The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

In today's Bonus Episode, CeCe chats with Sarah Cantin, Executive Editor at St. Martin's Publishing Group and the editor of the #BookswithHooksBC pick, The Ballerinas. They discuss what made Sarah fall in love with the submission for The Ballerinas;  what “pre-empt” means in an offer/deal; instantly knowing the genre vs pondering the straddling of two genres; the ratio of submissions vs offers; wh...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe each review two query letters. In the process, they discuss being specific with hooks and ensuring that you're labeling/branding novel genres correctly; how to create plot points that will make a novel more upmarket/pacey; how emotionality builds tension; the ways in which your author bio should relate to the plot/idea of your book; dealing with the tro...

In today’s Bonus Episode , Bianca chats with Jennifer Fawcett , author of Beneath the Stairs, about her publishing journey; positioning yourself in the market for editors—and why comps and knowing your genre are so important; writing a book that stays true to what you want to write, but is also marketable and satisfies the readers of that genre; and having the setting become character. After which...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe evaluate the same three query letters, discussing developing character while developing plot; leveraging the reveal in a way that ramps up stakes and tension; having appropriate stakes for the age group and genre; framing what’s happening around the main character(s); how we need disruption, imbalance and conflict in the MC’s life, especially in the ope...

In today's Bonus Episode, Bianca chats with Alisha Sevigny , author of The Oracle of Avaris, about the difference between MG and Upper MG; the importance of reading in the genre you want to write in; guarding against talking down to kids or teaching a lesson; taboo subjects for MG and how to approach writing difficult topics. After which, Bianca chats with TJ Alexander , author of Chef's Kiss, abo...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe are joined by Kim and Jessica who submitted their queries for critique. They discuss how to elevate a query so that it matches the quality of the pages, reminding us that the goal of the query letter is to get an agent to read those pages; how to lean into specificity to elevate a query; toeing the line between giving away too much and too little in you...

In today’s BONUS EPISODE, Bianca chats with Matt Bell , author of Refuse to be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts, about how teaching has helped them become better writers; revising in layers versus all at once; how there's not just one way to write or revise a novel; revision tools for if you don't have beta readers; and the responsibility of being a creative writing instructo...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe evaluate two submissions each and discuss not feeding the reader all the information right up front; how the reader should be the co-pilot; that understanding how much you should reveal is a complicated  dance; not starting with a child's POV when it’s an adult novel; and having things happening in the first pages and not just setting the sceneAfter whi...

In today's jam-packed Bonus Episode, Bianca first chats with Grant Ginder ,  author of Let's Not Do That Again, about “unlikable” characters and what they might reveal about us as readers; the 5-Act structure; framing a scene to play with dramatic effect; and specificity in scenes according to what would be important for each particular character. After which, Bianca chats with Tracy Wolff , bests...

In today's Books with Hooks , Hannah and Beth join Carly and CeCe to discuss their submissions. During the chat, Carly and CeCe chat about the difference between ‘heart’ and ‘hook’; raising the stakes in your novel; a good way to describe a ‘quiet’ novel in a query; sharing anything that elevates your novel’s structure and style in your query; and how to deal with the issue of writing (or avoiding...

In today's Bonus Episode, Bianca chats with Lee Gowan , author of The Beautiful Place about taking twelve years to finish a novel; the process of figuring out when your novel is done; advice on how to find the right beginning; cannibalizing your writing; the importance of knowing where your novel is going, and how cutting things out can help you figure out key parts of your novel. After which, Bia...

In today’s special episode of Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe welcome author Rachel Kapelke-Dale and her agent Sarah Phair to offer feedback on three query letters from members of the Books with Hooks Book Club. During the chat, they address how withholding information at the start of a story can create tension, not starting a story with descriptions on the weather (and how that is like wearing...

