Sometimes it takes both an agent and a pen name. But step 1 is the agent.

"Heck, even writing a novel within a genre that's saleable usually takes several attempts."

So true, so true...

The follow-up to this: if you have a novel that kinda falls into two genres, pick one (only one!) when you write your query and make sure your query hits the expected genre stuff. No "mystery/romance." No "mystery with romance overtones." It's a mystery.

That's the dilemma I'm in right now. I've spent four years writing historical novels (4 published, 3 more on contract). But I don't want to do that the rest of my life. The research alone is enough to make a dry woman drink. Now I want to break into the thriller market.

I'm amazed because yesterday I was just thinking about asking you this question. Thanks!

Ouch, Heather, that's tough.

I abandoned a novel that got a lot of professional attention because I didn't ever want to write anything like it again.

Now, I may never publish anything, but at least I'll be writing unpublishable stuff I have fun with..

Hm, maybe this isn't a good example!

"...a group of courtesans in King Arthur's court who are actually monkey space cannibals."

So, women are monkeys and cannibals, in your opinion. Is this how you view all women or only those whom society disenfranchised to the point of having no other option but to be a prostitute?

Kate - I don't want to be the idiot posting a serious reply to a joke (wait... I want to be one...) but I noticed that you didn't have any smiles in your post, so you must have been serious.

I think that the whole concept was meant as a statement of disapproval of the gender oppression in the middle ages.

What kind of a knight of a round table are you if you confuse a hairy animal wearing a space suit with a human female?

======== QUOTE ===========
You have a killer idea for a science fiction novel involving monkey space cannibals and you ALSO have an idea for a historical fiction novel about a group of courtesans in King Arthur's court who are actually monkey space cannibals.
======== END QUOTE =======

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

I'm curious, because it's something I've seen quite a few times lately, what about writing both adult and YA, but the same genre for both (ie paranormal romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, whatever)?

I've heard over and over about how authors are not to genre hop, they should build their name in one genre, and it makes perfect business sense. But I'm seeing it more and more, and I can see where there would still be problems, so I can't help but wonder if it's just a little more acceptable from an agent's perspective.

katherine-

Adult to kid's (or vice versa) is still something that would have to be addressed on a case by case basis in consultation with your agent. It's very very different writing, very different audiences, and sure -- some make it work, but it depends on each situation.

I know you're right and I hate it that you're right. I love to read thrillers and murder/mysteries but my attempts at writing either have fizzled out. My niche appears to be historical fiction so I'm sticking with it.

Anonymous - Your reference to gender oppression in the middle ages isn't exactly accurate. Have a look at "Women in the Middle Ages" by Frances & Joseph Gies and "Memoirs of a Medieval Woman" by Louise Collis. Might just change your opinion.

The trouble is, whenever I get an idea for something, it's not in one genre or the other. I just get an idea for a story that I can relate to, or that I know, and then I (attempt to) add my voice to that story. The way I see it, genres seem to be a limitation. Then again, I'm not trying to merge zombies and super-intelligent monkeys mutated by space radiation like some mad scientist on meth, I'm just trying to tell a story.

How about Historical Fiction and Sword & Sorcery in an Alternate Historical Setting?

I tried to talk with that plotbunny, I really did. But they never listen. :)

The thing is, once you decide it's not worth the bother to be published you can write whatever you want.

Honestly, I can't see why anyone would put the effort into all the little things that publishers want you to do. Once you're going through the effort to meet someone else's requirements, you have to be doing this as some kind of job. There are far, far better jobs for writers than this - ones that pay a decent salary all the time, not just when you finally get some publisher to read yer stuff.

I honestly don't understand this. If you enjoy writing, write what you want. But to go through all these little hoops in the hope of making a career? Seems like the lottery has a better expected return.

This is why self-publishing will continue to take off.

I think the main point of sticking to a genre is to find a place in the bookstore to shelve the book. Right? And that if you actually do end up with a real book, and readers, your agent will advise you to write something those readers will want to read.

Unless the plan is to not make a career of it, in which case those medieval cannibal space monkeys could be a lot of fun.

Aw, man, someone stole my Space Monkey Cannibals in King Arthur's Court story! I am so incredibly bummed. I think I'll drown my sorrows in chocolate chip cookies and Romulan Ale.

This is a pertinent article for me. Thank you!

Now, following your advice is going to take a lot of whip-cracking.

Kimber An, as Erik suggested, only crack whips if that is what you're in to. Writing takes to much physical and psychic energy to write less than what you want to write.

I agree with Sam.

Like OMG! Someone ripped up my space monkey cannibal idea!

Off. Ripped off my idea.

Ah, Nathan, you forgot -- or perhaps are unaware of the fact -- that Connie Willis expertly pulls off sci-fi/historical in Doomsday Book and its sequel, To Say Nothing of the Dog (and in a couple of short stories). But then, she's a pro. I agree with you that it's not something for the novice to attempt. (Yes, Grasshopper, when you can snatch the Kindle from my hand you may write about the Cannibal Monkeys in King Arthur's Court -- after you interview Mark Twain.)

APW-

I didn't intend to recommend against genre combining, just hopping. If your signature style is jazz-infused historical science fiction with a twist of romance and humor, that's totally cool. However, if you wanted to then follow that up with staid nonfiction you might want to think twice. You might want to stick with jazz-infused historical science fiction with a twist of romance and humor. Or something close to it. It's all about the brand.

I think the best thing about securing the services of an agent one day will be in having him or her say, "Polish that story up next."

I'm scattered across the spectrum and treasure any help I can get on focusing.

My original thought on this issue was I would switch genres or sub-genres each time I polished up a new story for submission. My logic was that I would be figuring out which kind of story I was best suited to telling.

That last comment is interesting in that short stories are an excellent place to test new waters as a writer. In fact, anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge proponent of short fiction anyway. But it's a great place to switch, because we zine editors could care less what you've written before (ok, we care a little bit, but much less than you expect). We mostly care about what's on the page right in front of us.

I hate this Nathan. I remember the first time, as an artist, that I tried to show my portfolio to a gallery owner. I was soooooo inexperienced / and he said: You have a huge talent, but don't show the whole thing to a potential collector/clientele. Show a section so that the audience can follow you.

Looks like the same damn thing with writing.

i.e., Show off your Lit fic or show off your fantasy or your journalism, but not all three (for goodness sakes, you'll confuse the readers who can follow work with only one genre at a time AT least under the same name)... What BS is this? All for the audience to "get it?"

I do understand, and I don't. What if an author is THAT talented?

Is it about the marketing? I really am not trying to be rude, but I don't get it. I am sorry if I sound so simple, but I am trying to understand, and I would sincerely appreciate a better explanation.

What if a talent was that talented that to hold them to a "style" would limit their talent?????


Should it really be that limited?

I think it is about the marketing. Isn't it, Nathan? Readers need time to get to know an author, just like we need time to get to know a new friend. Human nature. I get that.

You can write whatever you want. Just save the outside-the-box stories until you're established.

Isn't it true that a genre author should be putting out at least one book, preferably two, per year?

I'm not sure if this is true overall, but in my observation as a book reviewer who interacts regularly with readers two books a year seems ideal for a genre author. I've noticed with just one book a year, it's almost like we forget. With three books, the poor author is fried from juggling that with the rest of her Real Life.

carbeyond asks: "What if an author is THAT talented?"

If an author is talented enough to pen great books in 2 completely different genres, then IMHO, they shouldn't need to ride on their own coat tails to establish the new genre. Jay Smith should stick to science fiction and let Kay Smith hit the romance market.

Speaking from a readers standpoint, I pick up a Grisham for a courtroom drama. I pick up J Patterson for his Alex Cross or women's murder club, then he wrote that love letter book...ack, sorry can't think of the title right now...and I didn't care for it at all. Maybe if had Danielle Steel's name on the cover???

Carbeyond,
Much as I also hate the idea that genre-hopping is verboten for those aspiring to traditional publishing success, your art portfolio analogy is probably a very good one. I'm also an illustrator and although I have two rather different styles of illustration, my art rep will only handle one of them because he doesn't want to confuse the clients. I still do the other style but generally for smaller clients that I can approach on my own. Maybe it DOES work exactly the same way for books.

