"I spend a lot of time thinking about promotion," says Kristen Meinzer, author of So You Want to Start a Podcast and How to be Fine , "because this is not Field of Dreams ." Follow Kristen on Twitter @kristenmeinzer and while you're at it, follow the show @CNFPod. In this episode we talk about the nuts and bolts of why you should make a podcast and who should you make it for, structure, pet peeves, and the rigor of promoting your show. Stay tuned to the end for my parting shot and Kristen's Book...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 3 min
"It's when you get stuck and you start to realize something's not right. It's usually because you're wrong," says Catherine Grace Katz, @Catherine_Katz on Twitter. She is the author The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War. It's published by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt. Follow the show @CNFPod. This show is sponsored by my editing services! Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to email me to start a dialogue....
Oct 02, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham ( @ashandchess ) are here to talk about their incredible and beautiful book The Gay Agenda: A Modern Queer History and Handbook (Morrow Gift, 2020) as well their stationery business that pushes art into the political realm. This show is sponsored by Scrivener, creative by writers for writers. Use the coupon code NONFICTION at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase of Scrivener. Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod and @BrendanOMeara across the b...
Sep 25, 2020•54 min
Elisa Gabbert (@egabbert) returns to talk about her new book The Unreality of Memory (FSG, 2020), as well has her poetry and how it ties into her prose. You'll also hear the five books for her Bookshelf for the Apocalypse and much, much more. This episode is supported by Scrivener, made by writers, for writers. Enter the promo code NONFICTION at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase. Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod across the big three. Consider rating the show. I just mi...
Sep 18, 2020•51 min
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling is a freelance writer and author of A Libertarian Walks into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) . It is published by Public Affairs. Support the show by supporting our flagship sponsor! Scrivener was made by writers for writers. Enter NONFICTION at checkout to receive a 20% discount. Follow the show on social media @CNFPod in the right places. And be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter by heading over to brendanomeara.com ....
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Mary Pilon (@marypilon) and Louisa Thomas (@louisathomas) are here to talk about the book they edited together called Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard (Penguin). This show was possible by Scrivener. Enter the code NONFICTION at checkout to receive 20% off.
Sep 04, 2020•56 min
Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of the Scribd original "Letter to My Rage," as well as the memoir The Chronology of Water, the novels The Book of Joan and The Small Backs of Children, and the collection Verge. This episode was made possible by Scrivener . Enter the coupon code NONFICTION at checkout for 20% of the regular package for macOS and Windows. Keep the conversation going on Twitter, IG, and Facebook @CNFPod. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to sign up for the monthly new...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 3 min
In this all-star break edition, the top ten downloaded interviews of the year and I read from a work-in-progress titled "Raph, the Space Cadet." This episode was made possible by Scrivener , by writers, for writers. And if you enter the coupon code NONFICTION at checkout, you'll get 20% the regular versions of Scrivener for macOS and Windows.
Aug 21, 2020•17 min
"It's a whole new world. I remember I was reporting for the Stephen Miller book, I went to Trump's first reelection rally in Orlando. And it was the first time that I had ever been in a place where I felt reluctant and kind of scared to tell people that I was a journalist. I wasn't there undercover. I was there to interview people. It made me nervous to be walking around with my notebook out because there were so many chants against journalists," says Jean Guerrero, author of Hatemonger: Stephen...
Aug 14, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Seyward Darby is the editor in chief of The Atavist Magazine and the author of Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism.
Aug 07, 2020•51 min
Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland: Essays (Topple Books, 2020) joins me on the show to talk about softball, vegetarianism, tornados, and why she wrote essays instead of a memoir. Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod.
Jul 31, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Kevin Guilfoile is the author of the memoir A Drive into the Gap. It is published by Field Notes. This podcast is sponsored by my writing coaching services as well as Casualty of Words, a writing podcast for people in a hurry .
Jul 24, 2020•57 min
"Great, so you're at the point in the writing process where you hate all your work. We all do that," says Rose Andersen, @roseandersen. This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, by writers for writers and Casualty of Words , a writing podcast for people in a hurry. Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, @CNFPod. See you there for office hours!...
Jul 17, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Stephanie Gorton, author of Citizen Reporters: S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine that Rewrote America, talks about the sacrifice of writing a book, reading fiction and nonfiction, and what it was like midwifing other people's books into the world before writing her own. This episode is sponsored by Scrivener, made by writers for writers , and Casualty of Words, a near-daily writing podcast for people in a hurry. Be sure to follow the show on social media @CNFPod....
