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Dealing With the Tough Stuff, Part 1 If you read my blog regularly, you might be tempted to think the pursuit of publishing is all rainbows and butterflies. (‘Cause I’m just so darn nice all the time.) But think again. Sometimes it’s barbed wire and snarling dogs. This week we’re going to talk about the aspects of being a writer…

Updated January, 2012 I represent books for the Christian market (CBA) as well as for the general market, and I’m now accepting queries for both. Please note: Read our Submission Guidelines before sending a query! My query policy: While we would like to respond to all queries, our policy is that if you do not…

But “Yes” Seems to Take Forever For the last couple of days we’ve been going over some basics of fiction writing – things that someone editing your book might be looking for in their efforts to help you produce the best book possible. But acquisitions editors – and agents – won’t be spending time analyzing…

Yesterday we focused on the characters in your novel. Here are a few more things editors look for when reading your novel, this time, about the story itself. The premise needs to be strong enough (as well as interesting enough) to support the entire book. Every book needs suspense…the page-turning factor…a burning story question that the…

Part 1 For the next couple of days I’m going to point out some of the things an editor looks for when reading a manuscript. When you get a content edit (or “developmental edit”) on your novel, you may find these kinds of things pointed out for improvement. Today I’m going to focus on your novel’s characters.…

The winner of Mary DeMuth’s book 150 Quick Questions to Get Your Kids Talking is Jane who left her comment on Thursday’s post at 12:18am on March 25. Email me, Jane!

I read a lot of blogs, and I’m sure you do too. Some are great at always looking forward into the future of publishing, examining the digital future. Others are better at giving the nuts and bolts of how publishing works right now. Some offer encouragement (I try to do that as much as possible)…

As you know, agents aren’t able to sell every book we decide to represent. But the decision to stop trying to sell a book is always a tough one. We’ve already put a lot of work into it, we haven’t made a dime, and we may really like the client. When do we know it’s time…

You’ve probably read a lot in the blogosphere about the importance of finding the right agent for you and your body of work, rather than just saying “yes” to the first agent who comes along. There are plenty of criteria upon which to base this decision. In my post “Questions to Ask An Agent” I’ve suggested quite a few…

Dear Rachelle, I have a question about fiction. I would like to use the name of a real university in my story, to make the story feel more realistic. There is nothing negative about the university in my story, and all of the characters are fiction. So, should I contact a representative at the university before engaging with…

Overheard in the Gardner household: Me: “Sweetie, I’m sorry you’re sad. Come here. I want to tell you something about life.” Daughter (pulling away): “I already know about life, mom—I’ve been living it for eleven years.” (Runs upstairs.) Have a good weekend! © 2011 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent

Money! Marketing! and More! Myth: It’s all about the bottom line. Truth: Yes, in the end, the publisher exists to make money. And the people who have the most say in whether your book gets published are the directors of sales and marketing. Everyone is looking for the books they can sell. And yet…those on…

Myths About Agents Myth: Agents don’t read submissions. Truth: Most agents who are accepting queries actually read and consider them. If they don’t want to read queries and they don’t need new clients, they’ll usually close to queries (like I have). Myth: Agents have reading software that scans query letters. If the query contains a…

One of the great things about the Internet is that it has made it so easy to find information. But the downside is that it’s just as easy to find misinformation. With authors, agents, and publishing people out there on blogs, loops, and forums, constantly talking with one another and often contradicting each other, it’s sometimes…