Can anyone think of any successful authors who have genre-hopped their entire career (from beginning to now)? Or, rather, have made a career out of genre-hopping?

And is genre hopping all right as long as the author's voice is maintained from book to book?

Jane Yolen

kimber an wrote...

My original thought on this issue was I would switch genres or sub-genres each time I polished up a new story for submission. My logic was that I would be figuring out which kind of story I was best suited to telling.

That's about where I am. My three WIPs that are closest to being submission-ready are adult fantasy, YA fantasy, and adult urban fantasy with a heavy dose of comedy, and I was contemplating trying out space opera next. Now I'm reconsidering, thanks to Nathan's post. But I don't know which sub-genre to pick as the "one and only" that I get to write for the foreseeable future. I love secondary-world fantasy, but is that what I most want to write? I had a lot of fun with that urban fantasy....

isak wrote...

Can anyone think of any successful authors who have genre-hopped their entire career (from beginning to now)? Or, rather, have made a career out of genre-hopping?

Diane Duane has had success with both writing in shared adult SF universes (Star Trek) and writing YA fantasy (the Young Wizard series). The style and audience are quite different, but as Nathan said, they're both still speculative fiction and that makes things easier.

Anne McCaffrey has written both soft science fiction and "science fantasy" (the Pern books often read like fantasy but are technically science fiction). But her voice is pretty consistent, and I imagine the audience is too.

I can also offer a counter-example. Lois McMaster Bujold's first love was fantasy, but her first sale was SF. It wasn't until many SF books later that she was finally able to convince her publisher (or agent? not sure which) to let her publish a fantasy novel.

OK Thanks all. I think I am starting to get it.
It helps me by looking at it from the perspective of other types of creative work.
In art, in an exhibition, one shows a body of work.
In a retrospective exhibition, it may show how an artist's work moved over decades.
For many artists, they have collectors who prefer a specific period of an artist's work.
From the point of view of creativity, however, many people who are creative
spill over into other areas or need to move and grow into new areas or combine areas of cross-talent.
However, that may not make sense until they have been focused enough to fully develop in one area first.
Bob Dylan is like that too. And where he confused and even angered people when he switched around at times, at the end of several decades he is understood as THAT talented.
Which, personally, I find very interesting in any artist, writer, musician, actor, cook, comic, etc., that they can produce work that is that developed in many areas.
(And what a challenge that must be for an agent.)
And experimentation in many creative areas or media or genres may be useful as one explores their own creative path and help in the process of finding his/her voice or calling.
It is also a shame when a creative person flits from thing to thing without really developing one or the other.

This will happen when The Eagles keep their word and don't reunite yet again.

This will happen when the rock group KISS actually turns down an offer to make more money.

This will happen when Hollywood refuses to make a sequel to a box office winner.

This will happen Pamela Anderson stops walking down the isle.

This will happen when Oprah selects an Urban Fantasy as her book of the month.

This will happen when Gilligan and the gang get off that island without the help of the Harlem Globetrotters.

I think a large part of it will be if the display on an ebook or e-reader type device gains an information density equivalent to, or greater than, that provided by paper and commercial printing presses.

It's why most people print documents instead of reading them on their monitors--the monitor (on average) provides a resolution of 72 dots per inch. The same area on paper, printed with a press, has a generic resolution of closer to 1440 dots per inch, more if it's a photographic print.

So as of today's technology, in terms of transmitting information, paper is still better for non-dynamic content that doesn't need to update constantly or change. Once e-readers manage to match resolutions, then they will have isolated and eliminated paper's greatest advantage.

aden-

Not sure if you've gotten your hands on a Sony Reader or Kindle, but in my opinion they've really already solved the dpi/readability problem. The only annoying residual is a "wipe" effect, which I imagine they'll figure out soon. I don't think we're very far off from a time when screens are truly as easy to read as paper.

PS: not to mention the fact that on these devices you can adjust the font size -- definitely an advantage over the printed page.

I hope never. I love books. I love bookcases filled with books. I love bookstores and libraries and I can't imagine not holding a paper version I can flip back and forth between, or dog ear, or mark up, or make notes in...you know all that stuff you can do on paper that you can't do on little screens.

If it is inevitable I think it will be a long time coming. Like magazines, I think people love holding a book in their hands, seeing the cover, and feeling the pages...hopefull it's not just me ;).

DRM is going to have to go. When I can loan an electronic book to a friend as easily as I can a paper book; when I don't have to worry about Amazon going away and taking my legally purchased books with them; when I can make notes and highlights in the text as I go.

Also, someone is going to have to perfect an electronic version of walking into a bookstore and wandering through the shelves, grabbing the pretty titles at random.

I think people start calling e-books books and call the other kind paper books (spelled p-a-p-e-r it's that thing that ancients extracted from the tree pulp after they stoped writing on dead animals' skins) twenty years after fourteen year olds refuse to read any other way. Paper book will be a novelty item but will stay here for quite a while like CD never really completely replaced LP. There are people who buy them and people who make new ones...

I'm so glad you said all that.

I've been whispering it around ever since I bought my husband that ipod that plays movies.

Everyone I've said it to (in my writing circles at least) has looked at me like I was a heretic...a blasphemer.

I give paper 10 years.

Hey! Remember on Star Trek, the Next Generation where Captain Picard had that hard-bound, paper book inder a glass case?

We've made it to the future!

Ooooo, I can't wait for the food simulator-thingy to be invented.

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot"

"KFC. Extra crispy. Now, dammit."

They won't.

E-books will definitely have a place in the market, just like audio books do.

They could be useful for technical manuals and other material that is often read on the road or in the field (which ever field it happens to be), especially if they can handle PDF and have a good search mechanism.

They could also be useful for people who have visual impairments that make the print in books hard to read, especially if the readers can read the books aloud.

For those two niches, they are an exciting technology. For casual reading, especially for ardent readers, I just don't see books going away anytime soon. For most readers, I just don't think these readers have any advantages over the traditional book, other than the nerdy-cool factor.

There might be some use for them in academia, where text books are back-breakingly heavy and have gotten as expensive as tuition, almost. If the reader has a good notation feature and makes it easy to print out the notes for study, it could be a great alternative to traditional texts. But, if that happened, I doubt the text book companies would really reduce their price all that much for electronic versions, plus the used text book market would become obsolete.

I just don't think it's going to happen.

Remember in the 1990's when everyone was talking about how POD was going to be the end of traditional publishing? It didn't happen. And very, very smart people--people who were inside the industry, were the ones who were wrong.

I don't know if it will be different with e-books or not.

I think it is funny how Nathan is 100 percent certain that his job won't change. LOL, Nathan!

Anon-

Two questions:

1) What is it about anonymous commenting that makes people so sarcastic?

2) How do you think my job is going to change? Care to elaborate?

And for the record, I didn't say it wouldn't change, just that the role of literary agent will continue to be necessary, perhaps moreso when the landscape becomes more confusing for authors to navigate.

I'm sure you're right. Since I'm one of those who prefers traditional paper books, I cannot begin to imagine the answer to your question. I think I'm probably in the minority.

I do sometimes receive ARCs electronically to review on my blog. I just cannot relax and enjoy the reading experience on a screen. I do my best though, because the author deserves a fair read.

krw3b, I'm still waiting for my replicator to get here too. I hate to cook.

To weigh in on the wrong side of the writerly sensibility, I think the reason this is such a hot button topic here is that the majority of us are writers, which makes us all (I hope) ardent readers... We love our books. Bring them to bed with us (not that way, don't get all offended), take them everywhere we are and expound on them endlessly... when something is that important in your life any change is seen as the enemy.

That being said, with my hearty disclaimer that I, personally, would rather have the flesh and blood book in my hands, the issue isn't really what sells to writers. We're a relatively small percentage of the book buying public. The issue is what sells to readers - and I have to go with Nathan here, ebooks will eventually take over the majority of sales.

There will still be the buyers who want the book, but you can get that through amazon, and I'm afraid bookstores may, too, go along the wayside in time... I give it under ten years - and yes, I hate myself for saying it.

