Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
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Ever wondered how to create a successful querying process? Or ways to cope with rejection as a writer? How about tips for nurturing a strong relationship with a literary agent? We talk about it all and so much more with Rachel Hawkins.
Rachel is the author of Rebel Belle, the New York Times bestselling series Hex Hall, Prince Charming, and its sequel and Rachel’s newest book, Her Royal Highness.
In our conversation, Rachel shares how she fell in love with storytelling and her journey to becoming an author. She dives into her querying process and discusses key advice on how to cope with rejection. We talk about finding the right agent for you and your story and how to maintain a great agent to author relationship, how to work with your editor to strengthen your plot, and the game-changing writing advice to help you achieve your writing goals. She also gives us a snapshot of her newest book Her Royal Highness and shares the inspiration behind it.
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If you enjoyed this episode and would love to support our show, Patreon is the best way! Patrons at certain tiers get early access to our full, uncut interview with Rachel Hawkins and early access to author Madeline Miller's episode this month along with a collection of fantastic extended interviews from previous podcast episodes! If you’re not yet a Patron and you’d love early access to these interviews in addition to other cool benefits (snailmail, Storyteller Welcome Box, livestream hangouts with bookhaul and mystery box giveaways, etc.) head on over to patreon.com/88cupsoftea to sign up!
Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
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Gotham Writers teaches creative writing classes online and in NYC where they’ve built an incredible reputation for nearly 30 years and guess what? Their first-ever Gotham Writers conference is dedicated to arming you with all the knowledge and actionable feedback to best help you land a literary agent. This is a one-of-a-kind experience that puts like-minded people who are at the stage of finding an agent in an intimate and productive setting. And to top it off, there’s free happy hour!
The conference takes place at the Ace Hotel in NYC on Friday, October 25th and Saturday, October 26th. On Day 1, you get to learn from eye-opening and entertaining panels and presentations. And Day 2, get ready to roll up your sleeves at their pitching roundtables. We especially love this because the writers attending Day 2 all have to apply and be pre-selected to attend. Click here to learn more and be sure to grab your spot!
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JL is a literary agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. A born and bred New Yorker, JL has lived in Manhattan her whole life and is a lover of all things art & culture, people watching, and Donut Pub doughnuts. She is looking for voices that reflect the world as it changes, stories that share the human experience of life, love, growth, and achievement. And they don’t have to all be serious–having fun is important to her! She is adding to her non-fiction list in both YA and adult categories with smart pop-culture, comedy/satire, fashion, health & wellness, self-help, and memoir. She’s also growing her fiction list (a bit more selectively) and is looking for adult and some YA coming-of-age, humor, dark and edgy stories, and new and original voices in commercial and upmarket. She also thinks graphic novels are really cool.
In our conversation, we dive into how JL fell in love with storytelling and the journey she took to making her literary agent career at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. come to fruition. We talk about being open to new opportunities and being vulnerable when asking for advice and help to break into your career. She then gives us an honest look into the finances of being an agent at all levels, how she knows which clients she wants to work with, and the importance of marketing yourself and making connections. She explains what “backlist” and “earning out the check” means in the publishing world and discusses the culture at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. And later, we talk about the classes she teaches at Gotham Writers and all about the upcoming Gotham Writers Conference.
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If you enjoyed this episode and would love to support our show, Patreon is the best way! Patrons at certain tiers get early access to extended interviews with Rachel Hawkins and New Leaf literary agent JL Stermer this month along with a collection of fantastic extended interviews from previous podcast episodes! If you’re not yet a Patron and you’d love early access to these interviews in addition to other cool benefits (snailmail, Storyteller Welcome Box, livestream hangouts with bookhaul and mystery box giveaways, etc.) head on over to patreon.com/88cupsoftea to sign up!
Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here!
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Vermont College of Fine Arts is a global community of artists continuously redefining what it means to be an arts college. They're accredited by the New England Commission on Higher Education and offers the Master of Fine Arts degree in a variety of fields, including Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults, and Writing & Publishing, along with an International MFA in Creative Writing & Literary Translation. With low-residency and fully residential options, VCFA has the graduate program to fit your needs. Be sure to learn more about VCFA by clicking here!
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Amy is the award-winning YA fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery author of The Lost Coast, Echo After Echo, The Brilliant Death, bestselling novel Once & Future co-written with her partner Cori McCarthy, her highly anticipated novel The Storm of Life (her sequel to The Brilliant Death), and more. She's also the co-founder of the Rainbow Writers Workshop, the first-ever workshop for YA and middle-grade LGBTQIAP writers.
In our conversation, Amy shares how she fell in love with storytelling and turned that passion into her writing career. She spills plot structure exercises that will help you see the bigger picture to move past roadblocks in your story. We dive into how a writing MFA helped Amy discover confidence in recognizing and trusting her writing voice, strengthen her revision process, and find a supportive writing community that’s very similar to the arts communities that she loves. Further into our conversation, we discuss the inspiration behind Amy's past novels and her writing process. She shares crafting advice on how to begin a story when you have too many ideas in your head. She gets into the nitty-gritty about writing a large cast of supportive characters and how to not distract the readers from the main story, shares incredible tips for aspiring queer writers, and explains her world-building method for developing complicated plots.
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If you enjoyed this episode and would love to support our show, Patreon is the best way! Patrons at certain tiers get early access to extended interviews with Rachel Hawkins and New Leaf literary agent JL Stermer this month along with a collection of fantastic extended interviews from previous podcast episodes! If you’re not yet a Patron and you’d love early access to these interviews in addition to other cool benefits (snailmail, Storyteller Welcome Box, livestream hangouts with bookhaul and mystery box giveaways, etc.) head on over to patreon.com/88cupsoftea to sign up!