Publishing

I’m excited to announce Kristy Cambron has joined Gardner Literary as our newest agent! Kristy has been a published author since 2014 with numerous books for HarperCollins including historical fiction, Bible studies, Bibles, a Bible study journal, and a gift book anthology for Dayspring. She has also served as a Women’s Ministry Leader for one…

  Congrats to debut author and pastor Terry J. Stokes on the release of this timely book! Terry has written a book of prayers we didn’t know we needed, covering our most pressing daily needs — such as when we dread returning to work on Monday, strength when we’re about to make small talk, and…

  There are two things I’m constantly stressing with writers: (1) Mastering the craft of writing is crucial. (2) Building a platform is important. For fiction authors, the two are not equal. If you’re writing a novel, your writing should be first priority. Spend most of your discretionary time writing and becoming a better writer.…

  Even if you’re published, conferences can be a great way to network, make friends, continue your education, and most of all, be a part of the writing community.   Writing is a solitary endeavor, so it’s helpful to be reminded that you’re a part of something bigger.   Plus, those friendships with other writers…

Congratulations to author Kayla Craig on release day! Kayla’s debut book, “To Light Their Way,” is a gorgeous collection of over 100 modern liturgies, giving words to our prayers for our children. From everyday struggles like helping your child find friends or thrive in school to larger issues like praying for a brighter world rooted…

Gardner Literary is proud to represent author Karen González! Congrats, Karen, on your new book contract.

A basic but important question: what do you put in your query subject line? I’m sure there are plenty of possible creative answers to this, but I’m going to err on the simple side. I like a subject line that includes the word “Query” along with your book title, and possibly the genre. Some examples:…

The first step toward getting your poetry published is to get the Poets Market, a print resource also available on Kindle. It includes hundreds of publishing opportunities specifically for poets, including listings for book and chapbook publishers, print and online poetry publications, contests, and more. Before trying to get a whole book of poetry published,…

  This beautiful book from debut author Kat Armas is out in the world, and I’m excited for you to read it! What if some of our greatest theologians weren’t theologians at all? “Abuelita Faith” tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians in society and in the Bible–mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters–whose survival, strength,…

  Is there anything you should avoid in a query that would lead to an automatic rejection? People ask me this question all the time, and I want to start by saying that every agent is different, and we probably have different things that make us immediately decline a query. For many agents, failing to…

  Writers are often told, “write what you know.” Is this good advice? Absolutely! It’s great advice… if you understand what it means. You can’t take it literally to mean something like, “Only write about things for which you have specialized knowledge.” Nobody has specialized knowledge of fairies or monsters or vampires, and most people…

Excited to announce this January release!! I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to tell you about this book. Candice Benbow writes about Black spirituality and Black womanhood like no one else. She draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let you go. Her personality shines through and she balances depth and humor…

  When you are looking for an agent, how many queries should you send? The short answer is: as many as it takes! There are several hundred literary agents out there. Once you’ve narrowed it down to agents who rep your genre, you’ll probably still have a pool of 100, 200, or more. You can…

First, it’s important to know that a memoir is not your life story (that’s an autobiography). Your memoir is a piece of your story, centered around a particular time or event in your life that sent you on a different trajectory. Make sure you know your theme. Is it a coming of age story? Dealing…