Podcast appearances and mentions of donald maass

Suzanne Redfearn didn't discover her talent for fiction until her 30s. A trained commercial and residential architect, she'd also worked as a copywriter, marketing manager, graphic designer, and other odd jobs. Today, Suzanne is the #1 Amazon and USA Today bestselling author of seven novels: Two Good Men, Where Butterflies Wander, Moment In Time, Hadley & Grace, In an Instant, No Ordinary Life, and Hush Little Baby. Her books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have been recognized by RT Reviews, Target Recommends, Goodreads, Publisher's Marketplace, and Kirkus Reviews. She has been awarded Best New Fiction from Best Book Awards and has been a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist. Suzanne joins Marrie Stone to talk about her path to success in commercial fiction. (Spoiler alert: it was neither linear nor easy.) She is an autodidact and shares the resources she found invaluable to teach herself the craft (including Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and Save the Cat by Jessica Brody). Suzanne has had five agents, three publishers, and still has several unpublished manuscripts in her drawer. She talks about what to look for in an agent, the advantages and disadvantages of publishing under an Amazon imprint, writing the right novel at the wrong time, how to revive an old manuscript, where to look for story ideas, what to do when plot is a problem, and so much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and extra writing perks, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. Support the show by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. We've stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our personal favorites. You support independent bookstores and our show when you purchase books through the store. And on Spotify, you'll find to an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners. (Recorded on November 25, 2024)  Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music and sound editing: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

“It might seem strange to start a story with an ending, but all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.” - Abigail K. PerryIn this episode, we're talking about The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom to see how and why it works. Join Abigail K. Perry and me as we break down this first chapter to see how it hooks our interest and pulls us into the story. Here's a preview of what's included:  [02:40] Chapter summary: Abigail reads a summary of the first chapter and talks about how (and why) the author gives away the ending of the story upfront.[15:52] Macro analysis: We talk through the 7 Key Questions as laid out by Paula Munier in her book, The Writer's Guide to Beginnings, and how the chapter serves as a compelling opening for a character-driven story.[21:42] Abigail talks about how this story is a great example of a novel with a unique voice.[45:46] Micro analysis: We talk through the structure of the scene using the 5 Commandment scene framework as laid out by Shawn Coyne at The Story Grid, including the use of “postcard scenes”—a term they borrowed from Donald Maass.[58:30] Final thoughts: The first chapter is essential in driving the story forward so writers should ensure that they are delivering enough of the big picture to engage readers. Click here to check out the LitMatch Podcast with Abigail Perry! You can also get in touch with Abigail through her website or on Instagram @abigailkperry.Support the showIf you enjoyed this episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast, please rate, review, and follow this show! Follow me on Instagram @savannah.gilbo

Evening teatime 7 pm EST December 14th joining and coming to share a T-E-A with Miss Liz is the award-winning author Donna Conrad. She is bringing the concept of individual empowerment and sharing on her books. Join us, and let's make a difference together. LIVE STREAMING TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS AND PODCAST STATIONS AND APPS. LIVE SHOW ON MISS LIZ'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL BELOW. Please give it a quick subscribe and be notified when teatimes are live. https://youtube.com/@misslizsteatimes?si=VhVODhNkY__evnOtDonna Conrad is an award-winning author, journalist, activist, and teacher. Her core values revolve around individual empowerment, a sustaining ideal running through the books she writes. Her writing interests are varied and include articles for fine art periodicals, memoir/narrative non-fiction, historical, flash, and paranormal fiction. She teaches all of the above at writers' conferences. Her first published book, House of the Moon: Surviving the Sixties, has received rave reviews. Donna's life is as varied as her writing. She embraces change as an exciting adventure. She has studied writing with Alan Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Jack Whyte. She has also been mentored by Donald Maass, whom she worked with privately on her upcoming four-book historical fiction series, "The Magdalene Chronicles." Cold Creek Press will release book One of The Magdalene Chronicles on April 9, 2024. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their three cats. When she's not writing, you can find Donna cruising the back roads in her black-on-black Miata MX-5, Maya - named for one of her favourite poets, Maya Angelou.http://www.donnaconrad.com/#teatimewithmissliz #makingadifference #author #journalist #activist #teacher #empowerment #memoir #nonfiction #paranormal#writingandpublishing #conferences#livestreaming #likefollowshare #podcastshow #joinus #subscribe #youtubechannel

"Small details create big emotions." In today's episode, I share the seven most useful lessons I took from The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass, who has run a successful literary agency for over 40 years. Maass' clients include notable fantasy authors like Brent Weeks and Peter McClean, who have sold millions of books.The Emotional Craft of fiction has been one of my favourite writing advice books ever since I first read it in 2019, so there's a lot to unpack in this episode. Enjoy!Get The Emotional Craft of Fiction here: https://amzn.to/46WqI1U (affliate link)Apply for Jed Herne's Fantasy Outlining Bootcamp: https://bit.ly/outlining-bootcamp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debutantpodden med Hanna Landahl. Vill du bli författare? Häng med på webinaret "Kom igång med din debutroman på 30 dagar"! Anmäl dig här: skrivringen.se/f/komigangmeddindebut Sara Ros är romanceförfattare och debuterade på bokförlaget Polaris i vintras med den första boken i serien "Kärlek och Kirurgi". Debuten heter "Första jouren" och hon har därefter kommit ut med del nr 2 i serien. Men Sara Ros är inte denna författares riktiga namn. Hon skriver nämligen under pseudonym! Böckerna som Sara nämner i avsnittet är: "Romancing the Beat" av Gwen Hayes och "The Emotional Craft of Fiction" av Donald Maass. Vill du veta mer om Sara så hittar du henne här: https://www.instagram.com/romancefrossa/

Episode 87 – Guest Interview – Derbyshire Author Emma-Claire WilsonIn this episode, Pete and Laura head over to The Writers' Room to chat with Emma-Claire Wilson.Emma-Claire Wilson is an author of emotional commercial women's fiction. She writes ‘to make sense of the world' and loves nothing more than tackling tough subjects and issues that affect her readers daily. When she is not writing fiction, she enjoys exercising her brain muscles with freelance copywriting, coaching other writers, and writing articles for The Glass House Online Magazine.  Her debut, This Child of Mine, although not autobiographical, was based on personal experiences and resulted in a highly emotional piece of fiction that secured her representation with Kate Nash Literary Agency. It is due to be published by Avon Harper Collins in the summer. Peter and Laura ask Emma-Claire:Tell us about yourself and your journey. How did you get started with writing?Congratulations on the upcoming publication of your novel - This Child of Mine. Can you tell us more about the book? How did you manage writing about such an emotive and emotional topic? What three pieces of advice could you share with our listener if they want to write about difficult topics or themes? You've shared about the power of writing with a ‘tribe' and the importance of attending Ponden Hall writing retreat. Can you talk to us more about this? How do you think this helped you with your process? Emma-Claire, you write commercial women's fiction. We know it's such a wide-ranging space to work in. Can you tell our listener more about this as a category and genre? And What advice can you give to our listener if they wanted to pitch a novel within this category of fiction?What's next for you, and how can our listener find out more about you and your work?Quick Fire QuestionsWhat do you wish you'd known sooner on your writing journey?What motivates you to write?What advice would you give to our listener?How Can We Find More About You?PREORDER EMMA-CLAIRE'S BOOK HEREEmma-Claire's Website - https://emmaclairewilson.com/my-books/https://twitter.com/@ECWilsonWriterEmma-Claire mentions: The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface. Book by Donald Maass.We want to hear from you! info@derbyshirewritingschool.comSend us a voice message.Thanks for listening!