But with the downfall of the paper book comes the uprising of the technologically advanced readers... the technology won't change the need for great stories from wonderful story tellers. I'd wager that everyone on this blog will be able to get their books in either format for the remainder of their lives... there will be enough of us that prefer books for there to be a market for printing them. I don't think they'll go away, it's not like the vinyl album or 8-track, paper books had more than a ten year reign in their venue.

As far as the big publishing houses, I don't think they'll have a problem advancing as long as they take advantage of their expertise and consistently put out quality material... it's the biggest advantage they really have over the start ups, most e-presses don't have the same quality offerings. But this venue will be an equalizer, if the small presses are committed to quality and to their readers, they will have a better playing field to compete on.

I...dunno.

I think I see room for both. I really like techno gadgets (I own a bunch) and I would get an e-book reader (if it was functional and cute and not too expensive) as a way of reading, but I don't see it as the only way I'd want to read.

Then again, I still use a film camera.

i think the scales tip the day they release 'ulysses' for these e-readers with all the hyperlinks to maps of dublin and homeric references embedded. at least that's the day they're going to sell one to me. the wikipedia function is a good start though. my prediction for years 'til ebooks get half the market share: 10. i feel like the amount of books that are purchased as gifts will keep hardcopies in business for a long time (just like CDs vs. music downloads).

I love gadgets and gizmos - love them. But I have to say I don't see it happening.

While I love the reasons you posted (I'm for saving trees to - but they thought plastic bags was a good idea to) I don't think the reasons out weigh those who love an actual book.

Too many issues to be compaired to music cd's and movie dvd's. The book hasn't gotten to the cd or dvd level to merit a gadget and I don't see it happening any time soon.

Plus don't you feel it is a different crowd from the cd/dvd crowd? Librarys and upity yuck-yuck folks would delay any real take over. I don't mean to sound sarcastic or rude - just stating a fact that it may be a different crowd.

You said, "When they're better than books."

I agree, but add, when they are significantly cheaper as an alternative path. We may be forced into e-books by e-conomy.

One of the ways e-books could surpass regular books is by adding in-context community and content links. Start with Shelfari or some such app, find out how books you have rated high match with those of people you also rate high and borrow a book from their shelf. Read a topic in the book, highlight it and search for other books of the same tone, from the same genre, with the same topic.

Also, research could work better, if every time you grab a quote from an e-book, Word automagically places the correctly formatted citation in the document.

If they're locked down and you can't do any of this, then they will continue to bite dogs.

Nathan, I think you should conduct a poll by age group as to who will buy/use this gizmo, or embrace any kind of e-book form.

Something tells me that it's those of us who are old enough to be your mother :-) who reject the idea that paper books will go out of style; my bets it's the oldsters who want to douse the Kindle.

Perhaps as the boomers die off and the kiddies who first started reading on a gizmo or computer screen grow up will you see a beginning of the end of traditional paper books.

Heck, look at what's happening to newspapers.

I don't think it will happen in our lifetime, but I think it will happen within the next 100 years or so.

There are so many factors to consider:

Environmental issues - We are not as concerned about conservation as our descendants will be. Something like Kindle might even become mandated for them.

Economic issues - It will take time for this technology to become priced so that people of all income levels can afford it. No one would want to deprive the poor of the ability to read.

Business issues - At some point in the future, this will cause an upheaval in the publishing industry. Agents and authors will probably still do their jobs as usual, but publishing houses will need to restructure. Houses that are the top dogs now, might not be once the dust settles, if they can't or won't regroup to meet the demands of the technology. The smart houses either already have or will have divisions to handle e-books so they are ready when the change is necessary.

I could be completely wrong on my projections, but this is my theory.

PS: Merry, good point about the skewed demographic here on Nathan's blog.

Ah...I was waiting for this one! "Your friends don't fathom me," is perhaps the best line ever. Ever!

And dork that I am, I had to pause and reply (in slow-mo, no less) the whole "kiss." Let me tell you, MTV missed it. No footage. What they pulled instead was a blurred out image of...wait for it...Justin Bobby leaning in to kiss Audrina. Oh the drama! That's worse than the notorious voice-overs. :) The Hills at its finest. Gotta love it.

And finally she-Spencer. (!) is right. For a minute there I thought perhaps I was on hallucinogenics. Scary!

Wow, I'm amazed at the number of people opposed to e-books.

I'm about as ardent a reader as can be (easily a novel-a-day if I have a good supply and can evade my responsibilities...) but I have no attachment to paper and binding. It's the story that matters. The easier to obtain, read, and carry around the better! If I could get direct writer-to-reader telepathy, I'd take it!

That said, I agree with Barbara. For now, the DRM is too onerous. And the prices are usually much too high.

I don't see it happening within the next 25 years or more. Maybe never. In some ways, it's a neat idea that any book could be read by anyone - -but I think there are too many obstacles still to overcome before we're anywhere near that.

I can't speak to the long term, but in the short term I think it would be a fantastic supplement to regular paper books.

There are so many rare and niche books that it's just not cost-effective to print, but that it's tedious to read on the computer because you have to actually be at the computer to do it. I'd love to be able to download obscure books or PDFs of my friends' writings and read them in bed on a paperback-size reader.

This technology would also be good for some college texts, which cost a bundle and end up being revised every year to reflect current research.

There's room for both old and new technology, I think. Both have their unique advantages.

Nathan, I completely agree with all you’ve said.

But I think it’s still eight years (yep, I know that's precise) until the tipping point.

There will be a lot of advantages for writers, as there have been for many musicians since the changes in the music industry.

People will still be allowed to love books. I love books! I also love my vinyl LPs (super-cool), my CDs, my mp3 files, and my iPod.

I am old school. I love film cameras, records and a world without paper books would just suck.

Absolutely. It's the natural order of things. Not that things are natural anymore. But the Kindle and its ilk are simple and elegant, as physicists like to say, and solve more problems as a format than the printed book can solve. That's the goal, right?

I love books. I have collected them all my life. However, one of the happiest days of my life was the day I donated my entire art and art history library to my daughters' prep school. Giving up stewardship of such physical mass was as liberating as losing weight.

Go, kindle. Light makes right.

I still love my eight tracks and reel to reel. I own a bunch and still have working players. I love my records, though needles are getting hard to find. I love my mp3 player, it holds so much. I write on paper first, then when I am happy I put it all in my computer, than it really starts to take shape. I am hoping for a marriage between real books, and electronic. I am building a library for my children. I have one of the original prints of Swiss Family Robinson, and I actually have a full set of the World Book Encyclopedia. (My kids think these are funny, we actually researched our school work with those.) We have over a five hundred books in our library here at home, and I wouldn’t want to trade them in for the world. E-Books will happen; my worry is not being able to adapt myself and my work to them.

I don't think e-books will ever take over.

Their niche will grow as the different technical details are worked out. And until they can make it comfortable to read in bed, I don't think it'll take over.

Hardcovers are not so easy to read in bed. But paperbacks are nice and bendy, allowing you to shift position and adjust your grip on them to suit. And if you fall asleep on top of them they're kind of pillow-like, their corners don't stab you, your face doesn't stick to them, their batteries don't run low and your page is usually easy to find again because you've bent the binding so the book falls open in just the right spot.

If you fall asleep on an e-reader wrong, who knows what would happen. And how would it handle a little bit of drool?

That little peek into The Hills made my eyes throb nearly out of my skull, and--oh, oh god--blood's dripping out of my nose.

I'll try to maintain consciousness with this:

I think eBooks will become prevalent in the next twenty years. Figure the progression of audio media; cassettes were around for a long time and CD's were only available on a limited basis. But then there was a sudden acceleration, a format which never really took off commercially like mini-disks (sort of like beta in video media, but beta became industry standard and is still used by most network television stations, just the same many radio stations use mini-disks--those that haven't gone satellite). With mini-disks you got the wide-spread prevelance of several digital audio file formats, but mainly mp3, which is easily compressed, user-friendly, and has little loss. This is what made the iPod possible. The Internet only accelerated this. Once software engineers come up with a fluid way to read, annotate, and transfer book media files, the actual hardware will quickly take off just the same way that people now have music on their phones. By the same token, we have a resurgence of things like vinyl which offer a richer, warmer, better quality sound than the lossy digital audio.

It sucks that eBooks are inevtiable for people who have lived in the Twentieth Century. It is the natural order, and I'm curious how they will make things like writing in the margins possible. That's really the challenge programming the software. I'm adverse to it for a lot of reasons, but I think mainly because as living creatures, we fear changes to our environment. As writers, we're afraid of this change because it's hard enough to get published and find a niche in the marketplace and now the game will potentially change, slightly.

laurel amberdine said -Wow, I'm amazed at the number of people opposed to e-books.

I don't think it is so much that the folks here oppose it but just feel it won't happen or at least not for a long time.

So yeah, maybe a poll would be cool but remember we are a pretty cool group to begin with and wont exactly represent the regular reader. I'm 41 and I don't think its the older folks who might resist change.

But then again maybe I'm wrong?

I would like to think there's room in our world for both.

I'm tempted to compare non-fiction on a Kindle device with on-line encyclopedia. The information can be updated regularly which is prohibitively expensive with paper. I agree that text books could be replaced without anybody shedding a tear.

Also, the Tree Thing.

But you know how I feel about booooooks and yes I have a vinyl record collection too.

As for writers and agents, I have to compare this again to the music biz. We've been in music for 20 years. Dizzying changes in that time. Guess what? People are still making music. Record sales are in the toilet. But I still never see my husband because he's in the studio recording musicians. He's clicking a mouse instead of aligning a tape machine...but there is music being made.

Here's what we should really be concerned about, and I think this is happening in the book world already: Anybody with a computer can make a recording/ write a book/ call themselves a genius. The world is polluted with music/ words/ genius!!!

And now I must slink off and not make this comment any longer...

It does scare me. The issue is what do we do about libraries. How does that work. If it doesn't work the way it has for the last 100 or so years, we just created a knowledge under-class. And to me, that is a really scary thing. If you have to have a Kindle and the $9.99, or whatever, to read books--to be informed--then there's a big problem for a democratic society.

I agree with Scott and Heidi and the others who mentioned there's room for both.

Online stores haven't decreased mall presence. But they have provided a valuable addition to the economy.

There will be niche markets where e-books will fare nicely--the ones Scott pointed out, for example.

I don't see paper books and e-books being mutually exclusive.

Great topic!

Two Months ago, I attended a bookseller's conference which featured a number of panel discussions on TEXTBOOKS. Understandable, a textbook is unlike a typical novel; however, as much as the college bookstores want to push E-books (with the same profit margins minus the shipping costs), nobody wanted them. The students wanted something they could write in, highlight, read on a bus, use as a pillow, flip back and forth in class, and dog ear the corners. The professors didn't want e-books or textbooks. They wanted to use excerpts and journals and others stuff (some of which is copyright protected but they don't care about such matters unless they hold the copyright.)

So I don't know if the E-book like we know it is the bullet that will take out the traditional book, but it's obvious that there's a change on the horizon. I'm thinking it will be a slower change than music and DVD rentals, but change is coming.

I think Nathan's job will be more and more important. The way I see his job will be more and more of a career manager than of a contract negotiator... It will be go to that talk show (webcast) and not to that "The Hills" fan club there are only people over seventy in that loony bin... If you were plugging biker chick erotica the geezers will love you but you are writing about the Italian Renaissance - nobody over the age of 12 is interested in that... Or that psycho albino monk is so original! It will be a hit, I can almost smell it..

Give it a couple years of tweaks to the interface, a couple more for a cool design, and a few after that to build the market to the point where we get economies of scale and availability of material. I'd say around ten years for general acceptance and a solid market share.

One of the cool things I predict is that, as paper copies of most books fall out of favor, you'll see really nice binding for those that do exist. Everybody who wants the cheap copy will get it electronically. Nifty extras will be provided to tempt the rest.

Well, I'm sorry but prefer to live in denial. I NEED my bookcases packed with all the books I love.

If it doesn't work the way it has for the last 100 or so years, we just created a knowledge under-class. And to me, that is a really scary thing.

Amen, brother. We are already well underway to doing this, given the decline in public education and public discourse. Libraries are one of the few genuinely democratic institutions left. Without them, we might as well admit we are living in an oligarchy masquerading as a democracy and call it a day.

I think it's interesting how passionate people are about this. I love books. I really do. And I not only write, I also work in publishing. But I'm kind of like ehn, if we move to digital, we do, and if we don't, we don't. We'll adapt when/if/as the time comes.

It's the content, not the physical object, that matters to me. Truth and beauty and love can be communicated just as easily on screen as they can on paper. As long as words still move people, I don't mind delivering them in whatever format is the most useful to them. Now, if we ever decide words are obsolete, we have a problem.

I don't see why we can't have both. I like ebooks, and with the right reader I can see myself loving them. In a, you know, healthy and platonic way.

But the book as it currently exists has been around with very little change for hundreds of years. That's because it works very, very well. Certainly print runs will get smaller as ebook sales get to be a bigger chunk of the market, but there will always be people who for whatever reason prefer a physical book.

Think of it this way: if I drop a book in the tub, it does not destroy the rest of my library and electrocute me. If I drop it onto concrete, it does not cause all my books to fly into a lot of pieces that cannot be put back together. If I lose one book, I still have all my others. And the batteries never run out of my book just as the pilot announces that we're parked on the tarmac for the next six days*.

I suspect textbooks will be the first to go entirely ebooks, and I suspect that print books will remain in place primarily for libraries. Keep in mind that not everyone can afford an ebook reader. Or a computer. Or an iPod. Or a cell phone. Or a car. Or food. But they can still go to the library.

*of course, I may run out of book at that point--in which case I hope I brought an ereader along. See? We can have both.

The real problem will be managing the licencing and copyrights to the media files. (Music files now fly around everywhere without much regard, so that whole issue will have to be resolved, too.) It's not the fall of civilization. Just think, we'll have an ultra-literate global society since we've increased the access to information. And if they add a function to one of these 'readers' that translates between languages, there will be no boundaries and nations once confined by dictatorships or totalitarian rule that block information will not be able to suppress the people's ability to reach out to the rest of the world.

Paper copies of things aren't going anywhere. In such things as the legal field, judges and attorneys still want paper copies of contracts and transcripts.

Never. Although, I like the idea. It doesn't exclude writers from the equation.

Remember when Final Fantasy came out with an animated movie and everyone said that animation was so lifelike that actors would be out of a job. Ten years later, Beowulf. But it is still one in thousands. I think people will always want books, but maybe there is a market for an alternative. Time will tell.

I'm an oldster (I wrote my senior thesis on a typewriter, yes, that old), and I can see having one of these in the future when they are not so expensive. I agree with Heidi - there's room for both. I would use it when traveling, that way I won't be embarrassed if I'm reading trash on the plane (no one will know!!!!!).

Plus, if I'm on a remote beach in a foreign land (I can dream, right?) and I run out of things to read, and the resort has internet . . .

On an aside, I'm reading Feed by M.T. Anderson right now, so the whole technological progress thing has made me a little nervous.

I think it will have it's place in the world of words as another vehicle to distribute said words but I don't think it will ever completely take over the market. Don't forget, there's a whole world outside the US that is still way behind on the tech front.

Plus technology breaks at the worst times. Books don't break.

