214: Learning to Be #GenreFlexible with Catherine Newman
Why stick to any one genre? Our guest this week is Catherine Newman: memoirist, middle grade novelist, etiquette columnist and now the author of How to Be a Person: 65 Highly Useful, Super-Important Things to Learn Before You’re Grown-Up (https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781635861822) . While she’s at it, she writes a cooking blog, co-authored a book on crafts for kids and edits ChopChop (https://w...
53m Jun 05, 2020
53m
213: Book Launching Fun with #GoodreadsAmazonBookBub
When your book launches, you want to meet your readers where they are: anywhere people are talking about—or better yet, buying—books. Of course we want to support our local Indies (that’s why the links here are all to Bookshop.org (https://bookshop.org/) )—but if there are readers on Amazon, we’re going to be there too. This week, we’re talking about how to get yourself set up on Amazon, Goodre...
48m May 29, 2020
48m
212: Don't Just Say #TheBookWasBetter
She might just have the perfect job. This week, Jess and I interview Abbe Wright, Senior Editor at ReadItForward.com and co-host of The Adaptables, a podcast that hashes over every detail of the movies and shows that are adapted from the books we love.  Links from the pod: I wanted to break up. Then he got a tattoo of my name. (https://www.thecut.com/2014/12/i-wanted-to-break-up-he-got-a-tattoo...
43m May 22, 2020
43m
211: #WriterGoals, Pandemic Version
Back in December 2019, we set #WriterGoals for 2020. We had no idea. This week, we go back in and revisit—which goals still stand? Which do we have to let go, and which just don’t feel right any more? Was there any point in setting these goals in the first place? In the end, we decide (not very cheerfully, it has to be admitted) that while our goals are necessarily changing, they’re always wort...
42m May 15, 2020
42m
210: #DontOverthinkIt
Our guest today is Anne Bogel, most recently the author of Don’t Overthink It (https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780801094460) , which came out on March 3, 2020. Followers of this podcast who’ve taken my advice may have checked out her podcast, What Should I Read Next (https://wondery.com/shows/what-should-i-read-next/) , where she talks books, reading and recommendations with guests—because I’m a h...
44m May 08, 2020
44m
209: #StartYourWriterThing
This week, it’s Jess and I (KJ) talking to Olivia and Meghan from the Marginally podcast (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) , which we love for its frank conversations about challenges and setbacks and day jobs and the struggle to keep your butt in the chair (sound familiar?). We talked about finding your writing people, the joys of keeping that day job, and the things that grow from grabbing...
54m May 01, 2020
54m
208: How to Blend a #CozyThriller
Do mystery and thriller writers ever “pants” their stories? What’s it like to give a dark protagonist some elements of your own history? How much fun is it to fill a book with references to all of your favorite books ever?  We cover those things and more with author Peter Swanson, whose new book, Eight Perfect Murders (https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780062838209) , is a hybrid of psychological th...
38m Apr 24, 2020
38m
207: #ProfessionallyMarried—for life
Hey #AmWriting Listeners. It’s April 13, 2020, and this episode, like the last, is a throwback to a simpler time, when we left our homes without masks and took baristas and lattes and a whole lot of other things for granted. So it may feel jarring that we’re not discussing the current situation, but at the time there was little to discuss—and we wouldn’t have, anyway, because our guests, Greer ...
43m Apr 17, 2020
43m
206: #YouCanDoIt (even now)
Hey campers, KJ here. In this week’s episode, we talk to the brilliant Jessica Abel, a creativity coach extraordinaire, about how to get past whatever’s stopping you and develop a sustainable creative life. In so many ways, it’s a timely episode, and it WILL inspire you to get in there and get some work done. But it may also inspire you to wonder what planet we are living on, as we lightly disc...
44m Apr 10, 2020
44m
205: How to Create #MarketingMojo
Hey writers—super-practical episode this week! Call it part two of the Sarina coaches KJ through her book launch series. This week, it’s the #MarketingMojo page—things you’ll need as you market your book no matter what the book is or when it launches. This is the road to creating things like back-of-the-book or flap copy, ad copy, social media post copy and more, for fiction and non-fiction bot...
47m Apr 03, 2020
47m
204: ##HowtoGetPastWritersBlock(slowly)
Feeling a wee bit stuck? Struggling to get anything on the page? Well, we all are—and not only does this week’s guest know from writer’s block (her last book came out in 2004), but she gave a raging case of it to her protagonist in her new novel, which allowed her—and us—to really dig in deep into what happens when the words don’t come. Join KJ and Sarina as we talk to Laura Zigman, author of S...