Christy Award-winning author Mesu Andrews is on the Creatively Christian podcast, interviewed by Andrea Sandefur. On today's episode, Mesu Andrews shares her writing process and her journey into becoming an author after a time of suffering. She gives us valuable resources for writing fiction, delivers great tips about having productive creative time, and closes the episode by reading from her latest book. Mesu Andrews is a Christy Award-winning author of biblical fiction. She started out as a speaker and teacher, but a chronic illness sent her to bed rest for six months. This started her on a journey of writing to reach people with God's words. Mesu has won several awards including the 2012 ECPA Book of the Year for a Debut Author for Love Amid the Ashes and a Christy Award for Isaiah's Daughter. This episode can also be found on YouTube. Show Notes The following resources were mentioned in the show or are useful resources recommended by the guests. Links might be marked as affiliates, meaning we earn a commission if you buy through the link. Jewish Study Bible - https://amzn.to/3irD3I7 Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between by James Scott Bell - https://amzn.to/3Fh8hdG The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass - https://amzn.to/3VBGSbG Writing the Breakout Novel: Insider Advice for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level by Donald Maass - https://amzn.to/3EN4zXU The Story Equation: How to Plot and Write a Brilliant Story with One Powerful Question by Susan May Warren - https://amzn.to/3FjSKdn Learn More About Our Guest You can follow this guest on several platforms, including: Website - https://mesuandrews.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mesuandrews/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MesuAndrews Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MesuAndrews Credits Today's episode is hosted by Andrea Sandefur. Andrea is a civil engineer turned stay-at-home mom and singer-songwriter. She plays the piano, leads worship at her church, and loves to write new songs. One of Andrea's favorite activities is encouraging creative artists in her congregation through hosting artist showcases. Follow Andrea on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Support this show and get access to exclusive content by donating at https://www.patreon.com/creativelychristian. This show is produced by Theophany Media (https://www.theophanymedia.com). The theme music is by Bill Brooks and Andrea Sandefur. Our logo is by Bill Brooks. This show is hosted by Brannon Hollingsworth, Andrea Sandefur, Dave Ebert, and Rachel Anna. Jake Doberenz produces. Follow Theophany Media and the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

In the spotlight is Regency romance novelist Anne Gracie. Regency romances are a sub-genre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency or early 19th century. Rather than versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic conventions, according to an account from Wikipedia. Ms. Gracie's work in the sub-genre has been translated into more than 20 languages. We discuss:>> Myths about romance novels>> Formula and nonformula plots>> The power of handwriting>> Sex scenes>> Micro-tension>> Donald Maass>> Using a pseudonym>> Etc. Learn more about Anne Gracie here: https://www.annegracie.com/ Read Anne Gracie's blog post about the 10 myths about romance writing here: https://www.annegracie.com/writer-resources/myths-of-romance/ Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

Listen in as famed writing instructor, NY literary agent, and best-selling author Donald Maass unpacks some of the secrets to best-selling novels, the important of an emotional journey (for the reader!) and why you should not follow storytelling or literary trends. While you listen, check out his latest book on the craft of writing, The Emotional Craft of Fiction. Grab a cup of coffee, settle back, and click play.

Notes:Fable references a quote by director Alfred Hitchcock. Here is that quote“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.”The book that Fable references that discusses “tension on every page” is “Writing the Breakout Novel” by Donald Maass.The Verbivore references a Seinfeld TV series quote that James Scott Bell includes in his book to help make a point about choosing interesting elements that also fit within your story. Here is that quote:“I don't think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.” The Verbivore references the “Elements of Fiction Writing” series of books that is connected with WritersDigest.com. We often reference the articles on this website as part of our writing discussions. Here is a link to the list of books in this series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/67685-elements-of-fiction-writing In case you're interested, we've done several past episodes that look at the craft of writing from a varity of lenses. Here are those episodes:Episode 103: The Creative Doer Episode 79: Let's talk about craft booksEpisode 78: Let's talk about The War of Art Books & Movies Mentioned:Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict and Suspense by James Scott BellThe Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. WhiteSeinfeld Complete TV SeriesRope – Directed by Alfred HitchcockHow to Write Dazzling Dialogue: The Fastest Way to Improve Any Manuscript (Bell on Writing) by James Scott BellPlot & Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott BellMusic from: https://filmmusic.io 'Friendly day' by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A couple of months ago, I read the book - The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman. In it, I found a comprehensive list of character traits. I asked myself, “Do my favourite characters have all these traits?”. I choose Lord John Grey from Outlander to find out. I now challenge you to pick a character or two and discover how they were brought to life. This episode focuses on conversational focus.   Recommended book - The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass   At StorySD.com you can: Get free eBooks (English and Portuguese) Watch/Listen all StorySD episodes Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive content Explore recommended articles, books, podcasts and videos   Other StorySD series: Series 1 - Transmedia Storytelling for Business Series 2 - Build your Business Stories Series 3 - Technology – The future is here Series 4 - Use Stories To … Series 5 - Characters Series 6 - Travel Guide for Kids Series 7 - Transmedia Storytelling Case Studies Series 8 - Story Breakdown Series 9 - Interactive Storytelling Series 10 - Stories from Scotland Series 11 - Character Case Study

Aaron and Laurie invite friend and colleague, Jennifer Gottschalk on the show to talk about how to encourage your children to become better writers. Jennifer finds inspiration from some of her favorite authors that have written books on writing. Authors mentioned on today's show include Gail Carson Levine, Victoria Hanley, Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Connor White, Rebecca Stern, Grant Faulkner, Donald Maass and Stephen King. You can also watch a vidcast of this show here: https://youtu.be/N29IKm9uS38 Hosts: Lauren LaComb, Coordinator - Healthy Schools / Health, Wellness & Prevention Aaron Ragon, Lead Counselor / Personalized Learning Department Guest: Jennifer Gottschalk, Published Author, Team Lead / Personalized Learning, Gifted Education, DCSD Produced by The Curriculum Instruction & Professional Growth Department Douglas County School District You can listen to this and future episodes by subscribing to Growing Together through your favorite podcast platform such as Apple, Spotify or Google Podcast

A good book can transport you into an alternate time and dimension, where the reader lives inside the author's imagination. But how do you write a book like that? Let's ask sci-fi author J. Dianne Dotson how she does it and see what we can learn. https://jdiannedotson.com  *** Spotlight: Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, by Donald Maass - https://amzn.to/3eTPXe0 

What does it take to write characters readers connect with, ones they'll never forget? We'll ask Jonathan Maberry, author of the hit Joe Ledger series and the Netflix-filmed V Wars novels, exactly how he does it. *** * Relentless: A Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International Novel, by Jonathan Maberry https://amzn.to/3cMk8Bb  * Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, by Donald Maass https://amzn.to/3eTPXe0  

In this episode, I chat with with Sacha Black about her writing craft non-fiction novel, 'The Anatomy of Prose'. Links mentioned during this episode: Sacha's website: https://sachablack.co.uk/ Sacha's Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sachablackauthor Rebel Author's Podcast: https://sachablack.co.uk/the-rebel-author-podcast/ Rebel Author's Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelauthors Next Level Author: https://sachablack.co.uk/next-level-authors/ The Anatomy of Prose: https://books2read.com/anatomyofprose The Anatomy of Prose Workbook*: https://amzn.to/2zcWspG //Books Mentioned*// The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: https://amzn.to/3cP6RXm Self Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King: https://amzn.to/2LH8t9C Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert: https://amzn.to/2ToQY2a Business for Authors by Joanna Penn: https://amzn.to/2LH937i The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass: https://amzn.to/3cOrVx9 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains by Sacha Black: https://amzn.to/2LHI2R1 10 Steps to Hero: How to Craft a Kickass Protagonist by Sacha Black: https://amzn.to/2ToSdOS Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/bA03nPv3nQ0 Website: http://www.katlynduncan.com A massive thank you to my patrons. To support my mission to make my content available to more writers, and get early access to videos and bonus content, you can for as little as $2 a month by visiting: www.patreon.com/katlynduncan *Links included in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase with these links, I will receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, but this helps me provide you with free content every week

