Just for Fun

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…

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…

1. A day without sunshine is like night. 2. On the other hand, you have different fingers. 3. Forty-seven percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. 4. Ninety-nine percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5. Remember, half the people you know are below average. 6. He who laughs last,…

I just finished reading The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas (or as one of my friends called it, Literary People Behaving Badly). I loved the book! It’s perfect for writers, particularly anyone who’s ever been part of a writers’ critique group. The author gets inside all these different writers’ heads, deconstructing their jealousies and insecurities,…

of The Forest For the Trees by Betsy Lerner THANKS for entering the drawing, and for all your great tidbits of writing advice! If your name is NOT listed below, here’s where you can buy the book:Buy on AmazonBuy on Barnes and Noble I used a random number generator on Random.org and from that, drew…

I’m taking a few days off from the blog. Back soon!

“When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” I’ve been reassessing my client list and workload lately, and have had to make some tough decisions. I’ve decided to stop accepting queries until further notice. This could be two months or it could be the rest of the year.…

Every once in awhile I want to stop talking on this blog, and just listen. Today’s one of those days. You get to say what YOU want. You could tell us all a joke. You could ask a question (I don’t know much about anything but publishing, so good luck there.) You could make an…

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 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

Wow! We had nearly 500 entries in last Wednesday’s contest. I’m thrilled, because this means 500 of you worked on creating a concise summary for your book, something most writers find difficult. But it can be done, right? I hope this served as a helpful exercise for you. Of course it was very difficult narrowing…

Winners of the One-Sentence Summary Contest will be announced TOMORROW, Monday. On Tuesday, I’ll be discussing one-sentence summaries in further detail, and critiquing a handful of the entries. Be sure and let me know if you DON’T want your entry critiqued on the blog (just in case I choose yours).

The Real Reason Dinosaurs Became Extinct Have a great weekend! Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent