#AmWriting

Sometimes, the internet turns against you. What to do, what not to do, how to ride it out and remember--the loudest voices aren't necessarily the most numerous.  Over the course of our careers, both Jess and I have endured some PR storms. We share some of the gory details, but more importantly, advice from PR pros and from our experiences on how to handle it when you go a little bit viral in the w...

Subscription services like Kindle Unlimited and Audible do make books—some books—cheaper for readers, but what do they do for authors—and what are readers missing? (with Sarina Bowen) A few highlights from this episode:  If you take something expensive—good content—and you pay people reasonably to create it, it’s tough to make this work. What we're often seeing as consumers are loss leaders for bi...

Mary Laura Philpott tells all. It's glorious. It's embarrassing. Nobody told you you'd be sitting on a barstool in front of a crowd in a short skirt. Mary Laura Philpott is the author of I Miss You When I Blink , a book with the most awesome subtitle ever: Essays. That's it. Here's a little something she wrote on subtitles and why we love to hate them, from LitHub.  We've been following her book l...

Remember those goals you set with Jess and KJ back in January? Neither did they, but they dug them out and sort out how the year’s going so far. In Episode 140, we set our 2019 goals. (Listen here ). Now, at 2019's halfway mark, it's time to check in on those--and we'd love to hear how you're doing on your goals in the #AmWriting Facebook group . Halfway here? More? En route? Revising the endgame?...

We welcome Shane Burcaw. You thought writing was hard? Try doing it with no muscles. Shane Burcaw is the author of three books: Laughing at My Nightmare , the picture book Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability , and his new book, Strangers Assume My Girlfriend is My Nurse. Shane and his girlfriend, Hannah Aylward, host the YouTube channel, Squirmy and Grubs , with...

Parkland author Dave Cullen on everything you ever wanted to know about pitching and writing a topical nonfiction book at top speed (and going broke doing it). We talked to Dave Cullen, about writing Parkland: Birth of a Movement , in ten months while he was 3 years overdue on his current book.  "I'm just not gonna tell Gail," he said of his editor when he took the first assignment from Vanity Fai...

Story expert Lisa Cron joins Jess and KJ to dig into the mechanics of a good book, including the difference between plot and story, and looking beyond “what happened” to “why did it happen”. To talk to Lisa Cron is--unless you've already read Story Genius or Wired for Story--to possibly flip everything you thought you knew about story--fiction, nonfiction, short, long, whatever--onto its head. Sto...

Jess and KJ extemporize on the power of stickers - where the only thing that matters is getting into the work, and getting the words out. And some bonus advice to authors on what not to do. Kj here, with a confession: I've been lying to myself Letting myself off the hook.  Not keeping my butt in the chair and my head in the game. I mean, sure, I had lots of excuses. I've been traveling or doing in...

Podcasting from Mom 2.0 Conference with podcaster, journalist and author, Nicole Blades. She tells us about the pros and cons of skipping an agent, using rejection as fuel, and the joys of the writer community. Nicole Blades is a Podcaster ( Hey, Sis! Podcast), Author of Have You Met Nora?, The Thunder Beneath Us, & Earth's Waters --and this is a glorious episode, recorded live and in person a...

It's hard enough to start a subscriber email. But what if--like freelance writer Lyz Lenz, who has two books coming out in the next twelve months--you asked your fans to pay for it? It's so crazy, it might just work. Hello from the Mom 2.0 conference, where Jess and I just did a panel on Launching a Speaking Career. More on that in an upcoming episode--but meanwhile, this one's a real thought-prov...

Uber-Coach Jennifer Louden on finding your "enough" and letting it power you forward.

Math storyteller Steven Strogatz makes both calculus and dictation seem approachable and fun. #notkidding Jess, we learn, was told in an early math class not to give up her day job, and so she gave up on math—until she found Steven Strogatz , whose writing puts a human, topical, understandable face on numbers from algebra to calculus, and glories in seeing “the math in everything”. If you’re the m...

Mignon Fogerty on Pet Peeves, riding a wave and what to do if you're a writer--and grammar still scares the bejabbers out of you. Plenty of writers #fangirl on Mignon Fogerty , who took her own quest to make grammar rules easy and accessible and turned it into a mini-empire. In her case, the podcast came first, the books second--and what followed is a fun exploration of being creative around a sub...

Part 2 continues with Sarina Bowen's guidance about what you should put in your email list, and how to market your email before, or after, you’re published.

Sarina Bowen guides us through where and how to start up an email list, how to grow it and how to keep it healthy in the first part of a two parter on email lists.

Mary Laura Philpott on how to launch a book into the world, with a few regrets and ideas for do-overs.

Accusations of plagiarism and general bad behavior are everywhere in the writing world. Sarina Bowen joins the conversation about what plagiarism is and isn't and how to protect yourself (and keep from accidentally screwing up).

Omitting wan words to tighten your writing, and battling the inevitable arrival of professional jealousy.

You heard it here first: KJ sold her novel. We talk about how the deal happened, why she took a pre-empt, and building a career.

...in which Jess and KJ share tips about about answering calls for anthology submissions

...in which Jess and KJ talk with computer science professor, and author, Cal Newport on the concept of digital minimalism and the benefits it can have on the writing process.

...in which Jess and KJ tackle a classic writing question: can you read in your genre while you’re writing in it without absorbing other voices and ideas?

…in which successful freelancer Kimberly Moran describes how she has created a home and work life that feeds her writing, and how she's always hustling to find new opportunities.

…in which Jess and KJ talk with award-winning biographer, Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, and find out what it takes to write an account of someone else’s life.

...in which Jess and KJ talk raw honest memoir with Janelle Hanchett, author of I'm Just Happy to Be Here. It's not easy to write memoir, or to put it out there, but as Janelle says, you're either going to tell the truth, or don't bother.