Search Results: query
| Publishing
What’s In, What’s Out
Many of my blog readers have expressed frustration about current trends in publishing. Memoir is out unless you’re famous.Chick lit is dead.Literary fiction doesn’t sell.Nobody wants books over 100k words. Yep, these are all trends. And if you send me a query for a book in any of these categories, I’ll probably send a pass…
Read More | Contests, Just for Fun
A Blog Challenge for You
I sort of stole this idea from Nathan Bransford but he’s a pretty cool guy so I don’t think he’ll mind. (Think of it as flattery, Nathan.) You’ve no doubt noticed that I often use guest bloggers, usually on Thursdays. I typically get the guest posts from amongst my clients and other friends in the…
Read More | Publishing
Myths vs. Facts of Publishing
The comments on Friday’s post confirmed that myths about publishing are alive and well, as they always have been. Of course, every myth has its basis in some kind of fact, and it’s not always easy to tease apart the truth from the lie. I’ll address a few common myths here, but just realize, for…
Read More | About Me
If Only I Had Some Advice for Writers
*Snark Alert! So the other day this guy tweeted me: “Any advice for a new author trying to find a literary agent?” I feel really bad for the guy. I’m sure he’s nice enough, and a good writer, and he’s doing his due diligence researching agents. But in the moment, the question dumbfounded me and…
Read More | Agents, Contests, Just for Fun
Writing Contests
First off (and before we get to today’s post)… HAPPY RELEASE DAY to Deborah Vogts, author of Snow Melts in Spring (Book 1 in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series). This is her first novel… and my first agented novel to be released. We’re both excited! Click the picture to buy the book, and visit…
Read More | Agents, Submitting
Have You Written More Than One Book?
Katie asked: I have written three books that I’m hoping to finish revising this summer, all in the same genre. When I’m ready to start submitting, how do I decide which one to submit? And let’s say I submit a book to an agent, they say no. Can I query the same agent with a…
Read More | Publishing
Two Conversations
Any of you who write a blog, or participate in blogs like this one, know that it feels like an ongoing conversation. I’m having this conversation with all of you; you’re talking to one another as well. It’s pretty cool the way we’re all sort of hanging out talking to one another every day. I…
Read More | Submitting
A Funny Thing Happened…
On the Way to my Query Box Last week, as you know, I was away at a conference. I was responding to email the best I could on my Blackberry. I have my email structured so that queries won’t appear in the regular inbox; instead, they get filtered into the query box. They receive auto-replies…
Read More | Publishing
Memoir Guidelines
Alexis Grant asked: Would you consider a post on memoir guidelines, since memoir falls somewhere between fiction and nonfiction in many ways? For my travel memoir, should I query when I have a proposal and several sample chapters, like nonfiction, or wait until the manuscript is complete, like fiction? What’s the usual word-count window for…
Read More | A Writer's Life
First Things First
or… Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse If you’re a writer, here’s what I want to ask you today: Are you getting ahead of yourself? There are seasons in a writer’s life: Seasons for focusing on the art and craft of writing, and seasons for focusing on the business of writing. And seasons where…
Read More | Agents, Editing, Publishing
Which Comes First – Agent or Editor?
A lot of people think it’s a chicken-or-egg question: Do I pitch to agents or editors first? But it’s really not that hard. The truth is, if you want to sell your book to a commercial royalty-paying publisher, you’re going to need either an agent, or some kind of personal contact with editors. Since it’s…
Read More | Agents, Popular Posts
Getting THE CALL
It’s the moment every writer dreams of: the day an agent emails or calls to say, “I’d like to discuss representation.” How does that work, anyway? Keeping in mind that each agent has their own style of doing business, and also that no two situations are exactly the same, here’s what happens. First, let’s back…
Read More | Marketing
Answering Questions about Platform
Good morning and happy Monday! Let’s address some of the platform issues that have been coming my way lately: Q: If you have developed this wonderful platform and can do all the promotion you suggest, why would you want to give the lion’s share of the profits to a publisher? Why not use a Publish…
Read More | Submitting
Following Submission Guidelines
(Oops, technical difficulties, my blog didn’t post properly at the scheduled time. Sorry!) If you’ve been reading agent blogs and you follow them on Twitter, you probably know by now that most agents want you to follow their posted submission guidelines when submitting. A significant proportion of rejections happen because the query doesn’t follow the…
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Rachelle Gardner
President & Literary Agent,
Gardner Literary Agency
President & Literary Agent,
Gardner Literary Agency