It feels like we're already on our way and it's mostly a matter of technology. My guess is it'll be a clear trend within ten years, just like watching movies on portable devices is a clear trend now. The Kindle doesn't seem quite portable enough: an early step maybe, but not convenient enough to be there yet. I think it would take technology like a cheap flexible display screen that could be compressed to fit into a pocket, like a pocket book does (sort of), or maybe a heads-up display about comparable to a pair of sunglasses. Given resolution of the screens on iPod and similar devices, the heads-up display doesn't seem too far off, especially since it would play movies, display web pages, etc. as well. Then it would just be a matter of how long it takes people to adapt to the distribution (a la Amazon) and paying for the device. There are still a lot of older baby boomers who won't use online services.
I'm curious why publishing houses would survive, though. Basically, their function is to marshal resources. Remove the need for most of those resources (paper, presses, physical distribution, advertising budget) and the need for publishing houses pretty much goes away. Then publishing would be a matter of writing, editing, simple layout, maybe some artwork, a basic sales contract with an e-distributor like Amazon. And that contract could be automated pretty easily, which means that agents as we know them probably wouldn't be needed either (sorry, Nathan). Prices would go down, but more of the profit would go to the author/editor (I'm guessing some sort of online collaborative process would develop). It would be self-publishing on steroids with no more advances and every hobbyist doing it. I imagine that, with no more gate-keepers, the landscape would be a lot more like U-Tube and the blogosphere: a sea of low quality stuff around with the occasional good piece floating to the surface.
As a writer, I don't know if that should scare me or intrigue me.
Oh, and copyright/piracy issues would be a mess. That's definitely scarey.

Nope. I don't think they'll take over. They're not reader friendly.

On the other hand, I have a much more reader friendly give-away on my blog today--a brand new compact DVD. And shipping is my Christmas gift to whoever wins! Can't beat that for friendly :-)

dave-

I think publishers will still be relevant, just in a different way. They are still the ones with resources for advertisement, co-op money and placement, they provide editorial services and of course the endorsement that comes with being published by a major publisher. It seems to me that their position will be weakened somewhat, but I don't really think they're going anywhere.

And contracts are getting MORE complicated, not less, with the advent of new technologies and a rapidly changing environment. This increases the need for the expertise afforded by literary agents.

We're not going anywhere either.

This is tough one. The modern technology is very exciting though. I hope there will always be room for both. For authors, it's way more exciting to have a hardcover book that WE wrote in our hands--something tangible. But of course if the new wave brings mass sales, can't complain about that.

I think the only people that would gain from this would be the Publishers. I mean there's definitely gonna be less cost involved with publishing an electronic book and I don't see how that will give the authors more money. Especially when the electronic books cost considerably less. The lower the book price, the lower the royalty payout. Right?
And the following comparison is a leap but electronic greeting cards haven't ousted the paper card industry? I think the Kindle and E-Books will be an added surplus to publishing and book sales with print books still in higher demand.

I'm thinking Booksurge is going to bigger than this Kindle thing and possibly put all agents out of work. I'm just kidding. Nathan, I have no doubt that you'll be the last agent standing for a good long while:)

No doubt you're right, Nathan. I was just putting my speculative fiction hat on, while you're monitoring the industry, real world, from the inside.

I sure hope so, anyway. I don't really think I'd like the chaotic future I was hypothesizing. I'd much rather have collaborative specialist-to-specialist relationships with an agent and editors. Looking for an agent is probably about as entrepreneurial as I'm comfortable with on my own.

I've been doing more thinking on this and I'm wondering if there will be a difference in the way writers get paid.

(Not that I've been paid for writing- YET)

I tried to think of more ways an e-reader would be handy. Weekly dose of People mag? Maybe. But wouldn't that be like taking your laptop to the can with you? Come on. Admit- where else do you read trashy mags???

I'd like to hear what students think. Lightweight, easily updated? OR highlight, underline, make notes in the margins?

I'm using a gorgeous MacBook right now but I get irritated when I'm on a hot streak and the batteries wear down. My Moleskine never runs out of batteries. And the debate rolls on...

I thought about this thread last night while I was reclining on my bed, reading Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness. I asked myself whether I'd be as comfortable holding an ereader as I was holding the book.

I don't think I would be. I think reading would lose some of its intimacy in those curl-up-with-a-book times. I realize that's largely psychological and it reminds me of back in 1983 when I was writing with a computer and friends said they could never do that because the computer puts distance between them and their writing that they don't have with a pencil and paper. My thought then was, the computer is a tool and the pencil is a tool and it really doesn't matter which tool you prefer.

Ereaders might be the same kind of thing. Maybe it doesn't matter how the story is delivered, not really, but to the person on the other end, it might. Cold plastic (or even warm plastic) doesn't match the feel of a book.

I thought of another disadvantage. I'm a research addict. Whether I'm researching something for a writing project or just for fun, I usually have several books around me, open to relevant pages so I can compare what they each say. I can't afford that many ebook readers.

Even this Laxness book I'm reading. It's not an easy book, and it's taking me a while. It contains a number of cultural references and Icelandic and Latin phrases that aren't familiar to the average English-speaking reader, so I'm frequently flipping back to the endnotes. If I could mouse over the term and have the note pop up like it might on some e-readers now or in the future, that would be a cool thing (and another reason why these things would be useful for students).

But often, reading involves flipping around in the book. I might need to flip back because something I read makes me want to double-check something that I read earlier in the book (like, to admire a writer's use of foreshadowing), or I might need to flip ahead to the endnotes or glossary or a map or whatever. That's so easy in a book.

SO, I think that we'll see more and more ebooks as time goes on, but I just don't think the paper book will go away, especially as paper scientists develop better recycled paper or even a synthetic substitute. But I just don't think that integrated circuits and LCD displays will be the thing that does to paper what paper did to vellum. Something will, someday, but I don't think this is it.

People talk as if MP3s have replaced CDs and downloadable movies have consigned DVDs to history. Well, I was in my local HMV store a day or two ago and they still had plenty of both on the shelves. There is a tactile experience even with CDs and DVDs, a sense of ownership, that doesn't come with the digital equivalents. But the digital equivalents are doing very well. If we apply this model to the publishing industry, I think we'll see both printed books and E-books exist alongside each other quite peacefully.

One interesting thing has happened in music as a result of the MP3 format: new talent is finding its way past the traditional gatekeepers. Word-of-mouth has helped people like the Artic Monkeys and Kate Nash get straight to the public, leaving the big labels playing catch-up. The overall effect has been beneficial for the music industry. The public had gotten fed up with the constant diet of pre-packaged plastic groups the music industry was feeding them. There has been a shift, however, and now the public can find new music for themselves. It's then up to the industry pick up the ball and run with it.

With E-books, we could see the same thing happening. Perhaps writers will establish their own readerships across the Internet, meaning new talent can break through without the accountants having to do profit analysis before signing a new author. One of these days, a new writer is going to become a hit without the assistance of the traditional industry. When that happens (and I believe it's a when, not an if) we'll see some radical changes.

But here's a point: With the ubiquity of the Internet and the emergence of portable reading devices, as well as PDAs and mobile phones that gain more functionality day-by-day, it follows that the way people read will affect what they read. We keep applying this debate to novels as they currently exist as bound paper, or nonfiction books that sit on our coffee tables. As time becomes more precious in modern life, and chances to read become fewer and farther between, how will that impact the nature of the content? If a person has twenty minutes on the train to read twice a day, will they want something that fits that time? Will novels become shorter? Will chapters by necessity become snappier? Will the short story or novella make a come back?

Or will other ways of gathering words and ideas together emerge that fit with the modern world? After all, this whole blogging thing is only a few years old to most of us...

Oh, and in my view, Nathan is spot on: the agent, and the publishing industry as a whole, won't go anywhere, but the nature of what they do will almost certainly be transformed in the not very distant future.

Aloha,

I hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. I'm a dinosaur. I like being a dinosaur.

I only surf on boards over nine feet in length, with paraffin on their decks and no %#$%#& leashes. I like never talking on the telephone unless I am at home or in some pay booth of my choosing. I listen to music in my car...not voices. (unless, of course, it is a rough day and I'm talking to myself).

I like grabbing a book and taking it on a plane or a train, or taking it to a park or the beach, and never worrying about it needing batteries.

They have not yet made the gadget that I will read books on...

I'm sorry to keep coming back but I find this topic fascinating!

I am interested in what Conduit said about the sense of ownership. That's part of it for me. A downloaded song does not feel real to me. But then, I'm oldish. We old people like the old ways better, grrf grrft grunt.

I think some of us have an identity thing with our books. If it's on the shelf, it defines me, it's part of who I am. This is what I've read. Some people even use their bookshelves to lie. A whole row of classics that have never been opened. Status symbols. Not one of them cost $400 though.

