Meet the Team

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Rachelle Gardner

President and Literary Agent

As a literary agent since 2007, Rachelle has negotiated 300+ contracts with more than 20 publishers, and worked with more than 200 authors to bring their books to publication and build their careers.

She's been in publishing since 1995, worked in-house at two publishing companies, and edited books published by Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, and many more. Nowadays she feels lucky to work at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

When she's not working, you can usually find her out hiking the local trails, riding her bike, haunting bookstores, or having coffee at Starbucks.

Click HERE to see a sampling of books Rachelle has represented.

 

2023 appearances (click each one for information):

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Kristy Cambron

Literary Agent

Kristy Cambron is a Christy Award-winning author with a diverse background in published works for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, including historical fiction, Bible studies, Bibles, a Bible study journal, and a gift book anthology for Dayspring.

Kristy served as a Women's Ministry Leader for one of the nation's largest churches and is an experienced keynote speaker at national conferences and ministry events. She spent fifteen years in leadership development for a Fortune 100 corporation, and has a background in art and design, with an undergraduate degree in art history and research writing.

You can find Kristy at home in the Hoosier state where she enjoys hiking, watching football with her husband and three sons, and dreaming of Paris while reading and writing in her favorite local coffee shop..

2023 appearances (click each one for information):
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Ashley Hong

Literary Agent

Ashley dove into the publishing world in 2017 after several years in news/digital media. She served the Convergent imprint of Penguin Random House for over four years, where she edited a number of NYT bestsellers.

She's a sucker for the kind of writing that haunts you in a good way: transporting storytelling; compulsively readable memoirs; subversive prayers. But she's also into the fun stuff: rom com lit that rivals TV; self-deprecating self-help; essay collections that feel like a friend.

2023 appearances (click each one for information):

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Sherri Wilson Johnson

Director of Operations

Since 2012, Sherri has operated her own virtual assistant business. She has assisted authors, speakers, bloggers, podcasters, publishers and literary agents. She has designed book covers and helped authors Indie-publish their books. She brings her expertise to Gardner Literary, where she handles bookkeeping, coordinates social media, and manages day-to-day operations.

Sherri is also an author herself, having published eleven Indie novels and two which were traditionally published, so she understands the world of our clients. She lives in Georgia with her husband Dan and their two rambunctious dogs, and enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles and visiting the beach.

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What People Are Saying

Rachelle’s ability to apply her expansive knowledge of the publishing industry to my specific writing career — both where I am and where I want to go in the future — is invaluable. She’s helped me navigate all the details of a writer’s life: deadlines, editors, preparing/pitching a proposal, as well as managing expectations, successes, and disappointments. Rachelle grounds me in much-needed reality, while encouraging me to pursue my writing dreams. 

~Award-winning author Beth K. Vogt

 

I can’t overstate how awesome it was to work with Rachelle on my memoir. Her keen editorial insights and brilliant revision directions made the difference between a half-baked book and one that drew eight publishers to the table. Her instincts are simply dead on. She has a rare gift for seeing the book that is trying to happen and helping the writer bring it to fruition.

~Bestselling author Heather H. Kopp

 

“My coaching session with Rachelle was invaluable. She helped me to untie some knots in my head, which were hindering my ability to make progress with my literary novel, by adding clarity, focus and purpose to the project. She read a solid sample of my work, had structured feedback and worked very hard to ascertain not only the writing itself, but who was doing the writing and why. I would highly recommend her coaching services to any writer looking to improve their work.”

~Anthony Faggioli, first-time novelist

 

I continue to depend on Rachelle’s level-headed and practical advice about the publishing world in general and my situation in particular. She’s been an invaluable asset to me along my road to writing. 

~Richard L Mabry, MD, award-winning author

 

I’ve worked with Rachelle on numerous writing projects, and she has been an integral part of each step in my publishing process. She has helped me expand and develop my ideas, strengthen my writing, consider my audience, craft proposals, and negotiate contracts. One thing I particularly appreciate about Rachelle is her honesty—she is straight-forward and direct. She has always been willing to tell me the truth, even if it hurts. This also means that when she loves my writing, I know her sentiment is genuine and my writing is strong. For an author, this is an invaluable quality of a writing/publishing coach.

~Zeke Pipher, author of Man on the Run and In Pursuit

Let's Work Together!

Through coaching, I assist non-agented authors in the areas of writing, publishing, and social media.

11 Comments

  1. Title tips | Z is for Zampetti on October 22, 2015 at 3:37 PM

    […] Rachelle Gardner of Books and Such Literary Agency really gives you the goods in her article. Though she tells us up front that the title of your book as published rests with the publisher, she goes on to say that a good title is a help in a query. Let’s face it, we can all use any help we can get. 🙂 […]



  2. […] settembre 2013 e scritto in risposta ad un intervento poco felice dell’agente letterario Rachelle Gardner (che io peraltro conosco e seguo con […]



  3. […] agent Rachelle Gardner has this to say about voice: “You can’t learn it. You can’t copy it. Voice isn’t a […]



  4. […] wonderful things about. And–miraculously, beautifully, shockingly–(such grace!) Rachelle Gardner liked my proposal and is going to represent […]



  5. […] Thursday at 1:33pm, my women’s Bible study groups was leaving and my phone rang. Rachelle Gardner, an amazing literary agent with Books-n-Such introduced herself and my jaw dropped. She called to […]



  6. V’s Snippet of the Week – #5 | on July 29, 2013 at 12:57 PM

    […] Today’s snippet concerns planning your career as an author, from literary agent Rachelle Gardner: […]



  7. […] Publishing Myths from Rachelle Gardner at her […]



  8. […] Rachelle Gardner at Books & Such of Santa Rosa clearly sees guidance as one of the most pressing elements of her […]



  9. […] Rachelle Gardner […]



  10. […] keep waiting for my amazing agent to call and say it’s not real. It was just a dream. But no, it is real and I’ve even […]



  11. Lots of changes, all of them good… on May 20, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    […] wonderful things about. And–miraculously, beautifully, shockingly–(such grace!) Rachelle Gardner liked my proposal and is going to represent me.That doesn’t mean I have book deal. But it […]