IN CONVERSATION with Nathan Bransford, agent with Curtis Brown Ltd.
by Bethany Hegedus
I had the pleasure of meeting San Francisco based literary agent Nathan Bransford, of Curtis Brown Ltd., in Austin, Texas at the recent Destination Publication conference. Over brisket and iced tea, I was taken with Nathan’s ability to talk about all aspects of the business: from e-books, to branding, to how he balances his agenting and writing, while still allowing for time to curl up on the couch with his wife and watch the occasional reality TV program. Nathan is also a popular blogger, as well as author.
BETHANY HEGEDUS: Nathan, thanks for being with us here at Hunger Mountain. In this issue, we are shining the spotlight on various kinds of outreach authors can do, whether that means working with the homeless, or those currently incarcerated, in hospitals, or in juvenile detention centers. Doing this type of work is of course fully up to the author, but as an agent and one who cares about “story,” how do you feel about community outreach? Do you encourage authors on your list to give back? And if so, how does this giving back repay the author, maybe not in money, but in other rewards?
NATHAN BRANSFORD: Writing can be a very solitary pursuit for huge swaths of time, so outreach and service and giving back can be enormously restorative to writers. I leave it to my clients to decide how they want to give back as I think it’s important that everyone finds the way that works best for them, but I really feel that service and charity is something that’s not just important for us as writers but as human beings.
BH: To me, blogging is a form of community outreach and your blog is a fine example of that. You offer information on publishing trends, links to articles that have caught your interest and deserve highlighting, and Q&As for newcomers to the children’s publishing industry. How do you cover so much, so often? Why do you feel this service is valuable? And how are blogging, tweeting and other forms of social media an asset to all authors—if you believe they are?
NB: The good thing about covering something as big and varied as writing and the publication process is that there’s always something to talk about! I think the most valuable aspect of my blog is not so much whatever I have to say but the feedback and knowledge that people offer in the comments section and in the Forums. I’ve learned a great deal from the people who read my blog, and I’m fortunate to have had so many invest their time in lending their knowledge and perspective.
Social networking is a great way for authors to not only get their names out there but also to plug in with like-minded people to learn more about craft and the business. It’s also just great to know that there are other people out there who understand what it’s like to be an author and are living the same ups and downs. It can be challenging to keep up with everything on top of career and writing time, and it takes organization (I’d be nowhere without Google Reader keeping tabs on the blogs I follow), but it’s been enormously beneficial to my career as both an agent and a writer.
BH: As a young adult author yourself, with JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, being released by Dial Books for Young Readers in 2011, what special talents do you bring to your stable of authors? Do you offer editorial feedback before placing a manuscript?
NB: I do offer editorial feedback and am a hands-on agent, though I think editing someone else’s work is actually a somewhat different skill from writing. It’s not my job to tell my clients how I would write a book, but rather to try and help them achieve their vision for a project. There’s some overlap, because I’ve had to think a great deal about craft while writing my own projects, but for the most part I think it’s a separate skill.
I think where being a writing agent is most helpful is that I really truly understand how much work goes into manuscripts, I’ve been through the query process, I’ve experienced the pain of putting a manuscript in the drawer and moving on, I’ve received editorial feedback… I know what my clients are going through in a way I didn’t fully before I started writing. That’s not to say that agents who don’t write don’t understand what writers go through, but I just find that it’s been extremely helpful to me in making me much more sympathetic to just how hard it is to be a writer and to better tailoring my approach as an agent.
BH: Many of us fear e-publishing but we know it is here to stay, even if it does not make the book obsolete. What are your thoughts on navigating the e-publishing world, and how do you think the publishing business is changing?
NB: Oh wow—I personally think it’s going to be an enormous transformation that will leave very few aspects of the publication process unchanged. For writers, while it’s certainly an uncertain time and right now it’s a challenging time to break in, it’s also a time filled with a huge amount of opportunity. Authors can now reach out directly and finding their audiences in a way that simply didn’t exist ten years ago. Anything can catch on out of the blue. And whether through traditional publishing or self-publishing, everyone has a shot. I’m very excited about the changes, but it requires a very entrepreneurial mindset and quite a bit of non-writing time. Still, I’m optimistic about the future and am really looking forward to the new era.
BH: Before you leave us, please share with us a bit about a project that you represent that you are especially excited about?
NB: Viking recently published THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard, which is an incredible debut YA novel about a boy who is secretly dating a girl, but when she dies he’s suddenly the only one who knew they were together. Then he discovers her diary, which is full of unsent letters and memories about their time together, and he’s trying to move on just as the diary is pulling him back to their time together. It’s an amazing novel and I hope everyone reads it!