Re: Electronic Books - My Thoughts

Hi. Great topic. Lots to think about in it. Nice touch, the video link too.
OK, to your question:

Where and why do I read? What are my habits and my preferences?

I am an avid reader. I collect books all the time for my library, new books, books I want to keep, reread, share, savor. For Christmas, I am installing eight new Ikea bookcases in my house.

I read approximately 10 to 20 books at a time on a regular basis in bed: usually something like this:
1-3 novels, ranging from Literary Fiction (that illusive genre) to science fiction
1-6 self improvement or spiritual books (Yes, I admit it. I am a junkie for new ideas about how to live well and in harmony - bla-bla-bla, let me at it.)
1-4 reference books, books that give me information on computers, business, formats, art, etc.
1-3 books on philosophy, ideas, theories

Reading in bed is fab. It is relaxed, relaxing, if I want to lean back, think about something, take a break, go to sleep with an idea or a thought or a story passage, I can. All I need are my reading glasses, my books and a lamp. I would miss that most of all.

(Reading on the beach is an extension of that, not to forget you can shake the sand off a book, roll over on it, sleep with it, and its still there.)


I also read on the computer, but research mostly. I gobble up google, whether it is about something that just occurred tome, something someone spoke to me about or connected to a project or writing project that I am working on.

Reading in front of the computer is informational and communicational. I love e-mail and electronic communications. That is reading I start before coffee even.

The biggest problem with computer reading is that it hurts my eyes. I love it for information and communication, but I hate it for pleasurable reading. My eyes feel like two strawberries afterwards.
It is bad for my eyes.

The second biggest problem with electronic books for me is that computers will crash, shouldn't get full of sand on the beach, need electricity, hum, and you can’t unplug with them (unplugging battery dependence too). In addition, they just aren't well loved for the pleasure of the novel, i.e., better send to amazon.com for a novel than read one on a computer.

I WILL read information on a computer, but not pleasurable books or ones I want to really study. I have plenty of friends who publish on the computer. Good stuff too, useful or interesting. But I just don't get pleasure with e-books. They are a must-have and not-available-anywhere-else resort. When I can buy it in print, get back to me.

Personally, I think e-books will be great for college texts and information. It will save a lot of lugging heavy books through campuses or expensive book fees.

However, you would have to wrestle me to take away the pile of books I keep next to my bed to try to replace them with electronic books. I have never met an avid novel reader who takes their novels, by preference, electronically.
I suspect there will be choices and should be. In both cases, bigger print will be needed.

I appreciate, also your take on this subject. I will try to keep an open mind,
(but I have a guard dog for my library coming on e-Bay.)

-CarBeyond

(Typos, like Freudian slips, are usually left behind with great amusement, but in this case, I did try to clean some of them up.)

I get that e-books, to some people, have a slight convenience edge on book books. But not much of one.

I run an unofficial library at my school, as our school library is a quarter of a mile from the freshman building. Though a lot of kids get busted for it, we are not allowed portable electronic devices in the building. I can't see them ever relaxing that policy, because if you can cheat on a cell phone, you can certainly cheat on an e-reader.

Plus, I wouldn't be able to share books I love with people I know will love them too. A good 80% of my group of friends, for one reason or another, is not allowed by their family to go to Books-A-Million. There are times when I'm their sole provider of wordy entertainment. If paper books die off, what happens to that? With e-books, all sorts of bizarro copyright issues crop up if you try to share them. Not just bookstores but libraries would die out, and then what happens to people who don't have an expendable budget for books?

This is a huge bias for me, I admit: just today I put a French-English dictionary in my purse because it was feeling too light (where it keeps company with a Bible, Spanish and Japanese phrasebooks, and the occasional fantasy or historical romance). I love the feel and the weight and the experience of brick-dense paper books, and I'll never stop.

I guess if bookstores die out, they die out, but I want to walk into a bookstore at least once a week for the rest of my life. If books aren't gone 'til I am, not my problem. Though I want my kids, someday, to love books just as much as I do.

Woohoo, soapbox!

I don't know... a paper book won't crash on me or need recharging.

It'll probably be like how the DVD has eclipsed VHS. Hopefully, however, it'll be a lot slower. All that reading on a screen certainly won't do my eyes-that-need-glasses any good.

The thought of not having a bookstore to walk into a blow my money in is a little frightening, to be honest. I mean, yes, I download an awful lot of music through iTunes, but there's still nothing like walking into an actual music store and browsing.

Or maybe I just don't like change!

I entered the newspaper business twenty years ago. When computers came on the scene and later internet, everyone screamed that newspapers were going to die.

We adjusted by launching a website and on-line job sites.

Twenty years later, our newspaper group has grown. Our classified sales force has grown. There is no gloom and doom in sight.

I love my book. I like to feel it, smell it and hear the 'slap' on the table when I drop it. My daughter, who is 18, spends just as much time checking out library books as she spends online. My sixteen year old son just bought six Clancy novels. Paper ones.

The reading appetite of the public is voracious, whether electronic or paper. It will simply grow. There's no limit.

The other reason I embrace paper novels is because I made a whopping $9.75 on three months worth of electronic sales on my novel. Sheesh.

Nathan! Nathan! Are you ill? It's Thursday night. I came to read your blog and *gasp* there's no entry today. I'm sending you a hot toddy in case you need one (how about egg nog with Crown Royal?), and hope you'll be back soon.

The best thing about paper books is that you don't need any special technology to read them. You buy them, stick them on your shelf, and barring flood, fire or vermin, you can read them over and over for decades. Nobody suddenly takes them "off line" or switches the technology on you.

If you buy an ebook in 2010, are you still going to be able to read it in 2015? Or will the technology have changed so much that it will be like trying to find a way to read a 5 1/4" disk in today's world?

The environmental issue isn't cut and dried. Electronic books use environmental resources too. Unless your ebook is solar-powered, you may be using nonrenewable energy every time you read it. Whereas paper is a renewable and recyclable resource, and doesn't use any more resources after its initial creation.

Thanks liquidambar. Now that you mentioned renewable energy, I can comment on here and count it as work.

It will take one more generation after this one, about 20 years. And you forgot to mention that millions of trees will be saved when all newspapers and magazines can be accessed on the book readers, probably along with tv and radio, music, etc. A ubiquitous device to read and see everything.

As my husband commented, trees may be saved for newspaper and magazines, but people WILL print out their books. How many trees will that save?

I've read quite a few books on my Palm. The feel of reading on it versus a real book in hand wasn't a dramatic difference for me. I liked having a dictionary handy to look up words which I could more easily do on a Palm.

However, I've purchased only one e-book. I can't say as I would purchase another e-book. Why? It's not the feel, but the value of what I've purchased. I can use a software program again and again and still have a sense of its value. A book, I may read once or twice or just buy if I really like it. I can't resell or donate an e-book. (Sorry, have to make room for the new ones.) To sell me on purchasing an e-book would be a low price, but unfortunately at the author's and publisher's expense.

For big time travelers e-books can be a nice solution to space. I like to read some history books when I travel- usualy 700+pages and hate sticking them in my bag and hate leaving them behind. * Portability is an issue. Good travel solution. I believe the ebooks may offer some marketing gimmicks that pull in readers to buying into new authors. I hardley ever buy any books at the book store any more. All *new* used books on sale on Amazon or Alibris or whoever else. That said, I'm an online browser and the ebooks tool may be the next thing for Pushing options to people and subsequently have increased success over time. Adoption of the online ebook is just a question of time and ultimately could represent a salvation for books over time. It seems that the readership community is getting older and older and its good to see a technology that may put more books into young adults hands. Old schoolers may stick with paper but change is on the way for a younger generation.

Kindle... sounds like a suggestion to go burn all of one's embarrassingly old-fashioned paper books.

Yay! The leftovers were nice, but fresh is better.

I never watch TV. Last week (while having my teeth cleaned) I heard an ad for the Bachelor finale, and thought, "Oh good, I'll get to hear what happened from Nathan!" That is pretty shocking!

I suspect people deliberately query you around the holidays so they can have more than five minutes of hope. :)

The kitchen didn't catch on fire. No one got drunk and admitted something embarrassing. No in-law fights on the front lawn. Pretty boring day.

We all made it out alive.

