Get It Write

Thank you to everyone who tuned in live for my conversation with Leigh Stein ! In this important convo, we discussed the legal, professional, ethical, and existential challenges generative AI poses for authors and society as a whole. (Subscribers received this recording in their inboxes via a crosspost, but I’m posting it here so it’ll live in my AI hub .) Get full access to Andrea Bartz: Get It W...

I loved peppering Abra McAndrew , who runs the excellent Substack The Booktender and is executive director of the storied Tucson Festival of Books , with all my burning questions about book festivals! We went deep on: * How Abra became the director of an event that draws more than 300 authors and 100,000 book-lovers * How planners decide which authors to invite * Where book festivals fit into the...

I learned so much from my chat with Saul Austerlitz , who wrote HOW TO ASSEMBLE AN ACTIVIST , and AurelioAguirre , software developer and cofounder of The Users Union , about how people with concerns about AI can find the best and most impactful ways to join the fight. We discussed: * Why now is such a crucial time for us to be having these discussions—and taking action * The shockingly within-our...

I had the best time chatting with author and academic Laura B. McGrath , whose new nonfiction book, Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction , is on shelves now. We nerded out on: * When agents burst onto the scene (and why publishers loathed them at first) * Where the title comes from and why her book cover is giving midcentury glam * Why agents are so secretive about their d...

I LOVED going live with non-fiction agent Sally Ekus , whose generous and candid approach to the industry is such a breath of fresh air! We went deep on: * How authors can use their newsletters to connect with readers * Whether author newsletters translate to sales—or event attendance * What makes up an author “ecosystem” * The nuts and bolts of pitching non-fiction * The surprising personality tr...

I loved my convo with Nancy Reddy , the author of THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH and the Substack Be Less Careful . We discussed what people really want from book events, specific tricks to make a book launch interactive and memorable, where events fit into the author-brand ecosystem, the best book releases we ever attended, the pluses and pitfalls of planning a virtual event, and more. We even had an on-th...

I adored my chat with Amie McNee , beautifully transparent and inspiring Substacker and the author of WE NEED YOUR ART , among other books. We discussed her new historical mystery, TO KILL A QUEEN , as well as trad- vs. self-publishing, figuring out how to tell a detective story, balancing business with the “sacred space” of creation, Amie’s genius reframe for ~self-promo~ , and more. Thanks so mu...

I loved sitting down with the hilarious, prolific, and insightful Mike Chen , who’s turned his nerdy fandom (said lovingly) into a badass career as the New York Times bestselling author of both original commercial spec fic novels (including, most recently, A Quantum Love Story ) and contributions to the SFF canon, such as Star Wars: Brotherhood , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Dog of War , Marve...

I had the best time chatting with Vanessa Lillie about her new thriller, THE BONE THIEF , as well as the Anthropic lawsuit, my run-in with Reese Witherspoon (!), what it was like writing and selling a sequel, how we prep ourselves for the pub-week tornado, and more. Big thanks to Olivia Muenter , The Balance Dilemma Podcast , Michelle Richmond , J. Lincoln Fenn , Jaime Garbin , and many others for...

I loved sitting down with the delightful Jenny Rosenstrach , who writes the Substack Dinner: A Love Story . We chatted about how we found our agents, what we learned from working in magazines, dealing with a fear of navel-gazing in our own work, and more. (Please enjoy my full-court press for Jenny to start writing that novel already!) I finally set up a “podcast” (it gets airquotes) for my Substa...

Thank you Sim Carter , Stephanie Hedrick , Abigail Nora Brennan , and many others for tuning into my live video with CeCe Lyra of The S**t About Writing Team ! You can watch the replay above. We chatted about social media strategy for new authors, how to make settings come alive, switching genres, getting the most out of a writers’ retreat, differentiating characters’ voices, and more. (And my mom...