Literaticast

I sit down with Lisa Cron, the author of STORY GENIUS and WIRED FOR STORY - she is chock full of advice to make your next novel truly unputdownable. Also, I get a couple of words in edgewise, and tal…

I'm getting ready to head to Seattle for ALA Midwinter. So what even IS that? In this episode, I speak to Jenny Choy, the Associate Director for School-Library Marketing for Abrams Books for Young Re…

I chat with four awesome booksellers about their top children's and YA book picks for holiday gift giving (and my own picks, too!) -- some you've probably heard of, but others likely be new to you, a…

Martha Brockenbrough returns to discuss her latest book of YA Nonfiction, UNPRESIDENTED, a biography/documentary about the life and times of Donald Trump. We also talk about how you can decide when a…

Editorial consultant Emma D. Dryden has a storied career in children's publishing. She sat down with me to talk about revision, as well as the difference between working for a publisher and editing u…

Guest agent Kelly Sonnack joins me to talk about best practices, agent-wise... and WTH are some bad agents even DOING? Also we answer listener questions, talk about query management, vent on the topi…

Guest author Lesa Cline-Ransome gets into it about writing nonfiction (particularly biographical) picture books. Like, how does she choose subjects? How does she decide HOW to tell the story, do rese…

Author Debbi Michiko Florence joins us to chat about her winding path to publication, and her awesome chapter book series, JASMINE TOGUCHI, the fourth book of which has just been released. I talk abo…

Award-winning author-illustrator Dan Santat joins me to discuss time management, illustrating vs authoring, portfolio-making, the World Cup, killers for hire (again! it's a theme!), and so much more.…

I give some recommendations for my favorite books for writers. Then my guest, middle grade novelist and English professor Erin Dionne, chats with me about revision tips and tricks, plotting vs pantsi…

I'm joined by Suzanna Hermans, from Oblong Books & Music in New York's Hudson Valley. She talks about how she curates the selection at Oblong -- what prompts an "auto-buy" from her -- and when books …

It's a jam-packed double episode featuring two authors whose YA books are polar opposites... except for the fact that they are both TERRIFIC... and they both have the same release date! Amy Spalding …

Every year in Spring, children's agents descend on a small city in Italy for the largest international children's-only book fair in the world. But it's not all gelato-nomming and prosecco-swilling! I…

YA author Saundra Mitchell joins me to chat about her new anthology, ALL OUT: THE NO-LONGER SECRET STORIES OF QUEER TEENS THROUGHOUT THE AGES. ALL OUT is stuffed chock-full of genre-spanning queer hi…

Brilliant and opinionated Lisa von Drasek joins me to talk about Kerlan Collection, the Caldecott and Newbery Awards, and much more. Lisa tries not to get roped into my shenanigans of wildly speculat…

Superagent Molly Ker Hawn, head of the U.K. office of The Bent Agency, joins me for a proper chinwag about the U.K. vs U.S. book market. Along the way, we answer some listener questions, including: W…

I spoke to four amazing children's booksellers across the country and got their top picks for holiday giving. Obviously this is for AFTER you've already bought all my client's books ;-)  I hope you f…

I sit down with editor Kendra Levin, who is also a life-coach for writers, to talk NaNoWriMo, among other things. She uses the Hero's Journey as not just a craft tool, but a process tool, and gives u…

I chat with Scholastic/Graphix editor Cassandra Pelham Fulton about how graphic novels are created from the editorial POV... and then with creator Nilah Magruder about her road to comics success. It'…

This week's show is jammed full of goodies. I explore the topic of Authenticity, then talk with guest author and self-marketing guru Jess Keating about Platform Development (what even IS that?!?), so…