We talk about putting language to uncomfortable encounters, “I see what you did there” moments that are streamlined and brilliant, and why you don’t need (and probably shouldn’t have) a strict schedule for yourself as a writer. We also discuss vibrant settings, happy accidents, and how Amanda became an entrepreneur. Amanda Jayatissa grew up in Sri Lanka, completed her undergrad at Mills College, CA, and lived in the UK before moving back to her sunny little island. She works as a corporate train...
Oct 15, 2021•26 min
We are so happy to welcome Janet Costa Bates, award-winning author of several titles including, most recently, the picture book Time for Bed, Old House. We talk about Impostor Syndrome, selling books with *and* without an agent, and collaborating with your creative partners (wait until you hear how well her illustrator tapped into her story). And, yes, Julie met Janet at SCBWI Whispering Pines the same year Jessica was there--and this was also the site of Janet's life-changing meeting with edito...
Oct 07, 2021•25 min
Welcome to an episode with the sweetest co-writing backstory we’ve ever heard—plus insight from their agent, Leticia Gomez, about what made this book work for her. On the Rocks, a narrative nonfiction book written by Maria Costanzo Palmer and Ruthie Robbins, chronicles the journey of personality Joseph Costanzo, Jr. in his rise to success in the 1990’s as world renowned restaurateur and owner of The Primadonna Restaurant, radio host, columnist, and aspiring politician through his sharp fall endi...
Sep 27, 2021•48 min
Have you ever wanted a book that felt like a hug? A smart, funny, perfect escape? Nandini Bajpai’s Sister of The Bollywood Bride (published in India originally as Red Turban, White Horse) is the wedding/family/YA rom com you didn’t know you needed. Julie actually met Nandini at SCBWI years ago—and knew even then that she’d be a success. We talk about building a social context for your characters, publishing internationally, getting a fantastic audiobook narrator, and Nandini's unique combination...
Sep 14, 2021•34 min
We are so darn excited for today’s podcast. Not only was Laurell one of those interviews where you can just *feel* the writerly energy in the room, but she was creative, kind, thoughtful—and has amazing tips for your work. From avoiding info dumps (and a brilliant technique we’d never heard of) to planning a series (28 books strong!), research for writing in another gender to consistently getting in the right headspace to be productive, this episode is filled with actionable tips. Plus, if you’v...
Aug 25, 2021•40 min
Today on the podcast, we are so happy to welcome author Jennifer Chen and her agent, Caitie Flum from Liza Dawson Associates. We originally asked Jennifer on to talk about short pieces, and how she succeed with them—and she does a great job discussing that—but we were so pleasantly surprised to watch the thoughtful, kind, creative dynamic between this author and agent pair. We also discuss an unlikely source for writing (and structure) inspiration, how story is brain science, and building your w...
Aug 17, 2021•33 min
We are so thrilled to talk with Andrea Bartz, author of The Herd and (out today!) We Were Never Here. We discuss how the work was inspired (by someone very nice and non-murderous on a vacation), what it means to write scary works as a woman, and how she maintains *just* enough tension throughout. Andi says: Hi! I’m Andi, a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. My debut thriller, THE LOST NIGHT, received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist and was optioned for TV by Mila Kunis and Carte...
Aug 03, 2021•32 min
Welcome to another First Pages podcast! This week, our brave volunteer is Tamara Kahler. We talk with Tamara about pitching dark work just after a pandemic (and putting an emphasis on hope and agency), her submission strategy (you don’t have to send it to as many people as most recommend), and how she avoided the dreaded manuscript saggy middle (and a theory about how you reliably can, too). We also talk about why most anticipate lists are okay but runaway bestsellers are not for comps, and othe...
Jul 06, 2021•21 min
Join us for a quick summer Q&A—with questions from our Facebook group! Haven’t joined? There are 3,000+ writers there to help you with your query, your comps, and be your supportive community along the way. Just head to ManuscriptAcademy.com/Facebook. In this episode, we talk about summer slowdown, editorial agents, when to write subsequent books in a series, and more. Interested in our The Magic of the Sentence event with author Anne Elliott? View the FREE replay here: https://manuscriptaca...
Jun 29, 2021•14 min
Hey everyone! This is a live recording of a very special book-to-film event with Eric Mofford (producer and consultant) and Marty Go (producer and director) all about how to craft an elevator pitch. If you’ve ever wondered how to describe your work quickly—or panicked at the “So, what’s your book about?” question—this episode is for you! Prefer to watch the video? Click here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/elevator-pitch-panel Want to hear about upcoming FREE events like this one? Join our mailin...
