Chip has a comprehensive knowledge of the industry—from book development to writing, acquisition to production, marketing to sales. A former publisher with Time-Warner and Hachette, he has secured more than 1000 book deals for authors with all of the major publishers, including numerous imprints at Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Jossey-Bass, Chronicle, Thomas Nelson, Baker, Tyndale, Kensington, and dozens of others. As an editor, he discovered Phillip Gulley, worked with bestselling authors such as Andy Andrews and Karen Kingsbury, and helped craft books for some of the best names in publishing, including Brennan Manning, Vincent Zandri, Steve Jackson, Davis Bunn, Byron Huggins, Alistair McGrath, and numerous others. He has also written more than two-dozen titles, including two books that hit #1 on the bestseller lists in their category, and he has been the collaborative writer on nearly three-dozen other titles. During his tenure as a publisher at Time Warner, he helped start Center Street, the “heartland publishing” initiative at what is now Hachette, and did books with the likes of Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. John Ashcroft.
His work with Lisa Beamer and Ken Abraham led to Let’s Roll hitting #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, eventually becoming the bestselling nonfiction book the year it released. After starting his own agency, he has focused on helping bring great fiction to market, representing authors such as Rachel Hauck, Susan Meissner, and many others. Some of his bestselling nonfiction clients include writers Sheila Wray Gregoire, Shane Stanford, Grace Valentine, Michelle McKinney Hammond, and Mike Hingson. A longtime member of the American Association of Literary Agents, he has represented dozens of books on all the national bestseller lists, and the authors he represents have won numerous national awards.
A popular writer’s conference speaker, Chip has presented workshops at more than 200 publishing conferences, spoken at colleges and universities, and is frequently invited to speak to writers groups around the country on the topics of writing and publishing. He earned his BS with High Honors at Portland State University, earned an MA with Honors from Biola University, and did his doctoral work at the University of Oregon in Policy and Management, focusing on organizational development. He later did a post-doctoral semester at Oxford University. Chip has been written up in numerous writing and publishing related magazines and newsletters, is frequently asked for his opinions on trends in the publishing industry, and his longtime blog was regularly on the list of Writers Digest’s “101 Best Websites for Writers.”
Chip’s greatest desire is to help authors create great books that make a difference in the world. That’s what every book guy wants most.
Jill Williamson