Our newest strategist dives into the pros and cons of coercive marketing, how copywriting is basically narrative writing, and the final piece of marketing that MOST clients don’t think about. Finding the exact right words when you can’t quite articulate what you do is Caelin’s speciality. They have a knack for seeing you, your customers, and the intersection where that perfect, precise, and compelling message lives.  Caelin’s been writing since they were 10 years old when their cousin told them they had “no imagination”. After spending 8 years in sales, they found copywriting in 2015 and haven’t looked back — because the only thing better than writing a story that moves someone to tears is writing a piece of copy that moves them to buy. When they’re not at work, you can find Caelin reading up on the epigenetics of trauma, yelling at their Tarot deck, and desperately trying to keep their houseplants alive. (Even the fake ones!) In this episode, Caelin dives into why the mainstream marketing approach and narrative/models don’t work anymore and why you need to work with an expert. They also share a process to reduce cognitive overload and give examples to notice when you’re overwhelmed and exhausted – before it leads to compromised decision-making.  Tune in to learn how to: Be mindful of how you process information to reduce cognitive overload Tell if your clients are experiencing cognitive overwhelm (and set boundaries to prevent it!) Create win-win relationships as part of how you do marketing Want to follow along with our episode transcript? Click here!  Books referenced in this episode: Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere) by Lisa Cron The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write with Emotional Power, Develop Achingly Real Characters, Move Your Readers, and Create Riveting Moral Stakes by Donald Maass

Donald Maass founded the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York in 1980. He is the author of Writing 21st Century Fiction and The Emotional Craft of Fiction, as well as many other books about the craft of writing. He's an author, a literary agent, past president of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, Inc., and all-around industry veteran who supports writers to hone and to embrace their craft. For more about Don and his agency, visit: http://maassagency.com.

KLICK: Link zum YouTube-Video https://youtu.be/xqxks0sNB0I Wolltest du schon immer mal wissen, wie Autoren ihre Bücher schreiben? Wie so ein Schreibflow aussieht? Claudia Giesdorf und ich erzählen dir davon. Allerdings könnte es sein, dass wir deine Vorstellungen ein wenig über den Haufen werfen. Das passt auch ganz gut zur Aufnahme-Location, denn wir haben uns auf der Baustelle von Claudias Wohnung getroffen. Spoiler: Ich durfte sogar eine Wand einreißen und zum Schluss hat es uns nach draußen verschlagen. Staub und so. Fragen aus der Folge: 1. Sagst du Viertel nach zehn oder viertel elf? 2. Achtest du auf Diskriminierung in Büchern? 3. Wie ist dein Schreibflow bzw. wie stellst du dir den Schreibflow einer Autorin, eines Autors vor? 4. Was ist deine Lieblingsfarbe? Wir wünschen dir mega viel Spaß bei der Folge! Liebste Grüße Claudia und Andrea PS/ Vergiss nicht, uns zu abonnieren. ======================== Links aus der Folge (Werbung - du unterstützt mich, wenn du auf die Amazon-Links klickst) Marie Graßhoff // https://marie-grasshoff.de Stand up - Feminismus für alle von Julia Korbik // https://amzn.to/2ZUWEEk Writing the Breakout von Donald Maass // https://amzn.to/3nrsi6A ======================== Hashtags zur Folge: #autorenleben #wieschreibeicheinbuch #sensitivewriting ======================== Hier findest du uns: CG Website // http://claudia-giesdorf.de CG Instagram // https://www.instagram.com/claudia.giesdorf CG Facebook // https://www.facebook.com/claudiagiesdorf.autorin/ ADW Website // www.adwilk.de ADW Instagram // www.instagram.com/adwilk_autorin ADW Facebook // www.facebook.com/adwilkautorin Hast du Fragen zu meinem Podcast? Wünschst du dir spezielle Inhalte? Dann schreib mir unter andrea@adwilk.de oder auf Instagram unter @adwilk_autorin. Klick jetzt auf Abonnieren und verpasse keine neue Folge. Danke, dass du mich hörst! Diese Folge enthält unbezahlte Werbung und Eigenwerbung!

Anne Bustard and I discuss her newest book, BLUE SKIES, and its 20-year journey from a picture book to a middle grade novel. She tells me about her life as a perpetual student, earning a BS, MLIS, PHD, and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, as well as devising her own learning program utilizing WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL by Donald Maass. We talk about her time as an elementary school teacher and a bookstore owner, how attending a writing workshop taught by previous guest Kathi Appelt changed her life, and so much more. Born in Hawaii, author Anne Bustard is still a beach girl at heart. If she could, she would walk by the ocean every day, wear flip-flops, and eat nothing but fresh pineapple, macadamia nuts and chocolate. Growing up, Anne took years of hula lessons and spent many happy hours wearing a facemask and breathing through a snorkel. Her small sea glass collection from childhood is one of her most treasured possessions. Anne loves school. And she has a lot of degrees to prove it. Three came from the University of Texas at Austin (BS, MLIS, PhD). Her most recent one, and she believes her last, is an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Children’s books have always been central to her life. When she taught in elementary schools and universities, she always used literature. Anne co-owned Toad Hall Children’s Bookstore in Austin, Texas, too. As a bookseller, she loved opening up new boxes of books, telling others about them and running a summer writing program for children. Anne is the author of several works for young readers including award-winners Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers) and Anywhere but Paradise (Lerner). In Spring 2020, her next middle grade novel, Blue Skies (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers) and RAD! her first fiction picture book, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman (Abrams Books for Young Readers) will be published. Anne recently married her college sweetheart and divides her time between Ontario and Texas.