46m Mar 27, 2020
46m
203: #HowtoWorkAnyway
Well, fellow writers, when we recorded this we were just at the beginning of it all. It’s safe to say things have already changed—all of us have families at home, we’re all shut down, with noisy houses full of people trying in various ways to work online. We went from “trying to work anyway” through “I give up for a few days” and now we’re back to “trying to work anyway.” So this advice still a...
39m Mar 20, 2020
39m
202: #WebsiteRevampHowto
Hey listeners! It’s been a mad mad mad week here (all of you in the future, check the date), and I bet there too. Result: there are no shownotes for this episode. We’re talking about  revamping my website to get it in gear for my forthcoming second book. Here’s the image we mention—the before—and for the after (which is still in progress), head over to my site (https://kjdellantonia.com/) and s...
40m Mar 13, 2020
40m
201: #Creatinga(Fictional)DysfunctionalFamily
And you thought our shelves full of self help books were just to manage our own issues! Nope, there’s another use for them. Our guest this week, Kathleen Smith, is a therapist and writer and the author of Everything Isn't Terrible (https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/kathleen-smith/everything-isnt-terrible/9780316492553/) , a helpful and humorous guide to shedding our anxious habits and buildi...
40m Mar 06, 2020
40m
200: #ShouldYouStartaPodcast
It’s our 200th episode! In all that time, we’ve never missed a week and never regretted our choice to spend 40 minutes (ish) together—and with you. We love doing the podcast, so this week we thought we’d answer a few podcast-y questions we get a lot: should you start a podcast? Can a podcast help promote a book? Is there gold in them thare podcast hills?  We talk about all that and more—but her...
40m Feb 28, 2020
40m
199: #HowtoLovePromotingYourWork
Our guest today, Dan Blank, sure seems like a man who loves his work. On his own podcast, the Creative Shift, he’s a warm and engaged interviewer. In his emails, he’s genuine and engaged. Is he selling his book and his services as an advisor to authors developing their platform and launching their work into the world? Sure, but it never feels like he’s selling. It feels like he’s sharing. Would...
46m Feb 21, 2020
46m
198: #RoomForTwoPrincesses
We’re interviewing Julie Lythcott-Haims (https://www.julielythcotthaims.com/) this week and you won’t want to miss it, because 1) she wrote an amazing, best-selling book called How to Raise an Adult (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250093639) and then followed THAT up with a memoir, Real American (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250296733) , that the New York Times Book Review pretty mu...
56m Feb 14, 2020
56m
197: #HowToWinAtPR
Marika Flatt is the founder of PR By the Book (https://prbythebook.com/) , an independent publicity firm dedicated to working with authors, publishers and books. Their tagline is “from author to influencer,” and we talk about that process—and how your goals as an author (sell books, get speaking gigs, sell earlier books, increase name recognition, even sell products or services) change how you ...
49m Feb 07, 2020
49m
196: #WhereDoestheTimeGo
It started with a question in the #AmWriting Facebook group: How do you get it all done? And the answer was, of course—we don’t, no one does, we push things off until tomorrow or we put out fires all day and then frantically write until late in the evening or we drive our children around for hours while chastising ourselves for not making better choices.  But really, you all said. Really truly ...
39m Jan 30, 2020
39m
195: #FromPeopletoSciAmerican
How do you become a science writer? What if you didn’t even think you liked science as a kid? What if, instead of “serious journalism”, you spent the first half of your career covering celebrities and royals, even becoming the London Bureau Chief for People magazine? Then you’re in perfect shape, at least if you’re our guest, Lydia Denworth. She tells us how she made that transition, going from...
52m Jan 24, 2020
52m
194: #PutAPriceOnIt
Struggling to put a price on your time? Jess and Sarina (an economist and former trader on Wall Street) help your find that elusive number.  A listener asked Jess for advice on consulting fees, so in order to find an answer more satisfying than, “It depends,” Jess and Sarina get down to economic brass tacks. Sarina explains how publishers or anyone else who wants to hire you for your writing va...
42m Jan 17, 2020
42m
193: #WriterDreamsComeTrue
She writes Emmy-winning television comedy, bestselling children’s books, plays, and sentences for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Is there nothing Jill Twiss can’t do? Musical theater actress and stand-up comic Jill Twiss dreamed of writing for television but did not know how to break in to the world of late-night comedy shows. The stars aligned when a few supportive women called some chits ...
