Rachelle Gardner is a literary agent and president of Gardner Literary.
As a literary agent since 2007, Rachelle has negotiated 300+ contracts with more than 20 publishers, and worked with more than 200 authors to bring their books to publication and build their careers.
She’s been in publishing since 1995, worked in-house at two publishing companies, and edited books published by Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, and many more. Nowadays she feels lucky to work at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
When she’s not working, you can usually find her out hiking the local trails, riding her bike, haunting bookstores, or having coffee at Starbucks.
She is taking pitches on behalf of her whole agency.
Nonfiction wishlist:
If you’re writing nonfiction, we can’t sell it unless you have a platform. If you don’t, you may want to pursue smaller publishers on your own — you don’t need an agent. Only pursue an agent if you have a platform and want to submit to the medium and large publishers. With nonfiction, she enjoys
SME’s (subject matter experts) on any topic!
Interesting historical topics
Mind-body-spirit
Psychology and self-help
Racial issues, LGBTQ+ issues, and all social issues
Behind-the-scenes in any profession or walk of life
Cultural criticism
Faith related
Feminism and women’s issues
Memoir
Hearth & home, gardening, sustainable living
Marriage, parenting, family
Travel (including memoir, with a strong platform)
Art/faith topics (art history, intersection of art and faith, creativity, photography)
Deeper spirituality and prayer
Thoughtful nonfiction on just about any topic. Show us what you’ve got!
Journals, guided journals, gifty devotionals
Other gift-type books for occasions such as graduation
Adult Fiction wishlist:
Full-length: 75,000 to 100,000 words.
Contemporary women’s fiction
Romance and rom-com
Suspense or romantic suspense
Historical or historical romance
Southern fiction
Thrillers, esp psychological or medical
NOT looking at fantasy, sci-fi, or literary fiction
The agency is NOT seeking
Children’s books of any kind — picture nooks through middle grade
Cookbooks
Poetry
Short stories
Novellas
Screenplays
Graphic novels
Children’s & YA