Have you ever been close to the finish line with a project only to find yourself paralyzed by a sudden onset of impostor syndrome? This was me two weeks ago and I'm talking about it in today's episode.  Show Notes: Hello, and welcome to About This Writing Thing, a weekly podcast about living the writing life. I'm your host, Sayword B. Eller, novelist, short story writer, podcaster, and imposter. Prior to recording this, when I first began writing these show notes I'd nearly added the additional 14,000 words needed to my WIP. I had less than 2500 to go and only 15 chapters left to edit before sending to my editor. I should have been feeling great, but I wasn't.  On the second of February 2020, I entered the shower in a fine mood, but exited almost in tears. Yes, it happened that fast. As I lathered my hair, I thought of Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel, I thought of the RWA scandal and the American Dirt criticism, and how I may be criticized by the masses for the diverse characters included in my narrative (of which there are 2 in a cast of less than 10), and I thought of just how many of us are going for traditional publication and how many make it, and then I thought of how many get the first book deal and don't get another…you get the point. By the time I stepped out of the shower my anxiety was through the roof and I was left thinking, what's the point? I tried to talk to my husband about it, tried to get him to understand exactly what it was I was feeling, but I couldn't articulate it because I wasn't even fully aware of what I was feeling. Yes, I was overwhelmed by the emotions of what if I'm not good enough to ever be published. My social media presence is small, my query writing skills are abysmal, and I don't even want to talk about my ability to write a synopsis. As with everything else, I am an undesirable because I'm not good enough.  And there is was. Despite having gained so much knowledge about my craft, regardless of how many people tell me I am a strong writer, I don't think I'm good enough, and all these outside things are confirming what I think I already know. I'm not good enough. Turns out, I was suffering from full onset Imposter Syndrome. In her 2008 article, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Gill Corkindale defines impostor syndrome as, "a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success" (Corkindale). At this point I'm less than three thousand words from finishing my third novel. Three. I've seen a story published in a literary magazine and I have several writers who look up to me as a type of authority on writing. I'm successful at my craft in my own right. Yet, I felt as though the completion of this novel meant nothing because it's just another novel that will sit unpublished despite the fact that (IMHO) it's really good. It’s relevant, it challenges the reader to like someone they probably wouldn't like out of mere misunderstanding and first impressions in real life. This book, if given the chance, could really be something. Despite knowing all this I wallowed for two days. On the second day I made myself really think about what was going on. Yes, on the first day my insides were upside down and churning without me thinking beyond how absolutely desolate I was feeling, but the next day I sat in the sun and made myself think about all those things that were holding up my progress. Yes, there are eyes looking with increased scrutiny at every published word. That isn't a bad thing. Is it scary that I might end up on the dark side of that attention one day? Hell yes, but I know this special attention, even if it does seem unfair and unwarranted to some, is mostly being done with the best intentions. Yes, according to Donald Maass's book I'm probably not going to see the success that I once imagined in this new world of best seller or super best seller. If I'm like the average population, and I usually am, I can expect to see moderate success. I need to be okay with that even though I'll still be reaching for the top. Yes, my social media presence is sub par. Less than 2,000 followers on Twitter and less than 500 on Instagram. It isn't ideal to some agents and publishers, but the great writers who came before me didn't even have social media. Donald Maass's book may be telling me super success isn't likely, but it's also telling me how important word of mouth is and that's something that was around well before social media. It may make things a bit slower, and I may still be rejected based on my lack of numbers, but it doesn't mean I don't have a chance. Yes, there are a lot of writers in the world going after what I am, but there are also 7 billion people in the world and 86% of them can read. In short, there are enough readers to go around. Especially considering not all readers only read one author. Finally, yes, there are plenty of authors who get one book deal and don't get another from their publisher. I know a couple. It's not the end of the world. And, to be honest, that's a bridge to cross if or when I get to it. On the third day I got back to work, adding another 4k to the manuscript to bring its total to a little over 83k. In case you're trying to do the math, before my breakdown I had a very productive week. I added 11,000 words in 3 days. This book was ready to be finished and I was ready to finish it. Now, two weeks later, Catching Fireflies has been to the editor. Notes are good. In fact, they're far better than expected. I'm working on the query letter, the first draft of which has been sent to my mentor. I'm feeling good again. I know the imposter syndrome will creep up on me again at some point, but I hope by then I've signed with an agent. I might be able to talk myself down a bit easier. That's it for this week. Please excuse my lack of episodes this year. Next week I'll be revisiting those goals I talked about in January and, hopefully, updating you on the status of the dreaded query. If you liked this episode, please give me a like or subscribe, or both. I won't be upset If you share me with your friends. The more the merrier. For those local, I'm hosting a workshop in May with a couple of writer pals. We'll be talking about making time for your writing, how to write engaging short fiction, and turning your memories into essays. The Find the Writer in You workshop will run from 9:30 to 12:30 on May 2, 2020 at the Asheboro Public Library in Asheboro, North Carolina. It is free and open to the public. I encourage you to join us if you're nearby. As usual, if you'd like to see what I have going on you can check out saywordbeller.com or you can find me on Instagram and Twitter using the handle @saybeller. There is a Twitter account for this podcast @writingthingpod. Thanks for listening. Have a great week and happy writing!

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and the award-winning, bestselling author of twelve Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy and Supernatural Suspense novels for adults and teens for Tor, Sourcebooks and Kensington Books. Her Strangely Beautiful saga, beginning with The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, hit Barnes & Noble and Borders Bestseller lists and garnered numerous regional genre awards.  She lives in New York City where she is a licensed ghost tour guide with Boroughs of the Dead and has been featured in film and television on shows like Boardwalk Empire and Mysteries at the Museum. She presents a one-woman show as 19th century designer Clara Driscoll and is represented by Paul Stevens of the Donald Maass agency.  Daisy Bella creates and celebrates fun-spirited fashion that inspires confidence in women of all shapes and sizes with positive, uplifting messages and images When you purchase a t-shirt or bracelet from us we pay it forward making donations to the DB Women in Need program, an initiative that supports charities that give women and children the ability to rebuild their lives. We believe in helping organizations that give safe housing and programming. Learn book promotion secrets from a season pro with SELL YOUR BOOKS TODAY by Jennifer Perry. 

Mel and Abby review their time at Donald Maass’ workshop (“The Emotional Craft of Fiction”) in Vegas. Sometimes you just need to learn with other writers! And spend a weekend in Vegas with your friends, even if you’re moms with an early bedtime. Shoutout to @donmaass - we had a great time!It was also a great networking opportunity and a great way to meet fellow writers. Even Mel, who haaaaaates meeting new people, found the group small enough to feel comfortable introducing herself and talking about her work.It always helps to go to things like this with your writer friends, too, if taking a workshop by yourself is intimidating. Turn it into a vacation!Mel’s lesson for today: How Much Adverbs Suck and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them. Kemlo’s caveat for this is that you shouldn’t use them in place of a real emotion. Don’t stuff complex emotion into an adverb when you don’t have to. Sometimes even a stronger verb can solve this problem, i.e. “he was walking quickly” < “he strode” or “he stomped.”If there’s not enough on the page to justify the use of your adverb or even your strong verb, the situation needs more work. If you’ve got a super early draft, it’s all right to use these adverbs sometimes, as long as you remember to go back and expound on/replace this emotion during revision.“Adverbs are a placeholder for more coherent thoughts.” – MelanieWhen Kemlo asks for a flashback or backstory during revision, she’s asking the author to show that the character is using something they’ve already experienced, or know, in order to figure out something else in the story and move it forward. It doesn’t have to be a long drawn out thing, either—a few words or a sentence is enough to make the story richer.“When people find themselves in various situations, they don’t think linearly – their thoughts are bouncing all over the place. ‘This reminds me of xyz, or when we did this one thing, or this makes me think of a certain person’—that’s how people think. It’s a useful way to do callbacks to previous chapters or scenes.” - Melanie

