Nathan Bransford
@nathanbransford.com
Author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series. Blogging holdout. Reach out to me for help with your book!
www.nathanbransford.com
www.nathanbransford.com
Slop is an apt word of the year, but I'm still inspired by the (human) writers out there. My year in review:
This year in books (2025)
This year! Books! The word ninjas over at Merriam-Webster really nailed the word of the year for 2025: slop. Slop is on my mind so much lately. Not just for the uncannily creepy images and videos that...
nathanbransford.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Slop is an apt word of the year, but I'm still inspired by the (human) writers out there. My year in review:
As we wind down the year, here are some of my favorites from 2025:
The best of 2025!
As I did in past years, I thought I’d make my last Monday post of the year (!) a roundup of some highlights from 2025. Hope you find a new discovery or two! The best of the blog 2025 Most viewed posts...
nathanbransford.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:10 PM
As we wind down the year, here are some of my favorites from 2025:
Check out my workshop on all things first pages! First pages that worked, dos and don'ts, openings to avoid, and more.
All about first pages (December '25 Office Hours)
Expert writing advice on crafting the perfect first page. Learn what readers look for in a novel opening, plus do's and don'ts.
nathanbransford.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Check out my workshop on all things first pages! First pages that worked, dos and don'ts, openings to avoid, and more.
OpenAI has to hand over emails about pirated books, why does AI write like that, best of 2025 lists, the writing craft lessons of Survivor, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
OpenAI does not want you to know why it deleted its pirated books database (This week in books)
This week! Books! First up, in case you missed it: Really sad news arrived this week as longtime publishing industry man about town Porter Anderson passed away. I’m sure many of you will remember Port...
nathanbransford.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
OpenAI has to hand over emails about pirated books, why does AI write like that, best of 2025 lists, the writing craft lessons of Survivor, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
I won't tell anyone I won the lottery, but there will be signs.
December 4, 2025 at 11:30 PM
I won't tell anyone I won the lottery, but there will be signs.
Will you ever buy mostly e-books? Do you already? Are you ride or die with paper? Time for my 19th annual poll!
Will you ever buy mostly e-books? (19th annual poll)
I launched this poll in 2007. The first Kindle had recently been released. iPads didn’t even exist yet!! It’s been interesting to see how feelings toward e-books have evolved through the years, from a...
nathanbransford.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Will you ever buy mostly e-books? Do you already? Are you ride or die with paper? Time for my 19th annual poll!
For Giving Tuesday, I hope you'll consider Heifer Int'l and @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social!
Giving Tuesday 2025!
It’s Giving Tuesday today, and this year, I hope you’ll join my 17th annual push to support Heifer International, an organization devoted to fighting hunger. With hunger persisting around the world, t...
nathanbransford.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
For Giving Tuesday, I hope you'll consider Heifer Int'l and @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social!
Don't force the reader to repeat what they already know.
Avoid making the reader repeat what they already know
We writers can sometimes get so caught up in our characters and settings that we forget that we are not actually transcribing the events in an alternate world. We are storytelling. As such, it’s cruci...
nathanbransford.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Don't force the reader to repeat what they already know.
Reposted by Nathan Bransford
I'm available for developmental edits on full and partial manuscripts for a limited time! Full details here:
open.substack.com/pub/danieljo...
open.substack.com/pub/danieljo...
November 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I'm available for developmental edits on full and partial manuscripts for a limited time! Full details here:
open.substack.com/pub/danieljo...
open.substack.com/pub/danieljo...
For next week's Office Hours for newsletter subscribers, we'll do a first pages workshop! And for Thanksgiving break, a roundup of posts that touch on "Information vs. Storytelling!"
Happy Thanksgiving! - December "first page" Office Hours - Information vs. storytelling
Those of us in the United States are prepping our systems for turkey and stuffing, and I hope wherever you are, you have a safe and contented Thanksgiving. I’m very thankful for all of you, and apprec...
nathanbransford.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
For next week's Office Hours for newsletter subscribers, we'll do a first pages workshop! And for Thanksgiving break, a roundup of posts that touch on "Information vs. Storytelling!"
Sourcebooks' print sales reach heavy hitter status, romantasy is the talk of the town (including some TMI), the latest A.I. publishing scams, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
Has the Big 5 become the Big 6? (This week in books)
Sourcebooks' impressive rise, A.I. publishing scams, the continuing romantasy boom, and the perils of writing a novel like it's TV.
nathanbransford.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Sourcebooks' print sales reach heavy hitter status, romantasy is the talk of the town (including some TMI), the latest A.I. publishing scams, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
I updated and expanded my post on phrases to find and delete from your novel. Terminate at will!