Better than last year...

;)

Don't know if this qualifies as hilarous but it ticked me off...

http://vinster82.blogspot.com/

My in-laws played "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" game after Thanksgiving dinner.

They aren't.

Well, our small group consumed six bottles of wine in just two hours. Dinner was at noon, and my 84 year-old grandpa and I were both passed out in the living room in our turkey coma/drunkenness by 2:30. I'm not sure if that qualifies as hilarious or pathetic, but, it's true.

From my nine-year-old son on Thanksgiving: "I want to go with you to buy my Christmas presents so you get the right stuff, then I'll erase my memory--but without drinking beer."

I had to boil turkey bones for my son's school project on bones. And then I had to look up labels on the internet.

Gee. I hope I get an A.

Yeah, I saw that Kindle thing too. Amazon have a bunch of videos about it, including various big name authors giving it their thumbs up. It looks interesting.

Hi Nathan,

May I ask a question that's unrelated to this post?

Say a person has the opportunity to publish a novel in a foreign country (it'll be translated to said country's language), how does that affect American rights and all that great stuff?

Anon-

Depends on the contract.

Thanksgiving stories? Lord have mercy, have I got an entire week's worth of blog posts of those. Bad food, inappopriate comments, kosher turkey, drunken relatives and strange people showing up at all hours - we had it all.

I want a Kindle too. I was thinking that maybe it could save me having to carry so many books to school, but not all the books I need are available for it yet.

That's hilarious, Scott.

Definitely smarter than an average fifth grader...Watch out.

7 million eh? Yeah, that's a lot. I'd share my turkey story but I'm from Canada and we celebrated Thanksgiving awhile ago.

I don't normally watch The Bachelor, but this time I tuned in to the last ten minutes or so (mostly because a football game was on during the shows I usually watch). At first I was irritated with him, because why did he make that big stink about the first girl and then not choose the second one either?

Then I thought, "Well, maybe he does have some moral fiber -- he didn't want to lead them on."

And *then* I thought, "What kind of guy with moral fiber wants to be on The Bachelor in the first place? He just wanted to meet a bunch of pretty girls and get paid to kiss them all."

That was the funniest part of my week.

Glad you mentioned the Kindle. It’s an odd, unattractive piece of design, reminiscent of a thin, telephone answering machine, or some strange etch-a-sketch/writing tablet. I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.

Kindle? It makes me think ‘kinder’ or ‘spindle’. What does Kindle mean? At least zune rhymes with tune!!!

Welcome back!

Glad you mentioned the Kindle. As well as the odd name, it’s an unattractive piece of design, reminiscent of a thin, telephone answering machine, or some strange etch-a-sketch/writing tablet. I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.

Nothing but term-paper writing and studying for finals for this graduate on Thanksgiving day, and every day between now and the end of the semester.

Speaking of Kindle, I wonder how hot that thing gets? Kinda like a laptop battery? Ouch. Also seems tough on the eyes too. Even if I had the dough to blow, I'd pass on it.

My Niece's young son turned from an engaging boy into a surly teen before our very eyes. Now he ignores and grunts with the best of them.

My other niece and I actually stuffed the turkey and had it in the oven in less than five minutes. We made the stuffing the day before and had everything ready. Shoved four hands into that carcass, spread some salt and pepper and shoved it into the oven with a cup of Proseco in the roaster. It magically appeared three hours later tender and delicious.

Funny, if two people spent five minutes stuffing four hand into me, I'd have complained. The turkey never said a word.

Josephine,

The e-ink technology takes no power when it's not rearranging into new letters, so the Kindle shouldn't get warm at all. I've played with the similar Sony reader and it was plenty cool.

It really does look similar to paper, except when the the letters dissolve and rearrange into new words.

It's almost magical.

I love technology and gadgets, but in terms of form following function, the Kindle misses the aesthetic spot, for me.

Oh, me too! That thing is ugly. I know I am spoiled by Apple stuff, but really...would a little nice design have hurt?

I agree. The Kindle just doesn't do it for me. Give me a paper book any old day!

Nathan, did you see on Paper Cuts that the "Times of London" named On Chesil Beach as best novel of the year?

Laurel, thanks for the info... now if only I can keep my clunky old laptop from getting hot....

Nathan,

Did you see the pics in the media of Spencer serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless at the LA Mission?

He's an angel.

I don't have any Thanksgiving tales to tell, but may I recommend this delightful bit on leftovers by the humor columnist in the Salt Lake Tribune? Robert Kirby is really funny.
http://www.sltrib.com/columnists/ci_7558354

Hi Nathan. I remember you answering this a few weeks ago, but I couldn't find it by looking at your labels.

An agent asks for a partial. When is it okay to send the polite e-mail reminder?

I guess the Kindle would be great for people who need to drag piles of books with them everywhere. It does seem that a lot of thought went into its design, but it is not pretty to look at.

yes I do think that's important. I judge books by their covers. I think lots of people do but not everybody admits it.

I'm not a gadget techno person at all, so the packaging is more important to me than specifications. Also, despite not being into tech, I'm a Mac snob, so I have very little regard for that thing.

Bottom line? I love books. I love reading them, holding them in my hands, and lining them up on my shelf. As much as I hate leaving the house, especially to spend money, I love the bookstore.

I can't see myself owning a Kindle any time soon.

Hi, Nathan.

I just want to ask is it possible to publish a book in USA although author lives in another country and if he has to translate book into English?

Thanks.

P.S.
Sorry for my English

disturbing images of books piled up and flaming high into the night. didn't someone think of this? it reminds me of the campaign to market the vauxhall nova car in italy. 'no va' - doesn't go - tremendous!
anyway, the kindle will NOT take off unless there's a place in it for you to tuck your bus/train ticket. you heard it here first.

Glad you are back. I'm eager to read your take on Kindle.

No great stories from this Thanksgiving but over on my blog I am rehashing my one year of hell as a mall Santa.

My 4 year old daughter said she liked the Thanksgiving Beast.

I'd have been more shocked if the bachelor chose them both.

Still... I worry about this man. Will he find love? Will he maintain those perfect pecks? Will his twin brother have plastic surgery to remove the resemblance? My heart goes out to Glenn... or Bruce... or is it Gary?

Topher, best wait for Nathan to confirm, but I seem to remember he said send the most brief email possible after one month.

Heidi, what about the thrill an author gets seeing people carrying around their book? A kindle gizmo does not give that effect.

re:the Kindle. What about book signings? How does one sign a copy of their kindled book? Will book signings disappear?

I could see book signings becoming rare, extremely high-profile events if things like Kindle take off. To have a physical, signed copy of an author's work would be like owning the Holy Grail of that publication. Publishers would probably limit publications like that to a few hundred and even less would probably get signed.

You're blog always makes me laugh.
You have a quick wit, sir.


Coll

You're blogs are great for information, links, and a good laugh! I especially liked reading Paperback Writer's McNovel blog, although I am apparently not writing a McNovel. I am, however, rethinking my ending to include a happily ever after that is monogamous and sans kids, so readers will think I am under 30 and hot!

Have a great Thanksgiving, and as a new reader of yours, I look forward to your leftovers. After all, in the words of NBC, if you haven't seen it yet, it's new to you!

What's wrong with aspiring authors?

I must hop back to my blog and quickly change the blurbage.

Good to know that my mystery isn't a Whodun McIt.

Note to self: stuffing SASE into a little slot on the computer while querying really doesn't work.

Have a great Thanksgiving! Bring on the leftovers!

I'm amazed - - I actually avoided writing a McNovel!!

Okay, on your last point....I know there's a learning curve for submitting "stuff" but...

Oh MY!!!

In theory, they could include on-line postage with their e-mail:

I don't technically know if that would make it a SASE or not. My guess is not because it'd require you to print out the postage and address on your own envelope, with your own printer. If somebody has tried that, then I guess they could try to use the term SASE.

I am pleased to say that I'm not writing a McNovel either, but I bet there are a lot of guys out there who wouldn't mind being Bill Gates and having that harem of cheerleaders. Some would probably settle for just one cheerleader.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Nathan! Although, does it really seem like the holidays when it's so warm? I guess it's just the sacrifice you make for the job the you love, right?