49m Jan 10, 2020
49m
192: #HowtoBeaBookCoach
“Every writer,” book coach Jennie Nash tells us, “ thinks at some point that they just cannot do this. That’s just part of the process.” It’s not our favorite part—but it’s true, and getting past that stage and on with the job of finishing a book in any genre is the part of the process that many writers just can’t seem to conquer. But for some of us—like Jennie—helping other people get past tha...
47m Jan 03, 2020
47m
191: #2020Goals
Whoa. Fellow writers, 2020 is upon us. And here at #AmWriting HQ, we love setting annual goals. We really do. We adore everything about it, from the anticipation and planning to the writing them in our handy dandy notebooks (although this year KJ got paralyzed by the need to make them pretty and ended up with temporary under a to-do list scribbles).  One reason we love it so much is that we fee...
43m Dec 27, 2019
43m
191: #2020Goals
Whoa. Fellow writers, 2020 is upon us. And here at #AmWriting HQ, we love setting annual goals. We really do. We adore everything about it, from the anticipation and planning to the writing them in our handy dandy notebooks (although this year KJ got paralyzed by the need to make them pretty and ended up with temporary under a to-do list scribbles).  One reason we love it so much is that we fee...
43m Dec 26, 2019
43m
190: #DeclaringGoalsMet*
We’re reviewing our 2019 goals. Did we gloriously achieve? Live up to our words of the year by focusing on the worthy? Check every box and climb ever mountain?  We did okay.  In some cases, we killed. In others, there were extenuating circumstances. Goals were revised, cast aside, postponed. All part of the process. To hear how we did, listen in—and be sure to share your bests and worsts from 2...
41m Dec 20, 2019
41m
189: #WhatWritersWant(thatmoneycanbuy)
We all know you can’t really buy the things we writers want: inspiration, the power to spend as much time writing our books as we do thinking about them—not to mention sales, agents and editors. But you CAN grab a few things that make the writerly journey more fun. In this episode, we talk about the joys of journals and the perfect markers, tech tools that qualify as investments and those that ...
43m Dec 13, 2019
43m
188: #HowtoJudgeaBook(byits)Cover
Turns out you should judge a book by its cover, and readers do. Which means authors need to consider that (and not our own taste) when we think about our own covers. This week, we talk about the two things to consider whether you’re an indie working with cover artists or a trad with a publisher and an art department: reader expectations and those now-you-can’t-stop-seeing-the-flowers trends, an...
47m Dec 06, 2019
47m
187: #TheThankYouProjectProject
"I didn't realize it was a book. But of course it was a book."
47m Nov 29, 2019
47m
186: #TheJoyofHolidayRomCom
We wanted to talk holiday writing—as in, writing ABOUT holidays, not writing during the holidays. So we went strolling through the holly-bedecked halls of the Internet—because, #dominantculture, holiday books as they appear without a more specific web search means Christmas books and specifically, the 250 page equivalent of a bonbon of a Lifetime Christmas movie. We found Natalie Cox, author of...
50m Nov 22, 2019
50m
185: #AudioExplosion
She was doing audio before it was cool.
34m Nov 15, 2019
34m
184: #BeforeYouStartthatNonFictionProject
Every nonfiction book starts out as a glimmer of an idea. A topic. An area of interest or expertise. But you can’t just pitch a book about beekeeping, kids. You need to know a whole lot more. Is it a beekeeping memoir? A beekeeping how-to? A meditation about the relationship between bees and humanity? In this episode, we dish about how to answer those questions, because—spoiler—that’s exactly h...
36m Nov 08, 2019
36m
183: #FacebookforWriters
Episode 183: #FacebookforWriters (https://amwriting.substack.com/p/episode-183-facebookforwriters) Nov 1 (https://amwriting.substack.com/p/episode-183-facebookforwriters) | Public episode (https://amwriting.substack.com/p/episode-183-facebookforwriters) |  |  |  | edit (https://amwriting.substack.com/publish/post/141155)   | | | |  1x1.25x1.5x1.75x2x 0:00 |  | -45:31 Listen in podcast app (http...
46m Nov 03, 2019
46m
182: #WriteFlailRepeat
Novelist Abbi Waxman makes us laugh talking process and inspiration almost as much as we do when reading her books, with emphasis on using settings you know and love. Our transcription assistant reports that this was “her favorite episode ever.” It’s definitely a contender—Abbi Waxman is funny and candid about the challenges of creating characters and worlds that are engrossingly real yet also ...