Hi everyone, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of the We Make Books Podcast - A podcast about writing, publishing, and everything in between! Week Three of Submissions September and oh boy did we really run with it this time!  This week we are bringing you not one, not two, but three episodes and they’re all about those mysterious creatures known Literary Agents.  Who are they?  What do they do?  How do you summon one?  For this episode, we sat down with Literary Agent Caitlin McDonald to discuss all this and more.  We loved talking with Caitlin and hope that our discussion might remove a bit of the fear and mystery from proccess of querying agents.  Caitlin is with the Donald Maass Literary Agency and you can (and should!) check her out her and her work at: Website: http://maassagency.com/caitlin-mcdonald/ Twitter: @literallycait - https://twitter.com/literallycait/status/1154917792619139073 Tumbler: https://literallycait.tumblr.com/   And be sure to check out new and upcoming releases from some of her clients!   The Resurrectionist of Caligo: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KDWLM3P The Library of the Unwritten: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608277/the-library-of-the-unwritten-by-a-j-hackwith/9781984806376/ In case you’re just joining us, this month is Submissions September on the We Make Books Podcast!  We’re doing seven (7!) episodes this month all about the process of submitting your novel.  We have a lot of awesome discussions lined up and even some special guests.  Here’s what will be coming your way for the month: Week 1 (9/3/2019): Is This Ready For Other People to See?- Submitting Your Manuscript Week 2 (9/10/2019): My Entire Novel in Three Hundred Words - The Dreaded Query Letter Week 3 (9/17/2019): Agents of Literature, Part 1: An Interview with Literary Agent Caitlin McDonald               (9/18/2019): Agents of Literature, Part 2: Interviews with Agented Authors               (9/19/2019): Agents of Literature Part 3: Interviews with Agented Authors Week 4 (9/24/2019):What is Going On Over There? - The Other Side of the Submissions Process Week 5 (9/30/2019): Now I’m Even More Confused – Submissions September Q&A Episode We Make Books is hosted by Rekka Jay and Kaelyn Considine; Rekka is a published author and Kaelyn is an editor and together they are going to take you through what goes into getting a book out of your head, on to paper, in to the hands of a publisher, and finally on to book store shelves. We Make Books is a podcast for writer and publishers, by writers and publishers and we want to hear from our listeners! Hit us up on our social media, linked below, and send us your questions, comments, concerns, and any stress relief suggestions for Kaelyn while she deals with the Giants’ will-they-won’t-they Eli Manning and Daniel Jones situation. Seriously guys, she can’t do a whole season of this. We hope you enjoy We Make Books!   Twitter: @WMBCast  |  @KindofKaelyn  |  @BittyBittyZap Instagram: @WMBCast  Patreon.com/WMBCast     Kaelyn (K): Hey everyone, welcome, another episode of the We Make Books podcast, a show about writing, publishing, and everything in between. I'm Kaelyn Considine, I'm the acquisitions editor for Parvus Press. Rekka (R): And I'm Rekka and I write Science Fiction and Fantasy as R J Theodore. K: So Week Three, Submissions September. And this week's a doozy. R: We've got a lot of episodes for you this week. K: Yeah, so, what we ended up doing instead of just one episode about agents, we.. you're actually getting three this week. The first one is going to be an interview with an actual literary agent. Caitlin McDonald took some time to talk to us, she was lovely, we had such a great conversation and that's what you're going to be listening to today. Then, we have two more episodes that we're going to be putting out Wednesday and Thursday. R: Yeah, we're just going back to back with this. K: And we talked to six different authors about their process getting an agent... R: They're experience working with them. K: Yeah, cause I think there's... what we're learning, talking to people, there's a lot of mystery around this. R: Yeah. Mmm-hmm. K: Everyone is very uncertain about what agents do, and how you get one. R: And how you're allowed to use them. K: Yes. Yeah, so we had a really great time talking to Caitlin who gave us some really interesting insight and... Yeah, Week Three: Agents. We… Three episodes, because it turns out there's a lot to say about that. R: You know, this is a big part of it for a lot of people. K: Yeah, it's the check mark. It's a huge check mark for a lot of people in this process is: “Get agent." So take a listen, we had a great time talking to Caitlin and hopefully you enjoy the episode. [music] 02:01  Caitlin (C): I’m Caitlin McDonald. I'm a literary agent at Donald Maass literary agency. I represent primarily Science Fiction and Fantasy for adult and young adult, as well as a little bit of nonfiction. I've been in the business for... I think, eight or nine years no? I lost track, but around there. R: So over eight or nine years you've seen it change a little bit, with going, you know, so heavy on digital all of a sudden, and the opportunities for print on demand, opening up smaller publishers… C: Yeah, absolutely. Actually, at my first agency I was involved in a lot of reworking backlist contracts that had no language for digital to kind of, you know, deal with that change that was really becoming a huge deal. That was 2011, so... there was a lot. It was, obviously 2008 was kind of when digital really hit the market—  K: Yeah. R: Right. C: —started to become... um, but like, 2011 was when people really said, "Okay, this isn't going away. This is serious." [Kaelyn and Caitlin talking over each other and laughing.] K: Oh, people will read things off screens! They don't always need the physical book in their hand. C: And it's not going to kill paper! K: No, no not it's not. C: It's a supplement. K: Yeah. So, Caitlin, could you maybe tell us a little about what a literary agent does? Because I think there's a lot of misconceptions out there about, like, "Oh, as soon as I get an agent, that's it, then my book's gonna get signed," or, "I'm never gonna do this unless I get a literary agent." Um, I think a lot of authors who are looking for agents maybe don't always know what the agent will do for them. What their job is, after you sign with them. C: Sure, so there are some things that kind of differ from agent to agent, particularly, there's also differences between if you have an agent who focuses on Non Fiction or, versus Fiction. So, it's always worth having a conversation with an agent and asking this question of them directly if they're offering representation because their answer may vary from what I'm about to describe here. But, at the, you know, the basic level, typically, in addition to most of us these days do editorial. So, I will do at least two rounds on a manuscript before I send it out on submission even after I've acquired it, there's always gonna be at least one round of line editing but usually even before that, I'm doing at least one round of structural edits, areas where I'm saying, "I love this character but strengthen their character arc, you know, make their motivations clearer.” “X Y Z isn't working, let's find a way to fix that.” So, I always make sure that I'm doing editorial before we go out on submission. Obviously, submission is the Big Thing™, that's what everyone gets an agent for, but even after we have that deal in place for you, part of our job is to negotiate it so that it's the best deal it could be, both in terms of the offers but also the contract language. So sometimes there are elements that, you know, authors don't necessarily know or that don't come up in the offer point, so it's not a deal point of how much money you're getting, what sub-rights you're contracting out, but really nitty gritty language in the contract that might be boilerplate between the agency and the publishing house but maybe the publisher recently revised their standard contract, so we have to make sure that the language is still what we agreed to. You know, really little things, we're here to make sure that everything is the best it could possibly be for our authors. And then, also staying on top of everything afterwards as well. Os I don't just well, “Here's your editor, the book deal is signed, it's their problem." I'm still there to make sure that you know, everyone is on target for deadline, that the publisher is delivering on publicity and marketing that they agreed to. That, if there are any concerns coming up, a copyeditor who's making changes that the author doesn't like—I've had that problem before. Anything that, you know, any concerns my author has, any discrepancies, any time issues, all of that, I'm here to kind of be a mediator between my author and the publisher. If an author has a problem with anything, if they have a question they're afraid to ask the editor directly, I'm here to kind of be the difficult person so that the author can maintain their good relationship with the editor. The author should never have to ask a hard question or demand something that is going to seem pushy, because that's my job. I'm the one who gets to be pushy and maybe be the person that the publisher goes, "Ugh, them again." But they'll get to have a good relationship with their author. K: I always really enjoy going through the agent because authors, you know, don't wanna be pushy and they're a little, "Oh, I don't want to step on anyone's toes here," and with the agent it's like, "Okay, let's just figure this out." C: Exactly. We also know what's standard. What's a reasonable request where we can come in and say, "Okay, the publisher's not going to be able to do that but here's a compromise that we can suggest." So we can help mediate a lot of those elements where an author may want something but not know whether it's standard, whether it's something that they should ask for or can ask for, not knowing what is normal. K: Yeah I mean for a lot of authors this is kinda their first foray into publishing and it's overwhelming and it's things that they think they should know already and they really don't. And there's no reason that they should. So, yeah, having and agent, someone that's in your court and able to help you navigate that is so valuable. A lot of people who're going to be listening to this probably do not have an agent already, and they want one. When you're evaluating potential clients to take on. What are you looking for? Obviously a good book is the first major component. But beyond that, is there anything you kind of take into consideration when making decisions on these things? C: Certainly there's an element of understanding how to pitch, clear market identity, knowing that they clearly understand and read within their genre. So, they may... I don't expect them to, you know, know every, have read every book and be as on top of the industry and what's coming out in the next, you know, year, as someone who's in the industry, but I do expect that they read within their genre, that they have comp titles that are relevant, that they show an understanding of what readers are looking for in the sense that they themselves are a reader. So sometimes I'll see queries that come in and describe.. some.. they say, "Oh, this pitch is something that's never been done before," and clearly it has. Then I'm going, "Okay. You definitely don't read this genre at all, and this is probably not a good fit." You need to really make sure you're reading in your genre and demonstrate some understanding of it, because otherwise we will be able to tell. Uh, the other thing that is really helpful is a little bit of that personalization when you're pitching to an agent can just be really helpful. It's not necessary, per se, but I do find it incredibly helpful to show that you know, you've done a little bit of research and it gets me more excited about a project if you know things that I'm specifically looking for. Not just my genre but specific details of things I'm interested in things that I'm looking for that you can cite and say, "Yes, my work has this and I know you want that." Then that can really get me excited about it before I even get to the sample pages and that's a really good way of grabbing an agent's attention. K: You hear that, listeners? Slapping the same thing together and sending it out over and over again is not the best way to get someone's attention, actually doing some research and putting some time into —because that's something we talk about a lot, is this is not an easy process, so if it seems easy to you you're probably not doing it the right way.  R: So one place that folks can find your particular manuscript interests would be on your submissions page? Your submissions guidelines, generally. Um, lightly browse (do not stalk) your twitter, and if the agent is listed on Manuscript Wishlist, which is a website that like, puts together a lot of agents. They can fill out profiles and keep it updated themselves of what they're looking for. That's a couple of places where you can find out, is this agent interested in something I'm writing, and also a lot of agents will have the headers on their social media include the books they've worked on. So if you look at that header photo, it's like a real quick double-check. Is anything.. do I write like anything on here. One, if you haven't read anything on there, stop what you're doing if you're really interested in that agent, and read something that they've worked on. But, it's a quick check, just like, "None of this is anything like what I write, maybe I should look for a different agent, and not waste their time." K: Yeah. Along those lines, one of the questions we had sent along was, "Agents, when they open for queries, this has to do with the alignment of the stars, correct?" C: Absolutely. K: "And the tidal forces of the moon and..." R: "Magic. Lots of magic." K: "And various other natural phenomenon." But when those things happen, what makes you decide like, "Okay, I'm ready to be open for queries again. I'm ready to take on new clients"?