I am not writing a McNovel, athough I might be writing a novel King. (And I dearly hope I'm not writing a novel-in-the-box, although I could possibly be writing a novel bell.)

I feel for those who have written that they've enclosed a SASE in the e-mailed query because that's the kind of doofus thing I'd do. Yanno, cut 'n paste the body of the query and think you're good to go, forgetting that the last one was snail mailed and this one isn't.... I haven't done this exact move but I could easily see myself doing something similar. D'oh!

But happily, with an e-mailed query, I don't have to figure out if it is "a" SASE or "an" SASE. That debate can go on for ages.

I thought your big publishing news was going to be about Christopher Hitchen's infamous groping at the National Book Awards. Ew.

I'd provide a link, but some people might not appreciate it.

Nathan, Mcthanks for the link to McPaperback Writer's sublime blog. I'm so grateful, in fact, that I've enclosed a pumpkin pie for your Thanksgiving.

anon-

I'm not touching the touching of Mr. Hitchens' pole with a million foot pole.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

No McNovels here.

I do disagree with Number 6. I mean, come on, the Romance Genre is built on Happily Ever After and it's the hottest selling genre there is.

Besides, I believe in Happily Ever After because I'm living it. It's a lot more work and UNselfishness in Real Life than in Fairytales, but it does happen.

Of course, it never happens for people who don't believe it's possible in the first place.
;)

Wait. I thought that our job was to write McNovels. Things that book stores can sell a lot of.

McNovels is cute, and I appreciate the laugh, but let's go back to that other story you aren't going to comment on ... is it just me, or does anyone else wonder why Judith Regan was having dinner with Rupert Murdoch on Valentine's Day? Hmmmmmm

Nathan,

Thanks for the link to the McNovel post. It reminded me a lot of a checklist to use to watch out for bad fanfic characters known as Mary Sues.

If you aren't familiar with that checklist yet, you'll enjoy it even if you don't understand the Potterverse:

http://tinyurl.com/2vxbpk

It gives a lot of potential red flags when it comes to characterizations that annoy the hell out of people.

Oh, and come on, you don't want to go on the record by saying that the Judith Regan lawsuit makes for great spectator sport?

This case has everything:

politics, the media, sex, violence, terrorism, money, Rupert Murdoch, intimidation, potential obstruction of justice, wrongful termination, character assassination, and O.J. Simpson.

I'm tellin' ya. It's gonna be great just watching this story unfold layer after sordid layer. Day after day. Week after week.

It truly is a case of truth being stranger than fiction.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Linda

Have a good thanksgiving.
Stuff your turkey and stuff yourself. Preferably in that order.

Oh come on! Give us a little of your famous wit on the Regan lawsuit! I know you are dying to express it!

I did include an SASE, I swear. Your spamfilter must have blocked it. Thanks for your McRejection.

One day, a dejected aspiring McAuthor will find a way to spread a virus on the computer of agents which will prompt an automatic request for a full with every incoming e-query.

When are they going to bring back the McRib?

Seriously, human beings have been creative for over--what--fifty thousand years? How is it that we're not going to end up with a McNovel situation thanks to a inundated, commercially-driven society?

Now I've got yet another nagging voice to question my work's worthiness, "Would you like fries with that?"

Nathan, I shall eat your leftovers and throughly chew and enjoy every bite.

Oh and point taken about "The Brothers McVampire."

I'm happy to say I'm not writing a McNovel. And much relieved.

I love Ken Follet! I can't afford new books but he's on my shelves from library sales and flea markets.

I just started reading this and have a book out that I self published by buying Martha Stewart stock when she went to jail. Sold it went she got out and made enough to cover cost at iUniverse. Book looks good and is selling, but I can't do enough. Scholastic said, "I need an agent". I wrote it because I was so concerned about the NCLB Act and what it is doing to our public schools. Check Google Deanna Enos Nobody Left Behind - One Child's Story About Testing to see the passion I've put into this. Are you interested in knowing more about it?

I need to connect with someone with a quick wit. I'm currently witless. What is this NCLB Act doing to our public schools? Does anybody care? I've written Nobody Left Behind One Child's Story About Testing. It's been published by the fact that Martha Stewart went to jail and I bought her stock making enough cash to pay iUniverse to get this into print. Now Scholastic says I need an agent. Does this interest you?
Kids need a VOICE. Now it's just "Shut up and do your homework" everyday after school.

Thanks for the recommendation of SPIN, Nathan. From the synopsis on Amazon it sounds like an incredible book that I must have.

original bran fan, that's unfortunately true for most of us, I think. I write mostly sf, and I find it difficult to enjoy sf nowadays. Mostly I end up reading non-fiction.

I hesitated to include this, but what the hell. For a novel about what happens when the sun disappears but the stars remain, there's this one.

Thanks, Nathan. I haven't read anything good lately, so I've reserved all three at the library. Looking forward to reading them!

Let's talk about the guy who writes 101 REASONS TO STOP WRITING.

You know how he always tells us that we will never be this good?

Yep.

Pass me a cucumber sandwich, please!

I saw The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian at my local children's bookstore and picked it up. It had a funny blurb on the back by Amy Sedaris, so I bought it for my son. What a great book, though perhaps I will wait a little while before I give it to my son (I'm not sure he's ready for the Happy Happy Joy Joy equation).

I agree with original bran fan. I have a lot of trouble enjoying reading any more. I try to read in my genre, and I've been seriously unhappy with some of what's out there (urban fantasy). So I need to pull away and read something more nutritious for my creative brain. Thanks for the recommendations, Nathan. And what about the adult fiction award winner? Something about smoke? Is that one any good?

karen-

I haven't read Denis Johnson's novel yet, but it's on my to-read list!

Groan. Would you cut that out, Nathan! Now I've got three more books I have to read and I'm supposed to be WRITING!

"House of the Scorpion" is very much a "read-me" title!

Okay not to get us off track but - and I say this scrunching my shoulders awaiting the attack - I've not read any SF - really nothing.

What would you recommend for someone dipping in their toe?

Tammie-

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is a good place to start, IMO. I'm sure others will have some great suggestions.

I've only heard good things about House of Scorpion.

Spin sounds intriguing. Is it bad that the first thing I thought of when you mentioned the stars and moon disappearing from the sky was Katamari Damacy?

Don't feel bad, Tammie. I've not read all that much myself and I consider a major fan of genre fiction . . except for SF. I've often caught myself saying they're both the "the smartest and the *worst* writers in the world."

I went on a campaign to teach myself science fiction some years back and threw my hands in the air after about a dozen of "the classics." Only one struck me as a really good book: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller. "Flowers for Algernon" was another from my high school years.

As for the rest, I was entertained by some (like the late Andre Norton) most of the time I found myself saying "Yikes!" and "Gee, this would have made a much better essay."

Spin is on my short list of books that have blown me away over the last year or so too. I've put it on my wish list of books I really want to have on my shelf.

The most recent has been Madman by Tracy Groot. That woman writes some incredibly satisfying prose, smooth and rich like a fine wine or coffee.

I'll stop now, while I'm still in control.

I'll have to check out SPIN. I'm not a huge SF or Fantasy fan, but that's slowly changing as I get more brave.

Okay, HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY it is then.

Thanks Nathan!

The secret to fantastic cucumber sandwiches is threefold:

1) Real mayo. Not the "lite" or healthy kind. Full-fat Best Foods is perfect (or Hellman's for you east coast folk.)

2) White bread. It can be tempting to use something earthy, seedy, or "more distinct." Forget it. White bread pairs with heart-stopping mayo like Bogey and Bacall. OK, without the snappy repartee and guns, but perfect and tasty.

3) Thin-sliced cukes. Shave them and layer evenly.

And a final word of advice: Let them rest. Spread the bread, layer the cucumbers, wrap them up, stick them in the fridge, and make yourself a side car. You deserve it.

Before your guests arrive, unwrap the sandwiches, slice off the crusts, cut them into quarters (square, please, no fancy triangles), and lay them onto a wide platter.

Make another side car, taste your delicious creations, and sit back like you made no effort at all.