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88 Cups of Tea

Love all things upbeat, warm, and uplifting? Welcome to 88 Cups of Tea, an online platform and podcast for creative writers who look for guidance in their storytelling journey and connection to a community, fostering year-round conversations around the personal and professional life of a writer. Our podcast episodes and online essays and articles explore and unpack conversations that touch on topics like overcoming rejections and challenges, querying tips and crafting advice, lifestyle habits that support the heart and the soul, what it means to be Human while navigating a creative path, and more. We pride ourselves in nurturing a supportive environment that aims to encourage, inspire, and entertain. Check out our website 88cupsoftea.com for essays, articles, and access to nearly 200 podcast episodes!
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Now displaying: May, 2019
May 30, 2019

Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!

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Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your WIP, share your wins and join in on 88 Cups of Tea related discussions! You can really feel the love and support in our Facebook 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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For today’s new episode, we’ve partnered with Four Sigmatic. Four Sigmatic is a superfood company whose mission is to take over the world with their delicious coffees, teas, and cacaos that are all made with functional mushrooms and adaptogens.

Head over to foursigmatic.com/88cupsoftea to learn more and get 15% off your order. Thank you to our listeners for supporting a brand we love and a brand that believes in the work that we do here at 88 Cups of Tea. A special thank you to our sponsors and collaborators who help keep our show running!

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Curious to know how novels are adapted for TV and film? Or what book packaging is and how it fits into the publishing process? How about best practices for creative collaboration? We dive into it and more with Sona Charaipotra!

Sona is the author of her upcoming solo debut, Symptoms of a Heartbreakand the co-author of Tiny Pretty Things and Shiny Broken Pieces. In addition to writing novels, Sona also worked as a celebrity reporter and editor at People and TeenPeople magazine and contributed to publications like the New York Times and TeenVogue. She’s also the co-founder of CAKE Literary, a boutique book packaging company.

In our conversation, she shares how she came to be a storyteller through screenwriting and fiction writing. We dive into how she adapts novels for film and TV along with a peek into her screenwriting process. She shares her thoughts on how our streaming culture creates space for YA and diverse content to thrive and reach wider audiences. We unpack CAKE Literary, from discussing what book packaging is and where it fits into the publishing process, to digging deep into CAKE’s mission on creating organic diversity through high-concept reads. Further into our conversation, we talk about best practices for listeners interested in co-authoring and seeking writing partners. Sona also gives us a snapshot of her highly anticipated novel Symptoms of a Heartbreakand shares her best tips on overcoming writer’s block!

Say 'Hi' to Sona Charaipotra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sona_c

Head over to Sona's shownotes page at https://88cupsoftea.com/podcast/sona-charaipotra/ to download a writing prompt she created just for 88 Cups of Tea listeners! You’ll also find all the resources and books mentioned in her episode, tweetable quotes, and the timestamps of highlights throughout the entire conversation. 

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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!

May 16, 2019

Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!

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Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your WIP, share your wins and join in on 88 Cups of Tea related discussions! You can really feel the love and support in our Facebook 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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For today’s new episode, we’ve partnered with Four Sigmatic. Four Sigmatic is a superfood company whose mission is to take over the world with their delicious coffees, teas, and cacaos that are all made with functional mushrooms and adaptogens.

Head over to foursigmatic.com/88cupsoftea to learn more and get 15% off your order. Thank you to our listeners for supporting a brand we love and a brand that believes in the work that we do here at 88 Cups of Tea. A special thank you to our sponsors and collaborators who help keep our show running!

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a literary agent? Or how a literary agent sells a manuscript? How about tips on improving your query letter? We discuss these topics and much more with Thao Le!

Thao is a literary agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She represents Children’s books and Young Adult across many genres, and in the adult realm represents romantic leaning Fantasy and Light Science Fiction. Thao’s clients include NYT bestselling fantasy author Roshani Chokshi, NYT bestselling contemporary Young Adult author Sandhya Menon, Indie bestselling picture book author-illustrator Jessie Sima, and many more.

In our conversation, we dive deep into how Thao found her passion for stories and the steps she took to become a literary agent. We discuss how she learned to sell manuscripts, we walk through different kinds of book deals, get into details like what sub rights are in contracts, and shine some light on the financial side of being a literary agent. We talk about commercial hooks in query letters and her experience as a marginalized literary agent and a champion for representation. And Thao unpacks some of her favorite query letters and why they stood out to her. (P.S. You can download these query letters on her shownotes page!) 

Special note about this episode: A lot has changed from the time of the original interview back in January to the time of the release of Thao's podcast episode in May. As of March this year, Thao has changed to full-time agenting and no longer handles royalties for the agency. Everything in Thao's episode is accurate for when our interview took place. ENJOY!

Say 'Hi' to Thao Le on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThaoLe8

Head over to Thao’s shownotes page at 88cupsoftea.com/podcast/thao-le to download three of Thao’s favorite query letters that caught her eye! You’ll also find all the resources and books mentioned in her episode, tweetable quotes, and the timestamps of highlights throughout the entire conversation!

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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!

May 2, 2019

Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!

---------------------------------------

Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your WIP, share your wins and join in on 88 Cups of Tea related discussions! You can really feel the love and support in our Facebook community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group!

---------------------------------------

For today’s new episode, we’ve partnered with Four Sigmatic. Four Sigmatic is a superfood company whose mission is to take over the world with their delicious coffees, teas, and cacaos that are all made with functional mushrooms and adaptogens.

Head over to foursigmatic.com/88cupsoftea to learn more and get 15% off your order!

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Curious to know what goes into building vibrant worlds? How about crafting bold characters? Or where to find inspiration for your stories by combing through your day-to-day? We discuss these topics in detail and explore even more with Naomi Novik!

Naomi is the Nebula-award winning author known for her novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver and her Temeraire Series. She is also a founder of the Organization for Transformative Works and the Archive of Our Own website. 

In our conversation, she shares her love for the Fandom Community and how it helped her discover her passion for technology and writing. We dive deep into how she weaves together computer programing and storytelling to create her art, how she tackles her writing process to help her worlds come alive, and she gives us an inside look into her research process for historical fiction. She also shares her invaluable 3 cardinal rules for writing to help you improve your craft. And at the very end of our conversation, she chats about the exciting project she’s currently working on!

Say 'Hi' to Naomi Novik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naominovik

To access Naomi's shownotes page to find all the resources and books mentioned in her episode, shareable quotes, and the timestamps of highlights throughout the entire conversation go to  https://88cupsoftea.com/podcast/naomi-novik/ 

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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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