C: I man, I'm sure it's different for every agent. For me, specifically, it really has to do with how much time that I have. How I'm doing with current client manuscripts. Whether I've caught up on all of the queries already in my inbox. That's often something I have to make a really concentrated push, after I close to queries, to then get through all of the ones that are still need to be responded to. Then give myself a little bit of time to get through some manuscripts. I wish I could say that I only open to queries when I've responded to all of the fulls that I've already requested, but that's not the case because then I'd probably never open to queries." K: as an acquisitions editor, I can say the same thing, that I always have a few that I'm still working through but it's like, "But I also need more for the future, so we're gonna open for submissions again." It's hard to balance that. C: Yeah, yeah it is and the work-life balance as well, there's so many elements. Because I think the thing to keep in mind is that most agents aren't reading queries during work hours. They're reading them during their own personal time. Our work hours are dedicated to our clients, editing manuscripts, possibly reading fulls, but for the most part, it is working on our clients and editing the existing manuscripts, going out on submission, making sure everything is up to date. All of the work that is involved with being an agent for our existing clients is pretty much a full time job and finding new clients to add to our list is an important part of our job but it also usually happens outside of the parameters of our forty-fifty hour work week whatever you .. however you define that. I'm often sending queries at ten o'clock at night and that's just how it is. When you have the time for it. K; Yeah. Same thing. I get responses from people that are like, "Uh, were you up this late?" I'm like, "I'm up that late every night. That's when I get my work done!" We talked about this a little you know, when you said what does a literary agent do, but: relationships with authors. Obviously, like, one of your big things is, you're in that person's court. You are their advocate, you are there, making sure that they get the best possible publishing deal, making sure everyone's happy, handling difficult situations for them. But beyond that, your relationship with a writer, what is that like? What do they expect from you? Obviously, it will change depending on how things are happening in their career, but what's your relationship like leading up to a release and then, for example, afterwards? C: This is such a good question because it' actually really important for an author to know what they need about themselves before, if they can. Which is hard to know if you've never had an agent, but if you can try to figure out 'what's important to me?' beforehand, then having that conversation helps you know whether the agent is going to be a good fit for you. Because it really varies for all of my clients. Some of them, you know, I'm in almost constant touch with. Some of them I only head from them when they have a manuscript ready and they send it and it's already revised and they feel like they just... "here it is!" and others are going, "Here are my next... here are one-sentence pitches for my next eight ideas, which one should I do?" "Here's a partial draft." so it really really varies. I've got some authors where I'm working with them on all sorts of different levels of early stages of manuscripts and others that don't come to me until they've got something nearly complete, or at least a full first draft, or a full synopsis, you know, it really really varies. and then the level of contact that they want also varies from author to author there are some who I'm here as you know an emotional support as well as all of the other tasks that my job entails. And then others who are very happy to sort of sit back and only reach out when they actually have a specific publishing question or concern that needs to be addresses. So it really really varies, wildly and it's important to kind of know "how much do I want my agent to be in touch?""Am I more comfortable with email of phone?" "Am I going to be someone who wants to be able to text my agent?" These are the kind of questions that it helps to be able to look a little bit inside and say, "this is.. these are the kinds of communication limits that I want with an agent," and to talk to them about it beforehand and make sure that that's what you're going to be getting from the agent you're looking for. K: Well now, you, I'm sure, in a lot of situations, have to set some boundaries. C: That is true, um, but it.. there often, I find, it's something that is done not necessarily explicitly. I kind of set what I'm comfortable with and if that means I'm not responding to emails that aren't super important on the weekend, then that's just something isn't necessarily discussed beforehand, per se? I know this sounds a little bit contradictory to what I just said, but like R: No but by your responses, you're setting their expectations. C: Exactly. Exactly. K: I know some people that, when they first signed with their agent they're like, "I have this question," and I'm like, "Well go ask your agent then." C: Yes. Exactly. K: "That's what they're there for." "I don't wanna bother them." "That.. I.. you are not bothering them. Other.. you know, you're not calling them at one in the morning having a breakdown about something." That's bothering. Don't do that. C:  Yes, exactly. We're here as a resource so you should always feel comfortable reaching out to your agent about anything that is publishing and work related. That, at least, you should always feel comfortable doing. They might set the parameters of how to do that. Is it okay to just call them ay any time, or do they prefer email? Do they give you their number so you can text them? Depends. I mean, I know many agents prefer not to do that which I think is absolutely a good idea but I'm sure that there are some that are perfectly comfortable with it. So you know, having that conversation beforehand and finding what their preferred system is so that you know whether it's compatible with your preferred system, that's really the key. K: Gotcha. So, we had kind of also talked about this briefly, but one of the other questions we wanted to talk about is, and I'm gonna kinda combine two things here: what catches your eye in query letters, in authors that are querying you, and at the same time, what are some red flags? C: So, what catches my eye, I think'd be a little like what I talked about before, something that really speaks to me personally and actually addresses things that I have specifically said that I'm looking for. Anything that is particularly really unique, like actually finds a way to give me an unexpected twist within the pitch itself. I'm also.. I do really appreciate comp titles that kind of combine, you know, taking two very very disparate comps and combining them to say "here are two things that are nothing alike but if you combined them, that's my book." Then you can get a sense of, "Oh, here is something really new and unique." I once got a query that said it's Jane Austin's Emma meets Dexter. And then.. K: Oh! C: Yeah, and then the plots came out, like, Yes, that makes sense! But getting that, those kind of comp titles, I went, "That is very interesting and I want to learn more." So, you know, it's.. comp titles don't have to be like that but they can be a very interesting way to condense a unique aspect of your book into one creative, short pithy pitch. In terms of red flags, I think it's often a, like I said before, very clear not understanding of their genre or the type of book I'm looking for if they very clearly have misunderstood, not just the genre per se, but something say, comes in and is pretty heavily misogynistic in a certain way or something that just, like, if you check my social media, I'm very clearly not interested in works that are, you know, a certain way, even if they are science fiction or fantasy. And then, also I would say another huge red flag is authors who feel the need to attack other authors or existing books for a genre in their query letter. K: Oh really?
C: that is never good. don't be that person. K: No. C: Yes, I've definitely those books that come in say, "Well, this book was terrible," or "Nothing in YA is good anymore," or, "Twilight was terrible!" K: Oh my god. C: Don't be that person. That's... you know, don't attack other authors in your query. It's not a good look. K: I'm making this face right now because I have read so many query letters and I have never seen that.  C: Really? K: That's like. now see, watch.. cause we're open for submissions now so I'm gonna get like ten of those. Now that I've said that but like, oh my god, wow. I thought I'd seen everything. That's a new one. Okay. R: Actually that comes up on Twitter a lot. I see a lot of agents saying "Please don't do this. You know, don't insult J K Rowling because you think that will make your book sound more intelligent. It doesn't." K: It doesn't and I mean, you know. Come on, Harry Potter. R:  Regardless of whether you like it, it was very successful. An agent wouldn't mind a Harry Potter. C: And it sets yu up as a person who is going to be not someone who plays ball with the industry if you're going to be someone like that then that doesn't send a good message about the type of person you're going to be in terms of how you interact with other authors and publishers. and the fact is other authors: those are your peers, those are your support network. you need other authors because their success is your success. And their blurbs are how you get found and you all have to support each other and so if you're not going to be interested in doing that then you're probably not going to succeed in the book industry. K: I've done a couple things over the years and a question I get a lot is well you guys are like, you know a small independent press, and "yes, we are, it's a lot of fun," "So what about competition from this what about..." It's not like... it's not competition. People, I think. It's not the same as cheering for a sports team. You don't love one team and therefor their failure is other teams' success. People who love and read these genres of books are just going to keep looking for more things to read. So everyone succeeding you know especially in similar veins that you're working in, that's great for you as an author because that means more people might come across your book as a result of that. C: Exactly. K: But it is very interesting when you look at these and you're evaluating if you think you can work with this person. Can I help no only them but like, I need to be successful here. Your author's success is the agent's success but you still have to work within the industry and you still have to be able to put together and sell a book at the end of the day and if you're presenting yourself in a way that's gonna make your agent think "I'm not sure I can do this with this person" that's gonna drive them away.  R: We talk a lot about querying an agent for the first time, creating a new relationship with them, but frequently, especially in genre fiction, book deals are for more than one book. So once you have entered into like the second in a series or the second book that's been optioned as part of the same contract, does your relationship change with the author at all? C: Um, yes, so it's very much, I think, it depends from agent to agent but for me, I'm very much willing to work with authors as early as they have pitch ideas. So they will come to me with, you know, ideas, with early drafts, and I'll be definitely working on things much earlier than I would be than a query. So, obviously, when you query your manuscript should be as close to final as you can possibly make it. You should have already had some beta readers, you should have already done editing, and so at that point the hope is that it will only take a few more rounds with an agent before it's ready to go on submission. Obviously for your second or third book, and books after that, that's necessarily not the case. So yes, I am seeing much earlier drafts. I have worked on books that are completely rewritten from scratch multiple times before going to the publisher ad also part of it is deciding what the next book should be sometimes. So I've had clients where we look at their first book and where it fit in the market place, and their other book ideas, some of which might be very different from the first book, and others might be in between and we say, "okay, how do you want to be positioned in the marketplace as your career? Do you want to be a YA author or do you want to be an adult author? Do you want to be a horror author or do you want to be a fantasy author? If you want to be both that's fine, but if you really feel strongly about one of these things, and you just happen to have one book idea that falls outside that parameter, then maybe we don't so that as the second book, maybe that's the third or fourth. Maybe that's an outlier book." So, figuring out how the author wants to be positioned in the marketplace and making sure that we are following a trajectory that will achieve that is part of what I help them do. K: That's something that I think a lot of people don't realize a lot of agents do is, basically helping the author come up with an identity. And how they're gonna fit into the marketplace, what they want to be known for. Yeah that's really interesting to think about as well. Anything that you wish people knew about literary agents? Any giant misconceptions you frequently come across? You know, obviously the stuff about the bloodletting is all ~true, but the rest of it? C: I think that the big thing I would  just... I really wish to share with people is that I promise we're not scary. It's... We're just people like you. We just love books, like you. I.. when I got to conferences there are so many people who are so scared and I just want to hug them and say, "No, it's okay, I promise.. there's nothing to be scared of." K: Wait, quick qualification. If you run into Caitlin at a conference do not walk up to her and hug her immediately. Ask first. C: Thank you. Fair. Thank you. Yeah, but I also there's just a I feel like there's a I don't wanna say a culture of self-rejection but there is.. I see a lot of self-rejection— K: Oh, yeah, absolutely. C: —on the internet and on social media and people will ask me, "Can I query you?" and I'm going, "Why are you asking me? Just do it. Just do it!" You know, alway always give it a shot and you know, we're just here because we love books and we want to help you succeed. Like we want authors to succeed. We want books to succeed. We're not out here saying no to books because we're up in a castle laughing at all of you. We really really want these books to succeed. We want to see more books that we love. And most of the time, when we reject something, it's with a heavy heart. It's, "I love this pitch but the writing just wasn't quite there yet, but man, I hope they come back to me with another project in a couple of years when they've really honed their skill and improved their writing." You know that's really where we're coming from is, "Not this one, but keep working at it. We're waiting for you to come back next time and really nail it." K: to everyone I hope hearing that is encouraging. I'm encouraged just listening to it and I'm not even querying an agent. Thank you so much for talking to us. This was really a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this conversation. C: Of course, well thank you for having me, it's been great.  K: So, where can people find you on the socials? C: I'm on most social media @literallycait that's c-a-i-t short for Caitlin, and on the Donald Maass website which is MaassAgency.com. R: Alright so is there anything else that you wanna tease for people, books coming out or anything like that? C: Sure I've got a couple really exciting books coming out over the next month or two. We've got The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga, which is very very exciting. Kind of dark Victorian-esque fantasy, which would be great for anyone who's a fan of the podcast Sawbones. If you're into that you'll definitely like this book. And I've also got The Library of the Unwritten, by A J Hackwith, which is K: Yes C: Fabulous Hell based fntasy about books that are unwritten escaping their library and going on walkabout and the librarion having to chase them down it's very fun and if you love books it really explores the concepts of narrative and character and what it means to have those elements and give them agency so it's a really it's a love letter to the concept of writing. It's fabulous. K: That one's on my list, I'm very excited for that one. C: Oh good. K: Okay, so. The take away here: Agents; they're people just like the rest of us. R: At least one is. K: One of them anyway. The rest are in the castle. R: Okay, thank you so much Caitlin, we really appreciate your time. C: Thank you. 31:34 [Music]
R: Thanks, everyone, for joining us for another episode of We Make Books. If you have any questions that you want answered in future episodes or just have questions in general remember you can find us on twitter @WMBcast, same for instagram, or WMBcast.com. If you find value in the content we provide, we would really appreciate your support at patreon.com/WMBcast. If you can't provide financial support, we totally understand, and what you could really do to help us is spread the word about this podcast. You can do that by sharing a particular episode with a friend who can find it useful, or if you leave a rating and review at iTunes, it will feed that algorithm and help other people find our podcast too. Of course you can always retweet our episodes on twitter.  Thank you so much for listening and we will talk to you soon.

