Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. We love this creativity-packed episode with Melissa Vogan (née Melissa Warten), former editor at Macmillan, current editor at Epic For Kids. We discuss:*“Just enough” art notes – and how they’re useful for every genre*How you can guide the focus of your reader through sensory language*How to get to … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. You may remember Julia Alexandra from our episode in the fall when we went over three query versions with her (good, better, best): Well, she now has an agent! Ellen Goff (HG Literary) joins us with Julia to discuss balancing plot, character, and world–if your fantasy novel will … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. If you’ve ever had trouble with point of view in your work, wait until you hear the advanced logistical world author Nia Davenport had to navigate for her new novel, Out of Body, which she pitches as Freaky Friday meets Get Out. Not only does she have best … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Tennessee, 1960. One extraordinary team of women–and the first all-Black women’s track team–found glory at the Olympic games in Rome. Here in America, their success was “an impossible dream come true.” Now, author Aime Alley Card tells us her personal connection to the team, how she did her … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Join our interactive Says/Does Activity + view transcript here: manuscriptacademy.com/faculty-member…sara-schonfeld We discuss editing with love and patience, acquiring in the age of book bans (let’s just say Florida doesn’t get to choose what the rest of the country reads), how to make your book feel “fresh”–and why so many … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Sometimes publishing your novel takes an unexpected route. In today’s episode, Jessica and Julie speak with author JB Harris to discuss how she pivoted when agents told her the manuscript she’d been working on for 11 years would be hard to break out during COVID. We cover querying, … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. We’ve never seen a romantic comedy like this one! Happily Never After breaks ALL* the rom com rules, while still maintaining tension, interest, narrative arcs, and everything you need in a satisfying read. Learn the rules our favorite way—by watching Lynn breaks them, succeed, and tell you how … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. We are thrilled to welcome Emmy Nordstrom Higdon, agent at Westwood Creative Associates, to talk with us about the red and green flags when querying agents–how you can show (mostly) green flags, recognize agent red flags, and give yourself the best odds of a positive, productive working relationship. … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. Even our podcast editor describes author Karen Outen as “a breath of fresh air.” After twenty years of work, her book, Dixon Descending, features two brothers with a seemingly impossible goal: To be the first Black American men to summit Everest. We discuss how Karen learned to write … Read more
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. CONTENT WARNING: Mentions of abortion, grooming, assault. Annie Cardi’s new book, Red, is a very modern take on The Scarlet Letter. Today, Annie joins Jessica and Julie to discuss the importance of tough topics in YA novels, how to create “quiet” books that pack a punch, and writing advice … Read more