Write the Damn Book Already

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Most authors have as big a stack (if not bigger) of abandoned drafts as they do books that actually make it into the world. Jane Hamilton—bestselling author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World and two-time Oprah Book Club pick—is refreshingly open about that reality. Her newest novel, The Phoebe Variations , took nearly a decade...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Copyright. Piracy. LibGen. AI scraping. If just reading that list makes you want to hide under your desk with a bottle of...something...you’re not alone. Indie authors are being forced to navigate a landscape that feels murkier by the day, and most of us didn’t exactly sign up to become copyright attorneys. Unfortunately, the “poor man’...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! There are more than 42 million books on Amazon right now. So how in the world do you help your book stand out? One word: keywords. Think of keywords as Amazon’s GPS. They tell the algorithm exactly where your book belongs and who should see it. However, Amazon only gives you seven keyword boxes to work with. Seven! Which means every slo...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Amazon ads don’t have to be complicated (or eat up your entire marketing budget) to actually sell books. In this episode, I’m sharing my approach to making Amazon ads simple(r) without endless spreadsheets, confusing dashboards, or the kind of budget that makes you wonder if you should’ve stuck with free bookmarks. Common Questions Tack...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Writers dream of the day they’ll hold their finished book, but few warn you about how intense the editing phase can be. In this episode, debut novelist Jill Beissel gets real about the messy, magical process of turning a rough draft into a polished novel readers will love. Jill’s upcoming book, Glitter and Gold (out October 7!), went th...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Ever feel like everyone has some secret book marketing hack? Most of those “shortcuts” are just expensive detours. In this episode, I’m calling out three distractions that keep indie authors spinning their wheels. First up: Kirkus Reviews. Are they legit? Yes. Are they worth the price for most self-published authors? Maybe. But if you&a...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! If you’re the kind of person who devours psychological thrillers but also wants to be emotionally sucker-punched (in the best way), Lauren Oliver’s What Happened to Lucy Vale needs to be on your radar.  In this episode, Lauren takes us behind the scenes of what might be her most structurally daring novel to date. Set in a small Indiana...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In this episode, I sit down with Tiffany Graham Charkosky to talk about her forthcoming memoir, Living Proof (October 21, Little A), a book written and shaped over years of writing and rewriting. At just 11 years old, Tiffany lost her mother. For decades, she believed it was an unexplainable tragedy, until a DNA test unearthed informati...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! If you’ve been chasing the magical marketing strategy that will finally make your book “take off,” welcome to the club. In this episode, I’m addressing the question nearly every author eventually asks: What does it actually take to make a book successful? Spoiler: there’s no guaranteed formula. Even authors with six-figure advances, NYT...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Miranda Cowley Heller's father was a book editor; her grandfather edited Jack Kerouac and was friends with Hemingway. That legacy, while inspiring, left her frozen when it came to pursuing her own writing.  Instead, she built a thriving career in publishing and TV, eventually heading up drama series at HBO. Then, in her 50s, she wr...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Author Lori Gold is pulling back the curtain on publishing, in both this interview and her newest novel, Romantic Friction.   INSIDE THE EPISODE • Yet another reason bestseller lists aren’t what you think (I didn't know this until I read her book!) • A great tip for handing reviews without spiraling (or swearing off Goodreads forev...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! What started as sharing her story online about living with chronic illness turned into a book deal with Penguin Random House. In this episode, Gigi Robinson shares how she leveraged consistency, relationships, and a clear vision to go from content creator to published author. Here’s what we get into: Why she chose to write A Kid’s Book...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! This week, I’m joined by publicist Emily Florence, and we’re talking about how to set publicity goals before you start chasing them, why a Today Show appearance might not sell nearly as many books as you think, and how to make your marketing feel less like shouting into the void and more like having conversations that matter. Here’s wha...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz has published nearly 80 books (yes, 80), and in this episode, she shares what it really takes to build and sustain a long-term writing career. From surviving the shifting tides of publishing to protecting what gets you "in the mood" to write, she shares the kind of wisdom every author love...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Thriller author N.L. Blandford isn't afraid to go dark—like, murder scene dark—and she absolutely loves it. In this episode, she talks about writing gritty thrillers with complex villains you’ll root for and recoil from. Natasha never planned to become an author. She just wanted to cross “write a book” off her bucket list. Now she’...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In this no-fluff episode, publishing powerhouse Jane Friedman speaks to the aspects of writing and publishing that every aspiring author needs to hear about.  WE'RE TALKING ABOUT:  The myth of the full-time writer dream—and why your day job might be your secret weapon How to build an author platform without selling your soul  The h...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In this episode, author Audrey Ingram spills the tea on what inspired her newest novel, The Summer We Ran (coming June 3, 2025). Think: teenage love, political ambition, and a dual-timeline structure that spans 25 years and manages to hit you right in the gut and makes you think. We also dig into how Audrey traded in her life as a pract...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! She’s back! One of my all-time favorite guests, Neely Tubati-Alexander, returns to talk about her third novel, Courtroom Drama. As always, she brings a refreshing, no-nonsense take on staying creative and productive in the unpredictable world of publishing. INSIDE THE EPISODE 📚 Why Neely sprints through her first drafts instead of obse...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! What happens when your first novel becomes a global sensation, and your next one takes nearly a decade? In this episode, bestselling author Nicola Kraus (of The Nanny Diaries fame) gets delightfully honest about what it really takes to write, edit, and publish a book in today’s ever-shifting landscape. From the high highs to the humblin...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! This week, I sat down with debut author Noël Stark, who went from wrangling chaos behind the scenes in the TV and film world to wrangling words on the page, often in 15-minute bursts. Her novel, Love Camera Action, flips the script on Hollywood romance by spotlighting the crew, not the stars (and the 3 peppers on the spice scale are sur...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! What do a flooded house, a nine-month (and still going) renovation, and a debut novel have in common? Angelika Morini. In this episode, Angelika shares what it actually looked like to finish her first novel, Do You See Me Now? —while living in chaos (read: house stripped to the studs). We talk about why character development can feel a...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! You’ve probably heard the phrase “your book is your business card.” While it sounds cute for a Canva graphic, it totally downplays the blood, sweat, and editing tears that go into creating a book that actually matters. We’re not here for books that gather dust—we’re here for books that make an impact (and, at the very least, pay for lun...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Have you ever sat through a back-to-school night and thought, Wow, this could be a novel ? Jordan Roter did—and then she actually wrote it. Moms Like Us (coming May 2025 from Little A) hilariously unpacks the cutthroat social hierarchy of LA moms, complete with all the messy, cringey, and oh-so-relatable moments of motherhood and friend...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Ever walked past one of those cute Little Free Libraries and thought, Wonder if I could sneak my book in there? Spoiler alert: you totally can. And that’s just one of the brilliantly simple, low-cost book marketing strategies I dish out in this episode—ideas so simple many authors never even think about them! Here’s the thing: no matter...

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! This week, I had a really fun conversation with Nanda Reddy about her journey from "secret writer" to novelist (her debut novel, A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl, just hit the USA Today bestseller list!).  Inside this Episode:  Writing without being "formally trained" (read: no MFA) and navigating the industry thro...