In today's Bonus Episode, Bianca begins by chatting with Chloe Benjamin , bestselling author of The Immortalists, about handling the perfectionism-induced burnout after finishing The Immortalists, and the techniques she uses to pace herself; the romanticization of being an artist and struggling with mental health issues; the toxicity of grind culture;  and various ways for you to research and orga...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeC e kick it back old school and both discuss the same three submissions. During the chat, they address dialing back on the exposition in the opening pages; keeping it to two comps and not trying to tick off all the genre boxes; not starting a story with the protagonist imagining too much; matching descriptions of surroundings to what the character is feeli...

In today's BONUS EPISODE, Bianca first chats with Rosie Walsh , bestselling author of The Love of My Life, about when a story forces a plotter to become a pantser; figuring out how to work in backstory after the midpoint twist; pulling a manuscript apart and putting it back together multiple times; how the only way to learn how to write a book is writing one; knowing how to pitch your book despite...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca is joined by guest agent, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon from Westwood Creative Artists , who looks at four query letters.  Emmy warns against tokenism and avoiding vague comps that might oversell your work. They also discuss reputation clauses and their growing prevalence in contracts; why editors and agents are wary about debut novels over 100 000 words; how ‘quiet’ no...

In today's Bonus Episode, we spotlight two awesome indie authors and publishers. Bianca first chats with Maggie Smith , author of Truth and Other Lies, about using the same title as another book; being able to collaborate on the book cover with a smaller publisher; running your marketing campaign as an indie author; giving ARCs to early readers and how running a campaign on NetGalley to get review...

In today's Books with Hooks , Kelly and Paul join Carly and CeCe to discuss their submissions. During the segment, we discuss the difference between dual timelines and flashbacks; the importance of your ‘opener’ and what that is; the importance of striking a balance between interiority and external plot at the beginning; and the new initiative we have to help you with your comps! After which, Bian...

In today's Bonus Episode, Bianca chats with Jesse Thistle , author of the bestselling and award-winning memoir, From the Ashes, about the difference between memoir and biography; thinking about what you want the ‘message’ of your memoir to be; speaking to universal elements of your memoir; the emotional/psychological effects of writing memoir about traumatic events; and Jesse's advice to memoirist...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe tackle two queries each. In the process, they discuss how you have less time to get to the inciting incident in a YA novel; being mindful of ‘telling’ that doesn’t move the storyline forward or is irrelevant; why too much interiority isn’t good in a query letter and how to replace interiority with plot; avoiding redundancies and repetition in your query...

In today's BONUS EPISODE, we do a deep dive into the romance genre. Bianca first chats with Farah Heron , author of Accidentally Engaged and Tahira in Bloom, about the sub-genres of romance; how romance is defined; the difference between romance and women’s fiction; The Bridgerton Effect; structure and plotting for romance; and tropes in the romance genre. After which, Bianca chats with publishing...

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by Mire and Katy who have submitted their work for critique. They discuss not losing the plot in a quest for being true to the emotionality of the story; making sure that one character isn’t just a vessel for the other in a dual POV story; toeing the line between making the reader curious and leaving them frustrated; making sure that if you fo...

In today’s BONUS Episode, Bianca chats with three awesome authors writing multi-POV stories across various genres. First up is Kim Fay , author of Love & Saffron, who talks about how being a bookseller influenced her writing; how writing is a craft and every sentence matters; letting the words flow when the magic happens; and including a piece of yourself in the story you want to tell. Next is...

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe kick it back old-school to review the same three query letters. During the segment, they discuss avoiding flowery language, especially in a query; avoiding "reviewing" your own work and letting the pages show what kind of work it is; pitching your story rather than your writing; making sure you have the right category/genre, so that the right people read...

In today's BONUS Episode, Carly chats with Andrea Dunlop , author of We Came Here To Forget, about comps and why they’re so important; what it feels like to be out on submission; writers not getting what they need in terms of knowing how to market themselves and their books; a day in the life of; and NaNoWriMo goals. After which, Bianca chats with Nick Petrie , author of The Peter Ash Series, abou...