In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique an upmarket/southern-gothic query and a book club romance. They discuss a "perfect" first query paragraph; the importance of accurate framing in a query; when a content warning is necessary; tips for elevating your line level writing along with examples of sophisticated writing; writing protagonists' thoughts in a realistic way; mistakes writers make that make their writing appear less polished; and examples of how to build curiosity into your pages. After which, Bianca interviews Elba Iris Pérez, debut author of The Things We Didn't Know. They discuss Elba's winning of the Simon and Schuster "Books Like Us" award and Elba's subsequent journey to publication; the benefit of taking writing courses; writing magazines as good resources for finding contests; immersing readers in scenes that are unfamiliar to them; and writing children in first person in a convincing manner. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/  https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Elba can be found at: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Elba-Iris-Perez/195715113 She's also on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/elbaip?lang=en

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How Writing Contests Can Help Launch Your Career

This is a podcast for emerging writers who want to improve the quality of their work and learn more about the publishing industry. Your one host, Bianca Marais (the bestselling author of &#39;The Witches of Moonshyne Manor&#39;) interviews authors, agents, editors and just about anyone and everyone who&#39;s involved in bringing a book to market. She&#39;s joined by her cohosts, literary agents Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra from P.S. Literary Agency, who read and critique query letters as well as opening pages in their Books with Hooks segment.  Expect good advice, honest insights, and a few laughs along the way.

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In today’s Book with Hooks, Carly and CeCe critique two listener queries, a resubmission and a YA fantasy. They discuss the issue of starting with a protagonist that has a 'simple, stable' life; a great example of an inciting incident; ensuring your major dramatic question is strong enough; good storytelling as the promise of change; making your protagonist the 'sun' of your story; infusing emotion into the information you provide; ensuring that your plot feels like a set of dominos tipping over; taglines in a query; differentiating your novel's tropes from how they're used in other novels in your genre; and making characters' motivations clear in a query.  After which, Bianca interviews award-winning author, Caroline Leavitt. They discuss A Mighty Blaze and its origins; being a good literary citizen; Caroline's key to longevity in the industry; not taking rejections too hard; avoiding writing to the current market; Caroline's latest novel, Days of Wonder; her research process; using universal personal experiences that help connect your readers to your characters; Caroline's reasoning for the settings she chose; how she approaches characterization; and her thoughts on genre.  Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.  Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Caroline can be found at www.carolineleavitt.com She's also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Leavittnovelist and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/carolineleavitt and https://www.instagram.com/amightyblaze  To sign up for the All About Memoir webinar on the 11th of May, go to: https://www.biancamarais.com/all-about-memoir.html Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook, is now available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15

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Caroline Leavitt’s Insights and Encouragement

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a children's picture book and a literary fiction query. They discuss avoiding vagueness, no matter the genre; using illustrator notes in a picture book pitch; the need for tension, even in a children's book; framing your novel in your query so agents aren't confused when they get to the pages; the need for external plot points, even in a more internal work of literary fiction; the natural gravitation of readers to one POV in a dual POV work; the subjectivity of the industry; the purpose of interiority; and erring on the side of showing, rather than telling, to maintain tension. After which, Bianca interviews Sara Koffi, author of the debut novel, While We Were Burning. They discuss Sara's letter to the reader; her reasoning behind the setting she chose; how Sara chose her characters' POVs and her inspiration behind the characters; writing an unreliable narrator; weaving in overarching themes or messages; advice for writing an unlikeable main character; advice on writing characters experiencing grief; Sara's journey to publication; and avoiding comparing yourself to others. Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Sara can be found at https://www.sarakoffi.com/ She's also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SaraTheKoffi and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sarathekoffi To sign up for the All About Memoir webinar on the 11th of May, go to: https://www.biancamarais.com/all-about-memoir.html Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook, is now available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15

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Figuring Out What Genre You Should Be Writing In

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest agent, Jo Ramsay, to critique two queries. They discuss the issue of withholding too much plot in a query; highlighting the stakes in your query; the importance of first lines in a novel; the need for psychological depth and acuity in your characters; the issue of comping to titles that are hugely successful; the risk of having too many POVs in a novel; avoiding too much backstory in your query; and the problems with a reader being too removed from a scene, even if it's done intentionally. After which, guest interviewer, Bronwen Keyes-Bevan from BoolaBos magazine interviews author and winner of the Bridport Prize for literary fiction, Fiona Williams. They discuss Fiona's debut novel, The House of Broken Bricks; her background in biological sciences and her shift to creative writing; the expert use of figurative language; how Fiona tackled writing four different points of view, and her reasoning for choosing certain perspectives for certain characters; writing from children's POVs; and Fiona's feelings around the potential of being conflated with some of her characters. Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.  Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting Fiona is on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/feewilliams75  and Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/fionawilliamswrites/ Bronwen can be found at www.boolabos.com and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/boola.bos/ and at https://www.instagram.com/bronwenkeyesbevan Jo can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thejoramsay/ Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook, is now available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15 To sign up for the All About Memoir webinar on the 11th of May, go to: https://www.biancamarais.com/all-about-memoir.html

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Choosing the Best POVs for a Multi-POV Novel

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss choosing a unique title for your work; having a strong plot connection between your main characters in a multi POV novel; avoiding situations where the agent has to make too many assumptions in a query; choosing between italics and dialogue tags when having a character talk to themselves; balancing interiority so as not to leak tension; framing your story in a way that is accurate to your work; connecting external stakes to plot points; centering the reader in a memoir query; and CeCe's tension song! Bianca then interviews NYT bestselling author, Mary Kubica, about her latest novel, She's Not Sorry. The two discuss the thriller genre; readers’ fascination with the domestic suspense genre; how Mary approaches structure and the creation of tension; how personal universal elements can connect readers to characters; tackling the 50% chunk of Act II; writing an 'authentic' twist that doesn't make the reader feel manipulated; strategies for hiding clues in plain sight; and advice for thriller and domestic suspense writers. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Mary can be found at: https://marykubica.com/ She's also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marykubica/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MaryKubica Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook, is now available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15 To book for CeCe's upcoming Writing Tension Webinar on the 11th of April, go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_B9m5eRJIT_uxiVrUte381g#/registration Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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Insights from Mary Kubica

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss keeping your author bio paragraph concise; the need for causality in a plot paragraph; paying attention to the language you use in a query so you don't create confusion surrounding the book's premise; knowing who your protagonist is and highlighting their interiority and inner life over other characters'; the stakes in rom-coms; centering your protagonist's experience; making plot details realistic so your readers are on board with them; avoiding pages that seem crafted for the reader; and the 'blank canvas protagonist' issue.  After which, Carly interviews award-winning journalist and bestselling author, Jo Piazza. They discuss Jo's upcoming novel, The Sicilian Inheritance; how she decided on a dual POV/dual timeline structure; whether Jo is a plotter or a pantser, and how she approaches her first draft; mirroring current themes in historical fiction; what a 'book club' book is; weaving elements of personal life into her work; how Jo views herself as a creator; the idea of letting fiction lead the way; the process of film and TV adaptations; and Jo's advice for emerging writers.  Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Jo can be found at https://www.jopiazza.com/ She's also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jopiazzaauthor and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jopiazza

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How Writing Contests Can Help Launch Your Career

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