Rachelle Gardner

I’m giving a webinar TONIGHT with book marketing guru @ThomasUmstattd: How to Win Agents and Influence Editors… at a Writers’ Conference. Time is 8pm Eastern… cost is only $15.00 and you get approximately one million dollars worth of material. Okay, just kidding. But we think it’s at least a $100 value. You get: ♦ The live webinar…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: There are plenty of places online to get tips for using Twitter effectively. (I’ve given you some links at the end of this post.) But today I’m going to give you just ONE tip. I think it’s the first and most important thing you…

Yesterday I gave you a sampling of the blogs I follow in my Google Reader. But there are some blogs and publications I follow on Twitter instead of in my Reader. These tend to be very good at Tweeting new articles and posts, so it’s easier for me to click through from Twitter rather than…

I’m an avid reader of blogs. I have dozens in my Google Reader and I take the opportunity to read, especially on my phone or iPad, whenever I have a few moments to spare. I’ve been asked numerous times to share the blogs I read, so here is a sampling. My list might be a…

I was talking with a friend who works in the financial industry, and a question came up about what we would each be doing 30 years from now. My friend was anticipating a prosperous retirement at that point, having built up a significant and valuable business. While the financial life of our nation has its…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. A preview: Here is a typical email I receive from writers I’m considering for representation, or clients whose proposals are about to be sent to publishers: Dear Rachelle, I’m SO sorry to bother you and I hope it’s not too late. I was looking over my manuscript…

I’m an optimist by nature — I usually expect things will all work out. But I find that I’m more successful and experience less disappointment when I practice “thinking negative.” What do I mean by that? When I “think negative,” I factor into my habitual “positive thinking” a realistic assessment of the difficulties, challenges or obstacles…

I believe that as an author, you can expect certain rights when it comes to dealing with agents and publishers. I also believe that rights come with responsibilities. Here are a few that come to mind: 1. You have the right to decide whether or not to seek agency representation, and which type of publishing…

I’ve blogged about failure a few times, and I’ve read dozens of other posts about it. As I wrote in this post, “Turns out, everyone and their brother has blogged about failure. And every successful person in history has a quote about it, too.” But recently, an author wrote poignantly about being in the middle…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Click here for tips on that all-important author or professional photo!

Ah, the English language. You would think one’s native tongue would be easier to master. But alas, there are simply too many land mines in our little lexicon. Just today I read an email in which the writer hoped I “excepted” his submission, and another in which someone wanted to pay me a “complement.” It…

Have you been on Skype lately? Had a meeting via Google+ hangout? Done any video-blogging? These days more of us are communicating via video rather than just voice or the written word — and I highly recommend it. People seem to like it because  communication is more effective and memorable when you can see the…

People often ask me what I do for a living. If I say “I’m a literary agent,” I’m likely to receive a blank stare. I quickly tell them I work with authors to help them get their books published; sometimes I’ll say, “You know how actors and athletes have agents? Well, authors have agents too.”…

Authors often express frustration that their rejection letters don’t contain any hint of the real reason the project wasn’t accepted (save for something generic like “the project doesn’t fit my needs at the present time.”) A writer told me she’s not asking for much — just “one word, maybe two” of explanation at the end…