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JONI RODGERS

bestselling author :: #1 NYT bestselling ghostwriter :: egot collaborator 

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“Rodgers' strength is her knack for realistic characters and a womanly wise laugh-through-tears appreciation of life.” 
Publishers Weekly

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BACKstory

once there was a girl who loved books

I was a voracious reader and venturesome writer before I hit kindergarten, and it hasn't worn off yet.

I grew up performing in a family bluegrass band, opening for sequin-spangled country music stars at state fairs, high school auditoriums, and music festivals. This odd, fame-adjacent upbringing taught me a lot about people who live in the public eye and about the drive and resilience it takes to make a living as a creative artist.


As a theater major in college, I supported myself busking on street corners, always with a paperback in my hip pocket. As a classically trained actress, I did voiceovers for thousands of radio and television commercials, several animated features, and the phone tree portion of a shady soft-core 900-number.

I married Gary Rodgers in 1983, and before we had kids, we worked as fire lookouts in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. We inhaled books like woodchippers, and for the first time, I had the time and silence to explore my dabbling love of writing.

Here's the fire tower on the National Historic Lookout Register.

plot twist

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive blood cancer, at age 32. My kids were 5 and 7, and my odds of seeing them grow up were significantly less than 50/50. Two years of brutal treatment and hard-fought recovery left me and Gary physically, emotionally, and financially wiped out.

Books were my life raft. 

I used the chemo downtime to write my first two novels. Crazy for Trying (a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award) and Sugarland (a Book Club Best selection) were published by small but mighty literary presses and got solid reviews.
 
My third book, Bald in the Land of Big Hair (HarperCollins 2001), is a memoir about my experience as a young mom/aspiring author coping with cancer. It was embraced by bookclubs, and became a bestseller in the US, UK, and Germany. 
 
Spoiler Alert: I lived! 

Ironically, I ended up becoming a ghost.

invisibility is my superpower

The success of my memoir sparked magazine and newspaper columns, a robust 15-year speaking career, and invitations to coauthor high profile book projects with celebrities, style icons, and activists.  I've worked with a host of extraordinary people on 30+ books and a handful of screenplays.
 

Firsthand knowledge of the memoir journey informs my holistic collaborative style. I appreciate the heart-swallowing valor it takes to be self-honest and vulnerable about the crappiest moments of your life, especially when you live in the public eye.

 

Only an elite handful of collaborators industry-wide have achieved EGOT status. I've been thrilled and grateful to work with

  • 5 Emmy winners

  • 2 Grammy winners

  • 3 Oscar winners

  • 2 Tony winners

making me (as far as I know) the industry's only double EGOT collaborator.

Here are some lovely things clients have said about me.



My fiction and memoir collaborations have earned thousands of 5-star reviews and other accolades, including

  • multiple NYT bestsellers (including a #1 NYT bestseller)

  • multiple USA Today bestsellers

  • multiple WSJ bestsellers

  • multiple Kirkus starred reviews

  • multiple Publishers Weekly starred reviews

and one of the screenplays I contributed to was nominated for an Oscar.

Sometimes I'm mentioned in acknowledgments and occasionally credited on the cover, but mostly, it's an "if I told ya I'd have to kill ya" kind of thing. Confidentiality is sacred, so a lot of my work isn't credited in the book or listed on my CV, and yes, I'm cool with that. I've seen my name on my own books, and honestly, the thrill was gone after they made me wear a bra on the Today Show. 

I'm here for the books.


I love this work and the life it's given me. Collaborative alchemy takes me back to my creative roots in theater and music. It's a joy and privilege to sing backup 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, potentially transformative experience for We the Reader.

My craft skills are stellar, thanks to three decades of ruthless razor-stropping by some of the best editors in the business. I'm happy to share what I've learned, counseling writers via one-on-one AMA Office Hours as they navigate all stages of their creative and publishing journeys. As a writing doula, I'm a strategic partner who helps authors explore sustainable writing practices, develop ideas, gestate chapter material, and deliver professionally finished manuscripts. 

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

“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


BOOKS

Bona Fides

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Working Relationships

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“This talented author brings pen and ink people to flesh and blood fulfillment.” 
Southern Living Magazine

contact

If you're looking for a collaborator, contact my agent:
​Cindi Davis-Andress
Pastorini-Bosby Talent
713.266.4488
cindi@pbtalent.com

Need to talk?
Request AMA Office Hours
 
I'm not on socials, but I occasionally sound off about writing and publishing on Substack.

Media requests, book clubs, and other inquiries:

Flip me an email

Copyright © Joni Rodgers / Diversified Words & Voices 2026
web design by FUdog Book Bling

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