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JONI RODGERS
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Bestselling AUTHOR
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#1 NYT BESTSELLING GHOSTWRITER
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EGOT COLLABORATOR
TLDR:
Joni Rodgers is a critically acclaimed novelist, #1 NYT bestselling ghostwriter, and EGOT collaborator who's worked with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winners, cultural change agents, style icons, and ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Known industry-wide for her stellar craft skills and holistic collaborative style, she specializes in high-end memoirs and fiction.
“Rodgers' strength is her knack for realistic characters and a womanly wise laugh-through-tears appreciation of life.”
Publishers Weekly
backstory
Me circa 1966 but really still me. Photo credit: Mom
I've been a voracious lover of books all my life. I grew up performing in a family bluegrass/gospel band, reading constantly as we traveled hither and yon playing state fairs, high school auditoriums, and music festivals. I majored in theater in college and spent my 20s busking on street corners, working as an old-school late-night DJ, and doing voiceovers, always with a paperback novel or memoir in my hip pocket. Between 1980 and 1994, my voice was heard on more than 3,000 radio and television commercials, and I read more than 2,500 books.
In 1994, when my kids were 5 and 7, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive form of blood cancer. Books were my life raft. I used the chemo downtime to write my first two novels: Crazy for Trying, a roman à clef about an old-school late-night DJ, and Sugarland, a modern retelling of the Psyche/Eros myth. Both were published by small but mighty literary presses and got solid reviews. My first big bestseller Bald in the Land of Big Hair (HarperCollins 2001) is a memoir about being a young mom with cancer. (Spoiler Alert: I lived!) The success of BLBH sparked a syndicated newspaper column, freelance work with several major magazines, and an invitation to coauthor my first celebrity memoir. The collaborative magic of ghostwriting took me back to my creative roots in theater and music, and I loved it.
I've since collaborated on 30+ memoirs and novels, plus a handful of screenplays. I'm not at liberty to list all my projects here. Sometimes my name is on a cover or mentioned in acknowledgments; sometimes it's an "if I told ya I'd have to kill ya" kind of thing. Either way, it's a joy and privilege to carry water for a messenger whose moment is at hand. My goal is to empower my client's voice as we work together to create a satisfying and potentially transformative experience for We the Reader.
Ghost life is complicated and not for everyone, but it's been good to me, and I find it endlessly fascinating. I'm happy to share what I've learned, mentoring established and emerging ghostwriters via one-on-one AMA Office Hours and ghostwriting masterclasses.
I live on the beach in the Pacific Northwest with artist Gary Rodgers, my husband of 40+ years. Life is beautiful, and I am profoundly grateful.
Hope all is well and groovy in your world ~
Joni Rodgers
Wordle nailed it: I synthesize story into prose.
Writing my own novels, I draw on the joys, calamities, families, strangers, life, death, natural disasters, and human kindness I see all around me. Here are a few nice blurbs about my books.
As a collaborator and ghostwriter, I help people tell their stories in the most potent and engaging way possible. Here's a few lovely things clients have said about me in their books and on social or mainstream media.
As a fiction and memoir doula, I guide and support authors through the creative process from R&D to publication in a series of 12-week project strategies. I also mentor authors and ghostwriters via one-on-one AMA Office Hours. Reach out to schedule a 90-minute Zoom sesh.
“Tender and triumphant…furiously candid…a master class in owning your story.”
Starred KIRKUS Review
NYT Bestseller
“In his eloquence and candor, he is a lyrical and ardent advocate for what is decent, just, and long overdue.”
Starred KIRKUS Review
#1 NYT Bestseller
“Joni Rodgers is a born storyteller. She writes with a wit, lyricism, humanity, and joy that make her books impossible to put down.”
Oscar/Emmy winner Aaron Sorkin
Kudos for books by joni rodgers
Collabs
collaborator
acknowledgments
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Bona Fides
Working Relationships
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