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Last Saturday night, Brian and I went to the Christmas party and awards ceremony of the Wescott Fire Department, where Brian is a lieutenant and volunteer firefighter. (Brian’s paid job is firefighter for the Colorado Springs Fire Department.) The ceremony was presided over by Fire Chief Jeff Edwards, a highly respected leader who serves not…

This contest was one of my favorites EVER. Reading through the (more than 360) entries was incredibly fun, which just underscores my love of great books, my appreciation for a beautiful sentence, and the joy I get from learning about other people’s favorite books and what moved them. THANK YOU for your entries to this…

It’s almost the end of 2009 so it’s time to talk about books we loved this year! Today we’re talking about our favorite non-fiction books from 2009. (Next week we’ll do fiction.) Here are a few of my recent faves. Columbine by Dave Cullen is the most captivating piece of non-fiction I’ve read in years.…

The holiday season is here! Snow is falling outside my window, I’ve got my desk all decorated with evergreen garland and twinkly lights, and Pandora is playing Christmas music while I work. Gotta admit, I love this time of year. (I don’t wear reindeer-and-holly sweaters or dangly ornament earrings, in case you were wondering. No…

I’ve given away all my copies of Julie Hadden’s Fat Chance for those who’ve agreed to blog about it. If you emailed me, you’re on the list and will be getting a copy. Thanks to everyone who wrote!

So NaNoWriMo is over, and all of you who participated are 50,000 words closer to a finished book, right? I’m interested in what you learned through this process. What did you learn about yourself? About writing? If you didn’t do NaNo, you can join in too. Tell us what you’ve learned about yourself through your…

I’m glad we had a good conversation on the blog yesterday. Yes, a few people got snarky. But I only had to delete a couple of comments. I thought we had some necessary dialogue, and it was enlightening. Do I agree with all the commenters? No. Do I like everything I read? No. But I…

Ever since I’ve been an agent, I’ve listened to writers complain about the unpleasant aspects of the publishing industry. Part of my job is helping authors navigate these difficult waters. I try to talk my clients through the hard parts of publishing; and on this blog, I do the same for many writers who aren’t…

Jim Rubart’s series on Marketing Principles wraps up tomorrow. Enjoy your turkey! .

by Jim Rubart [I’m taking time off this week, but I’m leaving you in good hands with this great series on marketing principles. Have fun! ~Rachelle] Marketing Principle #1:You Must Shock BROCA In the early 90s, when I sold radio for a Seattle station, I answered the office phone one morning with, “Dominos Pizza!” This…

I was amazed at the comments on my Friday and Saturday posts, not just the number, but the depth, the passion and the thoughtfulness in many of them. It shows how diverse we all are, and how many different opinions and ideas we can have about the same topic. Again, I want to say I…

First of all, I want to reiterate that I absolutely love all the conversation yesterday’s post inspired. This is why I blog – to have an interactive experience, and to be able to engage with the writing and publishing community. It’s invaluable to hear all your perspectives, regardless of whether I agree or disagree (or…

This week another major publisher, Harlequin, announced their entry into the self-publishing business. The blogs have lit up over it and there’s a lot of interesting reading out there. I think Victoria Strauss gave a great overview on the Writer Beware blog (here.) I have to admit that the idea of all these major publishers…

Answering Questions from Last WeekI’m glad my two posts last week, How Do Book Royalties Work? and Is Your Book Worth It? seemed to be helpful. There were quite a few questions, a few of which I’ll try to answer here. Sara asked: If an author wants to help sell their own books (lectures, readings,…