Robin LaFevers, author of the New York Times bestselling HIS FAIR ASSASSINS series, talks about the memories that live on in our bodies, the downside to critique groups, and how writing her breakout series retriggered old trauma--sidelining her ability to write for more than a year. She worked her way, physically and emotionally, back to write the latest in the series, COURTING DARKNESS, out February 5, 2019.   Robin LaFevers Show Notes The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Writer Unboxed SCBWI RWA (Romance Writers of America) Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart Jesus Camp (documentary) Donald Maass (agent and author of Writing the Breakout Novel) Leigh Bardugo (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here)

STORY ENDINGS How do you create impactful story endings? Most of you are business storytellers; you use stories to communicate persuasive sales messages. Those can be live presentations, webinars, sales letters, face-to-face, one-on-one sales, even phone conversations – any communication designed to move people to some kind of buying decision. All of those qualify as stories. You can begin strongly, develop strongly, but if your story endings are weak, you will not influence people to take actions that will improve their lives, you will not move them to buy from you. In this episode, you will learn about the important elements of all your story endings. These elements make up the secret sauce that gives all your business communication irresistible persuasion power. These key questions will help you create knockout story endings: Do people must feel the conclusion of your story in their minds, hearts, and bodies? They must experience your message and feel satisfied and inspired by it. Inspired to say yes to what you’re offering. Have you delivered on the big promise that you have made at the beginning of your story? (hopefully, you have made one) Have you resolved all the problems you introduced at the beginning? Problems that you audience have and want to eliminate. Have you closed all the loops you created in your story? (curiosity loops that keep people engaged from beginning to end) You will review two powerful analogies that help you clearly understand how strong story endings work. They are: The musical analogy – when you hear a classical symphony, you experience its beginning, middle, and end with your whole being. The final note of a symphony resonates in your gut. You feel a satisfied sense of conclusion. Ocean wave analogy – You experience the formation of an ocean wave, it’s build to a peak, and it’s rapid crashing resolution on the shore the same way you experience music. Alo, you will rediscover the two things your story endings can’t live without: Future-casting – Your entire story is a journey for the person receiving it. As you guide your audience to the final destination, you must paint a vivid picture of what life will be like when they say yes to your offer. Call to action – This is where so many sales presentations (stories) wimp out. There is no room for unclear language, no room for words like i. You must confidently and firmly tell people exactly what to do to experience the promise, the big benefits of your offer. You must tell people what to do to buy your products and services. Finally, you will be inspired when you hear the powerful ending of a great book on storytelling (title and author below). I give you your call to action to be bold, passionate, and direct in delivering your business communication with engaging beginnings, compelling development, and irresistible story endings. BOOK IN THIS PODCAST (https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Fiction-Passion-Purpose-Techniques-ebook/dp/B002SS582W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547595975&sr=8-1&keywords=the+fire+in+fiction) by Donald Maass

