Rachelle Gardner

First off, I’m still feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation. I’m working like crazy playing “catchup” and hope to be back to normal in the next couple of days. Phew! As for my micro-contest yesterday (yeah, the one with no prize), I asked you to guess how many unsolicited submissions (queries) were…

I’m back! This vacation was… well, fantastic. I can hardly explain it. I had an amazing time. It’s going to be difficult getting back into work mode. But here I am, nose to the grindstone as usual. So, I have a couple of things for you today. First, a teeny-tiny contest. It’s so small, it’s…

I am getting increasingly frustrated with people querying me, acting like they know about me and about our agency, while they’re pitching something we don’t represent. Usually this means projects clearly outside of a Christian worldview, like astrological self-help, or memoirs of drug abuse and debauchery (without redemption), but that doesn’t bother me. The frustrating…

I was going through some old posts and found several questions people have asked that I’ve somehow neglected to answer as of yet. Here are a few random ones. Do more people get a yes or an “I want to read your ms” from sending sample chapters per your website’s guidelines, or by meeting you…

If a writer sends you a query, even a few sample chapters, and you turn it down, but think the writing is good, and then the writer is offered a publishing contract with a large CBA publisher, would you reconsider your rejection? Should a writer reapproach an agent if offered a contract? I don’t think…

When I reported my stats last Friday, you may have noticed I have 50 “Projects Under Consideration” and you may have wondered exactly what that meant. Well, I’ll tell you. But keep in mind, all agents do things their own way, and I don’t know if anyone else does this, so this is just ME.Basically…

Here is a typical email I receive from writers who’ve submitted a partial for consideration, 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 and I found a typo on page 3. I left…

It seems the biggest concern many of you have about this business is the difficulty of making the leap from being an unpublished novelist to being published. This comes out in all kinds of worries, like this one from Courtney:They say it’s very rare for a [new writer] to land an agent, let alone sell…

I’m going to address some of the comments that came in last Friday on what was surprising to you about the publishing industry.So I want to start with this one simple truth: If you are an unpublished fiction writer, trying to get published, then the writing matters more than anything.The first comment on Friday’s post…

I thought it would fun for everyone to share the things that make our lives easier. Internet resources, technological gadgets… what are some things that make your work life or personal life easier, more organized, or more secure?Here are a few of my favorite things:Jott: When I’m out and about, I call Jott from my…

Awhile back, someone asked me, “What are the Top Do-This-and-You-are-Dead mistakes people make in pitches, queries, and book proposals?” My answers:a Bore me.a Pitch something I don’t represent.a Pitch something that sounds derivative, been-there done-that, nothing unique.a Show me that your writing isn’t yet up to publishable level.a Approach it with the attitude: What the…

“If you’re so busy as an agent, I’m wondering how you have time to write a blog too. Is it really not as busy as all the agents claim?” No, agenting really is an all-consuming job. But here’s my secret: I have a nanny for my kids, a housekeeper to keep things clean, I serve…