https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea
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Stephanie is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of "Caraval" and "Legendary" that just released this week! Her debut novel, Caraval, has been translated into over 30 languages, and the film rights for it have been optioned by 20th Century Fox.
I can’t get enough of soul-filling conversations and this chat with Stephanie fulfilled that need to a tee (or shall I say, tea?)
This episode is longer than most and I promise you it’s worth every minute.
Say 'Hi' to Stephanie on Twitter and be sure to head over to her shownotes page. It's PACKED with highlights of the topics that are covered from her episode along with time stamps. We also put up our favorite quotes and a list of all the helpful books and resources that she mentions throughout our conversation. Click here!
Xo,
Yin
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If you got some awesome takeaways from this episode and would love to show your appreciation, the best way would be through any of the following:
• Help sustain 88 Cups of Tea by making a monthly gift in any amount through our ‘tokens of love’ page
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We dedicate a ton of heart and soul into fostering a space that encourages learning, creativity, growth, and community. The most sincerest thank you for your love and support!
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Have you checked out our archive of episodes by yet?
https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea
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He’s an author, blogger, podcaster, and literary agent for P.S. Literary. As an author, his first humor book, The Geek's Guide to Dating, was an Amazon 2013 Best Book of the Year selection in Humor, as well as a Best of the Year pick by PopSugar and Wired's GeekDad. He’s also the author of the young adult novels “Inked” and its sequel “Branded”. Eric’s newest Young Adult novel “The Girl and the Grove” was just released this month.
You know I love picking our guests' brains, and I give Eric a million and one brownie points for being so transparent, genuine, and generous during our conversation.
Say 'Hi' to Eric on Twitter and be sure to head over to his shownotes page. There's a downloadable PDF featuring a query letter guide where I compiled notes, transcriptions of examples, and quotes to help ease your querying process. Be sure to download the guide by heading over to his shownotes page and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Click here!
Get ready to dive into the nitty-gritty and happy listening!
Xo,
Yin
PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word!
---
If you got some awesome takeaways from this episode and would love to show your appreciation, the best way would be through any of the following:
• Grab our story idea prompts
• Sign up to receive email updates about 88 Cups of Tea
• Subscribe to us on iTunes and leave a rating and a review
• Tell your friends about our podcast and why you believe it would benefit them
We dedicate a ton of heart and soul into fostering a space that encourages learning, creativity, growth, and community. The most sincerest thank you for your love and support!
---
Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group!
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Have you checked out our archive of episodes by yet?
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“The way you promote yourself is the way you promote other people.”
-Eric Smith
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea
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Jenny founded The Bent Agency nearly 10 years ago and it has now grown into having nine agents with a strong focus on international rights and has offices in New York City and London. Her agency works with each author to map the publishing career of their dreams and make it a reality. They pay careful attention to details, from the terms of a first contract, editorial work and cover design, to the publisher’s marketing and publicity plan, royalties and sales figures. The Bent Agency prides themselves on nurturing and discovering authors who they can help propel to the top of their category. They’ve even earned a reputation where they’re known for their work ethic, their responsiveness, the quality of their client list and the results they achieve.
In this episode, we discuss the early days of Jenny’s career and the path that unfolded to become a founder of her own company. She walks us through her role as a literary agent and touch briefly on film/tv and foreign rights deals and how understanding your co-agent’s tastes in what they’re seeking plays an important role.
Further into the conversation, we have a very inspiring discussion about how Jenny faced moments of paralysis during the lowest points in her life and how she moved past it by gritting her way through. We get into a lot of really insightful and helpful listener questions and you’ll discover what tends to spark Jenny’s interest and what she’d love to see more of from submissions, the voices that are most under-represented in the YA community and the key changes that need to be made. Towards the end of the episode, we flesh out Jenny’s thoughts about authors’ social media presence, and she shares when she will be re-opening to queries and what she is hoping to see more of.
Say 'Hi' to Jenny on Twitter! Head over to her shownotes page by clicking here.
Happy listening!
Xo,
Yin
PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word!
---
If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!
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Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group!
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Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
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“Sometimes it’s just as important to say no to an opportunity as it is to say yes.”
-Jenny Bent (Click to tweet!)