46m Oct 24, 2019
46m
181: #NaWhateverWriMo
Maybe you’re drafting a novel, maybe you’re not. Either way, we vote for seizing on the community energy generated by NaNo and getting some work done.
45m Oct 18, 2019
45m
180: #CharacterEnneagramRabbitHole
Shortcut to finding our characters’ worst flaws and deepest fears? Yes, thank you.
46m Oct 11, 2019
46m
179: #ShouldWantCanAmWriting
Not writing what your inner parent says you “should” be writing? How to get over it. Fellow writers, KJ here. I have gathered you here today to discuss the moment last week when I sat down on my bed, surveying a pile of literary fiction, some of which I liked and some of which I most emphatically did not, and asked myself, as I have many times on other topics—should I be writing something other...
43m Oct 04, 2019
43m
178: #WriteFaster
More words, better words, in less time? Sometimes. In this episode, finding your own path to write faster. If only we could write as fast as we type! You could set your clock by our book production, right? Not so. This week we’re exploring how to write faster with Sarina in the lead. Finding your own patterns, prewriting and avoiding that “stuck” feeling by finding tangible ways to explore your...
47m Sep 27, 2019
47m
177: Episode 177 #AudioWriter
Joshilyn Jackson doesn't just write best-selling thrillers. She narrates them, too. Should we? Episode links and a transcript follow—but first, a preview of the #WritersTopFive that will be dropping into #AmWriting supporter inboxes on Monday, September 23, 2019: Top Five Steps to Burn Chart Success (a How-to). Not joined that club yet? You’ll want to get on that. Support the podcast you love A...
51m Sep 20, 2019
51m
Episode 176 #FallProductivity
48m Sep 13, 2019
48m
175: #HowtoUseaBurnChart
The burn chart mindset, whole book project management, and a how-to for finding a progress tracker that works for you.
41m Sep 06, 2019
41m
174 #WhenIt'sReallyHard
Writing through chronic illness and other challenges, with Karen Locke Kolp.
50m Aug 30, 2019
50m
173 #LiteraryMagsandPopularAcademics
Medicine, literature, academic writing, submitting to literary journals: we wander all over the map with guest Danielle Ofri.
41m Aug 23, 2019
41m
172: #BucketGoals
Big dreams, and how to achieve them. (Jess likes to be told she can do it. KJ prefers to be told she can't.) #AmReading (and watching)  Other People's Houses (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780399587924) , Abbi Waxman Jess: The Butterfly Girl: A Novel (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062698162) , Rene Denfeld A Discovery of Witches (book one of the All Souls Trilogy), (https://www.indiebo...
42m Aug 16, 2019
42m
171: #WritingWithandAboutFaith
The risks and benefits of writing about religion in any genre, with author Phoebe Farag Mikhail. Phoebe's publisher: Paraclete Press (https://paracletepress.com) A few other notes from the episode:  Phoebe's book: Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church https://paracletepress.com/collections/new-releases/products/putting-joy-into-practice Phoebe's blog: B...
51m Aug 09, 2019
51m
170: #YourFreelanceBusiness
Tracking your why, your how, your money and your time with Katherine Reynolds Lewis. A few assorted links, comments and tools Toggl time tracker  (https://toggl.com) The 3Ps: Pay, Prestige and Personal Passion Katherine's Excel Spreadsheet: Katherine's Press Club slide show and her checklist for new clients. (https://www.katherinerlewis.com/freelance-advice/) #AmReading: KJ: City of Girls: A No...
45m Aug 02, 2019
45m
169: #SummerReading
Jess is going gangbusters on her summer writing, and KJ may be struggling, but they’re both plowing through some serious recs for  your summer reading list from them and from members of the #AmWriting Facebook group. #AmReading KJ: Rules for Visiting: A Novel (https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=rules+for+visiting) , Jessica Francis Kane Honestly We Meant Well: A Novel (https://www.indi...
47m Jul 26, 2019
47m
168: #LuckFavorsTheBold
Sometimes you get to be the belle of the social media ball.
39m Jul 19, 2019
39m
167: #ChangeAndRearrange
Book Coach Jennie Nash returns to tackle some effective strategies for revising; it can be a tortuous process, but it can also be where some of the fun happens! Jennie mentioned Susan Bell's The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780393332179) . #AmReading KJ: Bowling Avenue (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780985210007) , Ann Shayne Jess: In Pai...
55m Jul 12, 2019
55m
166: #SummerWriting
Tips for getting the work done when the season shifts around you.
44m Jul 05, 2019
44m