Jul 10, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Beth Roars is a vocal coach, performer, podcaster, and YouTube superstar and it's her take on creativity and evolution that inspired this conversation. Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod across them all.
Jul 03, 2020•1 hr 7 min
"That was always my understanding that if you want to be a freelance journalist, you're probably going to have to do a lot of things that you don't want to do. So it creates time space, resources for you to dig into the things that you want to do," says Wudan Yan, @wudanyan on Twitter. This episode is sponsored by Scrivener , created by writers, for writers. Be sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcasts and keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod....
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 7 min
"I wrote a column on my 30th birthday saying things I'd like ,by the time I was 40, was write one good book," says Roy Peter Clark. I'd say he did. Try about a dozen with Writing Tools and Murder Your Darlings being two that you know and love. He's @roypeterclark on Twitter. Follow the show @CNFPod. Let's give a big CNFin' welcome to Scrivener for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Be sure to check them out to level up your writing game....
Jun 19, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Neal Bascomb, the best-selling author, joins us to talk about Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020), joins us to talk about the book, the essay he wrote as a kid that sent him on this path, and the myriad failed novels that put him on the nonfiction track. Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, @CNPod . I'd love to hear from you....
Jun 12, 2020•1 hr
Larry Tye is here to talk about his new book Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod. And if you dig the show, consider sharing it and posting an honest review on Apple Podcasts.
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr
Peter Brown Hoffmeister makes his return to the podcast. He talks about role models, internal drive, self-control, regret in memoir, and he even reads a poem at the end. Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, all @CNFPod.
May 29, 2020•1 hr 1 min
"I tried to write fiction and other things and it just kept being there and wanting to be written about," says Emma Copley Eisenberg about her nonfiction book, The Third Rainbow Girl. In this show we talk about her soiree into journalism world, the many false starts her book took, and pushing the boundaries in creative nonfiction. Follow her on Twitter @frumpenberg . Follow the show @CNFPod on IG, Twitter, and FB. Keep the conversation going, man....
May 22, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Ruby McConnell (@rubygonewild) is the author of Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life (Overcup Press). We talk about the rigor and discipline of dance and how that prepared her for writing, why geology is a great "writer's science," and so much more. Follow the show @CNFPod across all the socials and head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
May 15, 2020•1 hr 6 min
"I think I can do both: I'm a participant and an observer," says Walter Thompson-Hernandez. Follow him @mychivas on Instagram. Keep the conversation going on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook @CNFPod.
May 08, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Nick Flynn is the author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, The Ticking is the Bomb, The Reenactments , and, most recently, Stay: Threads, Conversations, and Collaborations (Ze Books, 2020). Follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @CNFPod.
May 01, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Keith Law (@keithlaw) is a writer for The Athletic and the author of Inside Game (William Morrow). Be sure to follow the show @CNFPod on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to sign up for the monthly newsletter. Once a month. No spam. Can't beat it.
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Rani Shah is the author of Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish: And Other Self-Care Rituals from Nature (Dey St.) In this episode we dig into the sacrifices you need to create, balancing day jobs and art, imposter syndrome, growth mindsets, blue high heels, and dude hats. Be sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcast. Get show notes and the monthly newsletter at brendanomeara.com . Follow the show on social media @CNFPod on Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook....
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 10 min
"I knew right away I would be writing about my mom's death. I knew that immediately," says Eva Holland, author of Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear (The Experiment, 2020). Eva Holland is a freelancer features writer whose work has appeared Outside , Wired and Best American Science and Nature Writing , to name a few. You can follow her @evaholland on Twitter. In this episode we talk about: Next-level freelance advice Dealing with imposter syndrome Blending memoir and reportage And much mor...
Apr 10, 2020•59 min
Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer are the people behind the By the Book podcast and the authors of How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living By the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books (Willam Morrow).
Apr 03, 2020•1 hr
Ben Cohen, the NBA writer for The Wall Street Journal, stopped by the show to talk about The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks (Custom House, 2020).
Mar 27, 2020•1 hr 9 min
"Selection is as creative as generation," says Michael Schulman, a staff writer for The New Yorker. CNF Pod is brought to you by Bay Path University's MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing and my monthly newsletter!
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 5 min