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea
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In today’s episode, we’re featuring our conversation with Victoria Aveyard from the archives! During the time of the original release back in January 2016, Victoria just celebrated her 21st week on the New York Times list for “Red Queen”, the first book in her series. Movie rights for the series were also sold to Universal Pictures with Gennifer Hutchison (from "Breaking Bad") penning the film adaptation and Elizabeth Banks in talks to direct. According to The Hollywood Reporter, RED QUEEN is similar to HUNGER GAMES, GAME OF THRONES, X-MEN, and CINDERELLA.
Since the time of her episode release back in 2016, Victoria has now published three #1 New York Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling books, and two New York Times bestselling novellas. The Red Queen series is currently being translated into 37 languages and counting, and the fourth and final book to conclude her beloved series, “War Storm”, is releasing next week on May 15!
In the archived episode, we discuss story ideas and character development, how Victoria got her foot in the door with her literary agency, the ups and downs throughout her writing career, the publishing community, the importance of family, and a lot more incredibly inspiring stories and advice.
I specifically pulled this conversation from the archives because a lot of our listeners have shared that they’ve been struggling with getting through their first draft and are held back by the idea of "perfection". If you’re struggling with this too, be sure to pay special attention to Victoria’s episode. You’ll learn so much and my hope is for you to feel just as refreshed, inspired, and motivated as I did after our interview!
Say 'Hi' to Victoria on Twitter! Head over to her shownotes page by clicking here.
Happy listening!
Xo,
Yin
PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word!
---
If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!
---
Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group!
---
Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
---
“Finish. Finishing is the most important thing no matter what you have to do.”
-Victoria Aveyard (Click to tweet)
“I must be writing, in some way, shape, or form, to be happy.”
-Victoria Aveyard (Click to tweet)
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
Nikki Grimes is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of dozens of children’s and young adult books as well as a poet and journalist. Throughout her prolific career, Nikki has highlighted stories and characters from communities that have been largely underrepresented in young people’s literature. Her latest novel, "Between The Lines", is the thought-provoking follow-up to her critically acclaimed "Bronx Masquerade", where readers follow the lives of a group of classmates that School Library Journal calls “a perfect blend of the many facets of American teens’ lives.” It also shows the capacity poetry has to express ideas and feelings, and connect us with ourselves and others.
Nikki received the Coretta Scott King Award for "Bronx Masquerade", and has also received four Coretta Scott King Honors. In 2017, she was awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. She has written more than fifty books, including "The Road to Paris", "Jazmin’s Notebook", the "Dyamonde Daniel" series, and the New York Times bestseller "Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope".
In Nikki’s episode, we discuss how writing first became Nikki’s survival tool and coping strategy as a way to express herself during her younger years in and out of foster homes and we get a glimpse into her younger years.
Further into the conversation, Nikki brings us behind the scenes into the inspiration behind “Bronx Masquerade” and “Between The Lines”, and how she is a very character-driven writer. Storytellers, this episode is such a special treat especially for our craft-focused writers who could use some inspiration and advice for creating compelling characters. We dive deep into Nikki’s writing process and even deeper into the way she creates characters. From how she organizes the differences between all of her characters to why it’s important to instill hope in them.
We also kick off the conversation talking all about traveling as y’all know I love my travels, and we wrap up the episode with advice from Nikki about coping with cutting large chunks out of our drafts during the revision process.
Say 'Hi' to Nikki on Twitter! Head over to her shownotes page by clicking here.
Happy listening!
Xo,
Yin
PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word!
---
If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!
---
Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group!
---
Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
---
“When I had things on my heart or on my mind that I needed to get out, the way I got them out was to write.”
-Nikki Grimes (Click to tweet!)
“There’s always a deep, emotional connection for me with each of my books because, for me, the most important thing about writing is making an emotional connection with my reader and in order for them to go there, I have to go there first.”
-Nikki Grimes (Click to tweet!)
"I had fun pairing various characters to explore one another’s stories because I think you really can’t come in as an adult and tell kids what to think. Really, the stories and the truths have to be revealed from their perspective.”
-Nikki Grimes (Click to tweet!)
“Everything has a place. Nothing is ever, ever, ever really wasted. Even if you don’t use a character or storyline again, you learn so much from the process of doing it that you then are able to apply to the next thing you write. So it’s never wasted.”
-Nikki Grimes (Click to tweet!)
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE: