Rachelle Gardner

Today our country recognizes and remembers Martin Luther King, Jr. Please take eight minutes to watch this clip from his “I have a dream” speech of August 28, 1963. Do you have a dream that is bigger than yourself? What is it?

Next to the defeated politician, the writer is the most vocal and inventive griper on earth. He sees hardship and unfairness wherever he looks. His agent doesn’t love him (enough). The blank sheet of paper is an enemy. The publisher is a cheapskate. The critic is a philistine. The public doesn’t understand him. His wife…

Blog reader Katharine asked: What’s with all the bonnets? Why is it that the best sellers in the CBA are of the Amish/historical fiction/period romance type of book? Not every Christian reader is drawn to those type of novels, yet that seems to be the trend. Do CBA publishers drive the market toward what is…

My post last Wednesday, When Publishing Dreams Become a Nightmare, sparked quite of bit of debate and outrage, including several people writing responses on their own blogs. I want to reiterate (as I did several times in my post) that the scenario I described is unusual—generally my clients are happy with their publishing experiences. We…

A blog reader wrote…I think your in-box is being filled faster and faster as a result of agents now accepting electronic queries. I would bet that before you accepted email you got only a fraction of the number you currently receive. Now anybody with a computer can hammer out 80, 000 words and hit the…

Most of my clients have had terrific publishing experiences. They enjoy working with their editors (even when the revisions are very challenging), they like the titles their publisher comes up with, and they love their book covers. Then there’s Allison. Allison’s journey hasn’t been so rosy. I’m not even using her real name here because…

(Repost) I suppose there are several good ways to make sure you don’t get an agent. You could, for instance, never try to get an agent. Or you could lack writing skill. You could pitch books that nobody finds interesting. But let’s say you are trying to get an agent, and you are a good…

I’m taking the rest of the year off. Happy New Year and see you in 2011!

Here we are in the middle of the holidays and with Christmas over, we’re rushing headlong into NEW YEAR’S which for many of us means… resolutions. I’ve always loved the feeling of starting a fresh year and optimistically making a list of things I want to accomplish, so I usually spend quite a bit of…

200 Christmas cards plus postage … a little money. Christmas gifts for husband, kids, extended family and friends … a bunch of money. Airfare and rental car to visit the family out of state … a ridiculous amount of money. Four generations of family sitting around the table playing “BS” and laughing until tears stream…

(Repost) My query box is getting filled faster and faster these days. I never cease to be amazed at how many people are writing books. Someone recently asked whether I thought that, with all the competition, will all the good writers eventually get published? With persistence and continued improvement of their work, will there be…

(Repost)I’ve written before about how I get tired of writers complaining about all the “bad books” that get published. As a writer, it can be extremely frustrating to work your tail off, trying to master the craft, trying to “follow all the rules” of good writing… then open up any number of books and be…

Like all agents and many published authors, I frequently receive emails with questions from writers. Sometimes they’re specific questions about the business, but often they’re sweeping and general, like: How do I get published? I have several templates I use to answer people’s questions, but I’m getting bored of my same old answers. So help…

Blog reader Melanie asked: How much say does an author have in the final decision regarding the title of a book to be published and in the artwork for the cover? And who are the people that come up with the design/photograph for the covers. Does each publisher have a team of people or a…