Rachelle Gardner

I don’t know a single writer whose publishing dreams included being a full-time marketer for their books.   The writing and publishing dream usually includes visions of spending several hours a day at the laptop, sending manuscripts off to a publisher, receiving big checks, getting fabulous starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, hearing from awe-struck fans…

Have you noticed that email volume is reaching crisis proportions? It’s true for many people regardless of the business they’re in. The ease of email causes people to be careless about how they use it. It’s just SO easy to dash off an email to someone the moment you think of it. And then three…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: Writers’ conference season is in full swing, and many of you are preparing for the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) conference in September. One of the most anxiety-provoking parts of a conference is knowing you’ll need to verbally pitch your book (which I’ve previously covered…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: One of the things that always generates excitement among authors is the prospect of an “auction” between publishers for their book. But there’s also a mystique surrounding auctions, and many writers wonder how they actually work. So let’s pull back the shroud of mystery and…

I’ve been thinking a lot about how things are changing so fast these days… technology is obsolete the moment it comes to market, there’s a new “must participate” social network every week, and publishing, well, after a good 100-year run, publishing is finally being forced to enter the 21st century. It all feels a little…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: I do a lot of reading around the web and I devour business-related books and blogs. One of the themes that is arising again and again lately, in all the business literature, is resilience. More than ever, employees, entrepreneurs, and entire companies depend for their…

I am a reader of memoirs. I love them as much as I adore good fiction. I love the way great memoirists unflinchingly bare themselves to us, showing the good and the bad, the admirable moments and the shameful ones. I just finished reading an unusual memoir (Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas) which is…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: A blog reader wrote: I’ve found myself in a frustrating situation with a publisher regarding the definition of “out-of-print” [and not being able to obtain] a reversion of rights to two of my novels. These novels have earned back their advances but are no longer…

There’s a new writer blog in town, The Write Life, and I’ll be posting there occasionally. Today my topic is 13 Ways to Impress a Literary Agent. Click over to read! Here is an overview of The Write Life blog: We understand that integrating writing into your life is about more than sitting down to…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: One of the primary advantages of having an agent is that you have an advocate who can handle all the negotiations with the publisher and navigate difficult territory, allowing you to maintain a positive working relationship with everyone at your publishing house. This positive…

When an agent or editor requests your partial or full manuscript, it’s nerve wracking to wait and wonder, day after day, if they’re reading it and whether they like it. If they finally decide not to offer representation, it hurts and you just want to know… why? Most agents try to offer some kind of explanation…

Over many years of editing books, it seems I have become a heartless eliminator of exclamation points!!! Seriously, I developed a hatred for them! People tend to WAY overuse them! Not to mention italics and bold, and that oh-so-effective use of ALL CAPS!!!!!!! Here’s a hint to avoid coming across as amateur: Use the above…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: This week, we’ve been telling you about our experiences at the ICRS convention where we spent the bulk of our time talking with publishers and editors about you — our clients. These meetings put us in the same position you’re in at a writer’s…

Have you ever hated your work-in-progress? I’m blogging about that phenomenon at Books & Such today. Click HERE to read it.