Jun 23, 2021•55 min
We are so happy to welcome author, illustrator, and graphic novelist Whitney Gardner to the podcast! In this episode, we talk about plotting, pantsing, graphic novels, optimizing art with your editor, and much more. We also discuss working with multiple agents, succeeding against trend, and—we couldn’t help it—how to roast, grind, and perfect your own coffee. Whitney Gardner is an author and cartoonist who spends most of her time hidden in the Pacific Northwest wrapped in a fuzzy sweater. She br...
Jun 15, 2021•31 min
We are so happy to tell you the story of how Agent Cecilia Lyra and author Kari Nixon met, became friends—and then officially started to work together. Kari is a science writer with the style of an English Major. Her work, Quarantine Life from Cholera to COVID-19: What Pandemics Teach Us About Parenting, Work, Life, and Communities from the 1700s to Today, tells the stories behind the story of public health, vaccines, and the history of scientific innovation. We discuss taking agents’ editorial ...
Jun 04, 2021•50 min
We are so happy to welcome author Lindsay Maple, who generously offered to fill a last-minute opening in our first pages podcast (we love the last-minute stepping up!). Today, we’re going over her romantic comedy first page, talking about her process, her research, and the things she’s learned along the way. You can learn more about Lindsay on Twitter (@LindsayRaeWrit1) and on her website, https://lindsaymaple.com/. Here’s her page: CHAPTER ONE I always had a plan. Always. The empty seat next to...
May 21, 2021•30 min
We are so happy to welcome Julie Falatko, author of Snappsy The Alligator (Did Not Ask To Be In This Book) and all-around delightful human, to talk with us about her writing process, the transition from picture books to middle grade novels—and how to maintain your ability to concentrate and do “deep work,” even when living in a year that’s a dumpster fire. We also talk about preserving your emotional openness and sense of the world (so you can write works that appeal to young listeners), nurturi...
May 07, 2021•37 min
It’s easy to believe that you have to be perfect to get published. Today, we bring you proof—hilarious, painful, honest proof—that things can go horribly awry and then end up great. Whether it’s checking in too soon (and getting called out by an agent), writing a pitch without a conflict or stakes (and then booking back-to-back agent meetings) or having a typo create havoc in a room of 200 conference attendees, these writers have been through it all—and come out better for it. They’ve since sign...
Apr 30, 2021•32 min
When blogger Jenny True wrote a post called F%^ Your Baby Advice, she never expected it would go viral. Soon the offers came in—including an advice columnist post and, then, a book deal. Now, with You Look Tired: An Excruciatingly Honest Guide to New Parenthood coming out May 4, she’s a powerful new voice of humor, support, and parenting insights. We discuss how she wrote her book proposal, balancing real advice with really funny examples, and becoming a responsible voice in the parental communi...
Apr 23, 2021•31 min
Julie asked our Facebook group (join here! 3,000+ nice writers to support you: https://manuscriptacademy.com/facebook) what they’d like to know about critique. We discuss critique partners with the right problem and wrong solution, the chain reaction when you change one element, how Jessica gives her agency clients feedback, and differentiating between opinions and critiques. Plus, we discuss best practices for communicating slippery concepts, replying to critiques you hate, and how to look for ...
Apr 14, 2021•27 min
We are so happy to welcome Laekan Zea Kemp to the podcast! We talk about how she got her agent (and made sure she was a true ally), her advice for writers (and how to keep your creative self safe), and how she came up with the idea for this gorgeous new story. Laekan Zea Kemp is a writer living in Austin, Texas. She’s also the creator and host of the Author Pep Talks podcast, as well as a contributor to the Las Musas podcast. She has three objectives when it comes to storytelling: to make people...
Apr 05, 2021•58 min
We are so happy to share this with you! This episode was live-recorded March 2021. Want to watch the free video version instead? Head to https://manuscriptacademy.com/anne-elliott. Want an email about upcoming free events? Head to https://manuscriptacademy.com/subscribe. Many of us learn fiction writing via short stories—and many of us fall in love with the form and stick with it. But how do we get our stories into the hands of readers, when agents aren’t interested in them? How do we know when ...
Mar 17, 2021•46 min
High stakes in quiet stories, fresh takes on dead genres, and how agencies share manuscripts We talk with agent Shannon Snow about how she’d love to bring dystopias and other “dead” genres back (even if, according to Jessica, dystopia couldn’t die fast enough), how agencies decide to take on projects (and share genres between themselves), and how to make your “quiet” story appeal to agents and editors. Shannon Snow worked in finance and marketing for 18 years before turning to her childhood firs...
