Wow. Nathan Bransford, the agent from Curtis Brown who maintains an incredibly informative and entertaining blog, ran a contest over the past week on opening pages. Readers submitted the first 500 words of a current work in progress and Nathan and his friend chose six finalists, from which the blog's readers will choose the winning entry by vote. Nathan received 675 entries...and the one I submitted made the list! It was the opening page of a piece of contemporary women's fiction (my apologies to historical fiction fans, but my new opening wasn't ready yet). If you'd like to read my entry and the other finalists', go to Nathan Bransford--Literary Agent. You can vote for your favorite in the comments section by Tuesday at 5 pm Pacific Time.
Thank you, Nathan, for the hours of hard work that went into hosting this contest! It was a lot of fun and quite enlightening. Now all of us unpublished writers have a better idea of what an agent's daily life is like and how important it is to hone those first pages in order to capture the agent's--and reader's!--attention. Good luck to all the finalists!
Monday, February 4, 2008
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10 comments:
Yay, Julianne!! How exciting! And what a great vindication of Nathan's point that openings don't have to start with fireworks. Wonderful work! Good luck!
Hi Julianne --
Fantastic! I'm thrilled for you! You're on a roll, my friend, and it's only a matter of until I have your book in my hot little hands.
Jennifer
Congratulations on your nomination! You have an amazing voice and I have no doubt we'll be seeing you in print soon ;]
Precie and Jennifer,
Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked the opening. And I certainly hope my first novel will be in your hands before they cool off. [g]
Michelle,
Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! I heard you speak about your novel, NEFERTITI, at the Historical Novel Society Conference in June. With editing my own novel and searching for an agent, I'm sorry to say I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it's sitting right on the top of the TBR pile! I've heard nothing but great things about it. Do you have another novel coming out soon?
Thanks again, and I hope to see here often.
Wow, I didn't know you were at the HNS conference. I wish we'd had a chance to talk! Although I write about ancient Egypt (my next book is a sequel to Nefertiti, coming out August 5, to be followed by Cleopatra's Daughter, set in ancient Rome), my secret passion is Renaissance France!!! My husband and I go to France every year, and I can't read enough about the history of the country.
So is your novel complete? Is it a mystery, historical biography, or something else?
Michelle,
I was too shy to go up and speak with you at the conference, you being a famous author and all. {s} At that point, I was just starting my agent search. I'm happy to say that in November Stephanie Cabot of the Gernert Company offered to represent me. My novel, which tells the story of a women poet who must overcome society's censure, her own guilt, and a secret vendetta if she wants to see her words into print, is currently under submission to editors. In the meantime, I'm trying to stay sane (do sane people check their email accounts forty times a day?) by working on a second novel, the one I've been talking about here. The piece I submitted to Nathan's contest is something very out of the ordinary for me, as it's set in this very century. {s}
How wonderful for you to travel to France so often! I'm insanely jealous. With your archeological expeditions and other trips, you must lead an incredibly interesting life. With three kids and a house in the 'burbs, I live vicariously, through books and my imagination. Someday... is my mantra.
Must get Nefertiti read so I'll be ready for the sequel! And thanks again for joining the discussion. I hope you'll find interesting things here now and again.
Hi Michelle! (Julianne, I hope you don't mind if I hijack your comments for a moment)
I, too, was at the Historical Novel Conference and I have read NEFERTITI! Enjoyed it thoroughly! It was especially meaningful because within a few weeks of finishing your book I took a trip with my sisters to see the King Tut exhibit in Philadelphia. I got so much more out of it than I would had I not just read your book.
Jennifer
Oh my gosh. Look at all the schmoozing I missed out on at the HNS Conference! I'm clearly going to have to make a bigger effort at going up to people next time! And thank you for the kind words, Jennifer. I went to the King Tut Exhibit in LA, and when my book tour took me through Philly I went to see it for a second time there as well! Wasn't it absolutely amazing? Especially the small mummies of Tut's children, who were distantly related to Nefertiti (which is rather creepy to think about, but Nefertiti and her husband were first cousins).
And Julianne, Stephanie Cabot is a fantastic agent. Congratulations! She represents Alexandra Potter, doesn't she? Well, I have no doubt you'll be getting that phone call in no time at all ;] And if checking email forty times a day is in any way abnormal, you and I will be spending some quality time with Britney Spears soon.
Please let me know if/when you need someone to read a galley (as I'm sure you'll be needing blurbers soon). If your first page on Nathan's blog is anything to go by, I'll bet your historical fiction is a real page turner!
Michelle,
How awesome of you to offer to read a galley. Of course I'd love for you to, if (when, she corrects herself, when, when, when!) things get that far. I can't thank you enough!
And yes, Stephanie represents Alexandra Potter, as well as Mark Mills, Catherine Delors and a host of other amazing authors. I'm one lucky--and very grateful--girl. [s]
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