Find and delete these phrases from your novel
Excess verbiage is a prime culprit behind a choppy reading experience and a bloated word count. Little redundancies can pile up over the course of a novel and add tens of thousands of extra words. Whe...
nathanbransford.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:15 PM
I updated and expanded my post on phrases to find and delete from your novel. Terminate at will!
Wait how do they know it was an accident
November 16, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Wait how do they know it was an accident
JCO KO's Musk, fashion embraces the book world, A.I. songs are racing up the charts, how to accurately write about time travel, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
World's richest man KO'd by 87-year-old novella writer (This week in books)
Joyce Carol Oates feuds with Elon Musk, David Szalay wins the Booker Prize, and AI songs hit the charts. Get the latest publishing news.
nathanbransford.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:55 PM
JCO KO's Musk, fashion embraces the book world, A.I. songs are racing up the charts, how to accurately write about time travel, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!
The New York Times is ridiculousing so hard this week.
November 14, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The New York Times is ridiculousing so hard this week.
In case you missed it, here's last Thursday's office hours! Topics include: querying agents during the holidays, subplots, A.I. in lieu of paid editing, publishing scams, and much more! You can straight jump to any topic of interest:
Office Hours Recap! (November '25)
Thanks so much to everyone who attended Office Hours last Thursday! In case you missed it, you can watch the video above (if you’re reading via the newsletter, please click here to see it). I forgot t...
nathanbransford.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:23 PM
In case you missed it, here's last Thursday's office hours! Topics include: querying agents during the holidays, subplots, A.I. in lieu of paid editing, publishing scams, and much more! You can straight jump to any topic of interest:
If you're going to set a children's book in the past, there should be a good reason for it (and struggling to imagine childhood with smartphones is not a good enough reason)
Be careful setting children's books in the recent past
When writers set out to pen children’s books, they may well anchor to their own childhoods for inspiration. Which is good on the whole! I’m on record arguing that a good memory is more helpful for wri...
nathanbransford.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
If you're going to set a children's book in the past, there should be a good reason for it (and struggling to imagine childhood with smartphones is not a good enough reason)
10% of Facebook's revenue comes from scams, the debate over posting publicly about your submissions, how bookstores decide what to stock, and more of the best writing and book links from the past week!
Facebook: Scam central (This week in books)
A report details Facebook's massive scam ad problem. Plus, the debate on authors posting about submissions and how bookstores choose stock.
nathanbransford.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:37 PM
10% of Facebook's revenue comes from scams, the debate over posting publicly about your submissions, how bookstores decide what to stock, and more of the best writing and book links from the past week!
Reposted by Nathan Bransford
Authors, I think you might enjoy this long interview with a independent bookstore buyer about how bookstores decide what books to stock and display: countercraft.substack.com/p/interview-...
Interview: Fisher the Bookseller Explains How Bookstores Decide Which Books to Sell
The ins and outs of how books are bought and sold in bookstores
countercraft.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Authors, I think you might enjoy this long interview with a independent bookstore buyer about how bookstores decide what books to stock and display: countercraft.substack.com/p/interview-...
Characters in a novel don't need to be powerful. They don't even need to be clever. They do need to try.
It's hard to engage with a character who isn't trying
Your protagonist doesn’t need to be powerful. They don’t need to save the world. They don’t need to be smart or clever or determined or any other personality trait under the sun. They do need to try t...
nathanbransford.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Characters in a novel don't need to be powerful. They don't even need to be clever. They do need to try.
The origins of Frankenstein, the class action lawsuit against OpenAI moves forward, Philip Pullman wraps up Lyra Silvertongue's story, and more of the best writing and BOOks links from the past week!
The spooky origins of Frankenstein (This week in BOOks)
This week! BOOks! Happy Halloween, everybody! Just a quick reminder that next Thursday, November 6 at 9pm ET / 6pm PT I’ll be hosting my free monthly Office Hours exclusively for newsletter subscriber...
nathanbransford.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The origins of Frankenstein, the class action lawsuit against OpenAI moves forward, Philip Pullman wraps up Lyra Silvertongue's story, and more of the best writing and BOOks links from the past week!
The problem is not that there are too many bad billionaires, the problem is that there are billionaires.
October 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The problem is not that there are too many bad billionaires, the problem is that there are billionaires.
Dodgers win the base ball we go to sleep
October 28, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Dodgers win the base ball we go to sleep
The problems with the phrase "The last thing X wanted" run quite, quite deep.
The last thing I wanted to write about
I’ve now been reading unpublished manuscripts and query letters for over twenty years–first as a publishing assistant, then a literary agent, now as a freelance editor–adding up to tens of thousands o...
nathanbransford.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
The problems with the phrase "The last thing X wanted" run quite, quite deep.