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You know Jeff Foxworthy, right? You might be a redneck if…You think “loading the dishwasher” means getting your wife drunk. You ever cut your grass and found a car. You own a home that is mobile and 5 cars that aren’t. You think the stock market has a fence around it. Your stereo speakers used…

I was talking with our intern Sarah the other day (hi Sarah!) and she had some questions about a couple of my recent posts. In It’s About What’s Selling I explained that publishers tend to make future decisions based on what has sold well for them in the past. Yet in Don’t Ask Me About…

A client of mine was reading over his contract with a Big Six publisher and he emailed me wondering, If my book needs an index, do I really have to pay for it myself? “Yep.” And how much would it cost? “Depends, but most likely in the neighborhood of $500 to $1200. Don’t worry, the…

I’ve said this before, but after all the comments on last week’s guest post about rejection, I thought it would bear repeating. Just because you receive a pass letter from an agent, it doesn’t necessarily mean your project wasn’t “good enough.” It doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t fit the agent. It might not mean it…

One of the frequent complaints I hear from writers is that there are so many bad books out there. If you want my opinion on that, read my post “All Those Awful Books.” Today let’s put a positive spin on those books you don’t think are well-written. Instead of whining about it, why not try…

Last week on the blog we discussed rejection (as we so often do) and reader Daniel Friedman made an interesting comment, which I am reprinting here because I thought it was an unusually matter-of-fact perspective from a writer. Guest Blogger: Daniel Friedman Here is what I have learned during my submission journey, and in my…

If you’ve been writing books for long, you may have come across the challenge of keeping the details straight so that you can be consistent throughout the book. If the hero has blue eyes in chapter 1, he shouldn’t have green eyes in chapter 14. If your characters live on 5th Street in one chapter,…

11 Completely Non-Writing-Related Ideas 1. Be creative any way you can. Cook new recipes. Paint a picture. Design a garden. Compose a song. Build something with Legos. Organize the garage. 2. Pay attention. Observe the mannerisms of people around you. Listen to how they speak. Marvel at the way they’re dressed. Notice their shoes and…

We’ve talked a lot on this blog about trends in publishing, what’s hot and what’s not, and the fact that agents and publishers are always basing acquisitions for the future on what has sold in the past. Because of this, people are always asking me: So what’s hot? What are the trends? But I’m admitting…

I will not be accepting any queries in the month of July. Any I receive between now and August 1st will be deleted with no response and you will be blacklisted forever. Just kidding. I’ll delete any queries I receive after today, and hope to hear from you in August! Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent

A friend wrote me awhile back and complimented me on my blog, saying, “I don’t know if you realize this, but you really are a writer.” Well, I had sorta thought I was a writer. Yet I loved hearing someone else say so. It was a great compliment. It got me thinking about how important…

An anonymous commenter on Friday wrote: “It’s hard to know if agents/editors are rejecting you because of the economy or genre or market or what. All they say now is they doubt they can sell it – well, then I don’t want a lazy agent anyway.” I’m sure most agents reading that would just have…

In the comments to Friday’s post, February Grace said: “I wish that there was a standard query procedure to follow. That’s all. A uniform cover letter plus a sample from the work or synopsis or both.”First, I want to apologize on behalf of all agents, because apparently we’ve made it seem way too hard. It’s…

I appreciated everyone’s responses to my question on Friday about what frustrates you in the publishing industry right now. Everyone has valid concerns, many of which I share, and I’ll address some of them on the blog in coming days. I’m thinking that since it’s summertime (and the livin’ is, supposedly, easy) I want to…