Mar 10, 2021•45 min
We are so happy to welcome agent Larissa Melo Pienkowski to the podcast! We loved having her as a guest, and think you'll love her, too. Larissa Melo Pienkowski is a literary agent at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, the assistant publisher of Dottir Press, and a freelance editor and sensitivity reader. As a Latinx, mixed-race bookworm, she’s passionate about #OwnVoices stories, uplifting marginalized voices, and reading voraciously across genres, with a soft spot for YA, MG, literary fiction,...
Feb 27, 2021•51 min
We are so happy to talk with three agented writers about what worked—and did NOT work—in the submission process. We talk about rejections, pivots, subjectivity, and finding the right agent for YOU. We attempt to reverse engineer their submission patterns just before an offer, so you can see what early signs mean you’re on the right path. We talk about their darkest moments, when they wanted to give up. And—more than anything—we talk about what they wish they knew, the things that could have save...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 7 min
We are so happy to welcome Haley Casey to the podcast! Haley Casey graduated from The University of Kansas in 2015 with a BA in creative writing, and that fall, she attended the Denver Publishing Institute. She began her full-time career at Ogden Publications, where she was an editor for four years. There she worked with a variety of authors across multiple magazines, wrote over a dozen articles, edited audio for podcasts, and even styled cover photos—anything to add some creativity to her days....
Feb 09, 2021•55 min
We are so happy to welcome agent Cecilia (CeCe) Lyra to the podcast! Cecilia will go through her inbox, #TenQueries style, giving us in-the-moment reactions to her queries. Ever wondered what agents think when they read your submissions? Now you know. Cecilia Lyra is an agent at P.S. Literary actively acquiring adult fiction and nonfiction. She is particularly drawn to stories centered around dysfunctional families, ethical or moral dilemmas, and taboo subjects. She adores reading about protagon...
Jan 25, 2021•45 min
Welcome to our live-recorded event with agent Lizzie Poteet! *****Please note that there are some adult topics mentioned in this episode. We aren't the MPAA, but we'd rate it PG-13.***** Originally from Nashville, TN, Lizzie Poteet is an agent at The Seymour Agency after several years at St Martin’s Press/Macmillan. A hopeless romantic, she’s eternally grateful she found a way to channel her immense feelings about feelings into a legitimate job where swooning is considered a job skill. A spitfir...
Jan 19, 2021•58 min
In this episode, Julie meets with her former teaching partner, Mary Murchie, to discuss two first pages, the role of detail from a reader's perspective, and what they’ll cover in their new Facebook Live series. Want to join a few thousand supportive writers in our free Facebook group? Head to https://manuscriptacademy.com/Facebook.
Jan 08, 2021•30 min
Happy 2021! We have a brand new year with a ton of new projects designed to keep you creative, happy, and optimistic. We have: A new first-page podcast (in the feed now!) with Mary Murchie, our newest Facebook Live host. If you’d like to join our free Facebook group, head to https://manuscriptacademy.com/facebook. This month, we also have: *A success story Q&A panel with Academy alums who’ve gotten agents (January 12) *A live Q&A with agent Larissa Melo Pienkowski (January 21) *Accountab...
Jan 08, 2021•4 min
Hello friends! It is time for our annual holiday party. This year, we’re featuring agent and editor guests, fun ways to find new critique partners and friends, and a choose your own adventure format to build the best holiday party for you. Everything is free, online of course, and designed to be the kind of fun usually only possible in a year that is not on fire. There will be prizes, surprises, readings, hilarity, community and more. Plus, we get to playfully annoy some of our agent guests with...
Dec 15, 2020•53 sec
We are so happy to welcome Esther Cajahuaringa, an editor at Hachette Book Group. This is the first in a series of live-recorded Q&A’s with agents and editors. Are you interested in attending events like this? Learn more about our member lounge here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/member-lounge 8:05 Why can't one publishing house can’t have two similar books at the same time? 9:41 How do the seasons work in publishing? 10:58 When are book tours a thing? 12:28 When can authors submit directly ...
Dec 12, 2020•49 min
We are so happy to welcome Rebecca Raskin, an editor at HarperCollins, to our podcast. Rebecca started her career at Kensington Books, where she worked on genre fiction (including cozy mysteries, which we’ll talk about later in the episode!) and now works primarily on nonfiction. We talk about how Rebecca loves “quiet” novels (and whether there’s a market for them), the large team behind every book (and the department that never gets enough recognition), and how editors sustain 2-3 years of enth...
Dec 05, 2020•33 min