Donald Maass is the CEO of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, which sells over 200 books a year for its authors to major publishers. He is also the author of many books about writing, including The Fire in Fiction and The Emotional Craft of Writing.

Before you listen here, check thyself before thou wreck thyself: Did you listen to lesson 1? Did you do the homework assignment??? If not, fear not, fellow scribe! Yours truly is here with lessons distilled from Matt Bird, Donald Maass, Charles Johnson, and Joyce Carol Oates on how to construct …

Today, we were joined by librarian and urban fantasy author Dale Ivan Smith who launched his first series, The Empowered, earlier this year. He talked about the challenges of writing across genres, getting into a crowded subgenre such as urban fantasy, and why he started in Kindle Unlimited and later went wide. We also asked him how one can get

Are you looking for a great book to help you edit your manuscript? Want to take the reading world by storm? Then check out this review of Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. One of the important elements you'll find in this book is connecting with your reader at an emotional level. Click here to download a worksheet to help you.  http://www.thebookeditorshow.com/the-secret-to-emotionally-connect-with-your-reader/

The Story Blender is hosted by Suspense Radio Network and hosted by author Steven James. Steven James is a critically acclaimed novelist and author of more than thirty books of fiction and nonfiction. He has a Master’s Degree in Storytelling, serves as a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest Magazine, and has taught writing and creative storytelling around the world. Publishers Weekly calls him "[A] master storyteller at the peak of his game.” His thriller, The Bishop, was Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year. When he’s not traveling and speaking he likes watching science fiction movies, trail running, and eating chicken fajitas—although not necessarily all at the same time. Donald Maass - Literary Agent and Bestselling Author Highly respected literary agent and much sought after fiction instructor Donald Maass explains how to tap into readers’ emotions in the stories we tell. Be prepared as Donald takes us on a tour of avenues of story that no one else is exploring: plot layering, micro tension, and the death of description in fiction. Have your pen ready to take notes.  

Get your taste buds ready for a walk through a farmer’s market, and a kitchen-based adventure with Kristin Halbrook, author of NOBODY BUT US and EVERY LAST PROMISE (out now!).  Kristin Halbrook Show Notes TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer BALLADS OF SUBURBIA by Stephanie Kuehnert Bechdel Test HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta HOW TO WRITE THE BREAK OUT NOVEL by Donald Maass  

Just när ni trodde att ni var av med oss för gott är vi tillbaka med... kanske det roligaste avsnittet hittills? Det handlar om författardrömmar. Vi har läst Amanda Svenssons Allt det där jag sa till dig var sant, och pratar skrivande med 19-åriga Johanna Vinter. Dessutom listar vi våra allra bästa skrivtips till dig som drömmer om att skriva en egen bok och Per reciterar en låttext av Asta Kask.Du kan lyssna direkt här, genom att trycka play: Eller ladda ner mp3-filen här. Vi finns också på iTunes.I avsnittet nämner vi de här titlarna:Allt det där jag sa till dig var sant, av Amanda Svensson, Norstedts.Hey Dolly, av Amanda Svensson, Norstedts.Välkommen till den här världen, av Amanda Svensson, Norstedts.Ett moln i byxor, av Vladimir Majakovskij.Sherlock Holmes versus Professor Moriarty, av Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Övers. Charlotte Hjulström, Bakhåll förlag.Anna d'Arc, av Mårten Sandén, Rabén & Sjögren.Här ligger jag och blöder, av Jenny Jägerfeldt (och alla hennes andra böcker), Gilla böcker.Allt jag säger är sant, av Lisa Bjärbo, Rabén & Sjögren.The fault in our stars (Förr eller senare exploderar jag), av John Green. Övers. Ylva Stålmarck, Bonnier Carlsen.Syskonkärlek, av Katarina von Bredow, Rabén & Sjögren.Att skriva - en hantverkares memoarer, av Stephen King, Bra böcker.Om konsten att läsa och skriva, av Olof Lagerkrantz, Wahlström & Widstrand.Konsten att skriva en bästsäljare, av Lina Wennersten och Katarina Lagerwall, Alfabeta.Skriv om och om igen, av Ylva Karlsson och Katarina Kuick, X Publishing.Writing the breakout novel, av Donald Maass.Glaskupan, av Sylvia Plath, övers. Christina Liljencrantz, Albert Bonniers.Gentlemen, av Klas Östergren, Albert Bonniers.Alla Christoffer Carlssons deckare, till exempel Den osynlige mannen från Salem, Piratförlaget.Och så pratar vi om två låtar också:Fri av Asta Kask, och Betongbarn av Strebers.

Bill welcomes author and top notch literary agent Donald Maass to the show. Join Bill and Donald as they dicuss writing, publishing, life, and everything in between. Don't miss it.