88 Cups of Tea

Woohoo! We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS over in our Patreon membership! Support us on Patreon at the $8.88 tier to enjoy the interviews BEFORE the official air-date and you'll also receive all the additional fun perks in that tier!

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

--- Are you curious about human stories that resonate deeply? Ever wonder how a producer develops stories to pitch for networks? How about pitch meetings and how to conduct them? We get into all of it and so much more with today's guest Adrien Finkel.

Adrien is a photographer, writer, and producer of television. In today's episode, we dive into the origin story of My Naked Truth, a visual catalog of quotes, personal confessions, and advice shared with Adrien by friends and strangers. She shares an intimate story of one of her photo subjects that deeply resonated with her during the process of making her book. We also discuss Adrien's career as a producer for Funny or Die and what her day-to-day looks like. We also touch on pitch meetings and how to best prepare, along with the common qualities that make writers stand out during meetings and pitches. This is an absolute must-listen for Storytellers who are curious about human stories and the television world.

Say 'Hi' to Adrien on Instagram @mynakedtruthproject

Check out Adrien's STUNNING and delicious baked good on Instagram @IamSweetAF

To access her shownotes page, head over to 88CUPSOFTEA.COM/PODCAST/ADRIEN-FINKEL!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Are you curious the kind of work that goes into starting a literary agency? Wondering how Holly strategizes career planning with her authors? Want to know what happens when a client's book doesn't sell? We get into all of it and so much more with today's guest Holly Root.

Holly has launched over two dozen New York Times bestsellers before founding Root Literary in 2017 where she represents authors of fiction for adults, teens, and children, along with select nonfiction.

In today's episode, Holly walks us through how she first fell in love with the world of storytelling, what she studied in school, and how her path led her to become one of the most successful literary agents today. We deep-dive into the origin story of how she first started Root Literary agency. We touch on what Root Literary does for their clients and how they embrace and encourage the business side of their author clients. This is an absolute must-listen for Storytellers looking out for their own careers and looking into agent representation.

Say 'Hi' to Holly on Twitter @HROOT!

Keep tabs on Root Literary on Twitter @ROOTLITERARY!

To access her shownotes page, head over to 88CUPSOFTEA.COM/PODCAST/HOLLY-ROOT!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Are you curious about writing a memoir? Are you having trouble finding and refining your writing voice? How important are writing classes and workshops to your professional writing career? We get into all of that and more with today's guests, hosts and producers of Writing Class Radio, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer.

In today's episode, we dive right into the importance of focusing on one genre at a time instead of jumping genres, developing your writing voice by practicing and being authentic in telling the truth, and refining your voice by modeling your writing after "the greats". We learn how their podcast came to fruition and get a close look at their partnership and the things they've had to learn together to get to where they are today. We discuss even more so be sure to listen in on this episode!

Say 'Hi' to Writing Class Radio on Twitter!

To access their shownotes page, click here!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

Shannon Gibney is the author of "See No Color", drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, which won the Minnesota Book Award and was hailed by Kirkus as "an exceptionally accomplished debut" and by Publishers Weekly as "an unflinching look at the complexities of racial identity." In her latest novel, "Dream Country", she writes of the nightmarish spiral of death and exile connecting America and Africa, and of how one determined young dreamer tries to break free and gain control of her destiny.

Shannon's episode is deeply eye-opening and informative as we go into the details about writing her newest novel, from research to the challenges she faced, and we discuss transracial adoption along with her previous novel. We also touch on the editor and author relationship and how Shannon's dynamic with her editor flourishes her own writing. A must-listen for every storyteller.

Say 'Hi' to Shannon on Twitter!

To access Shannon's shownotes page, click here!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Are you wondering what the financial realities are for writers? Are you on the fence about MFA programs? Are you facing a creative block? Get ready for this motivating conversation featuring today's special guest Nova Ren Suma.

Today's new episode is proudly brought to you by Scrivener, a writing software that is regularly used by new writers and New York Times bestselling authors alike. Many of our own podcast guests and listeners are loyal fans of Scrivener. If you haven't tried them out yet, they're giving our Storytellers a special 20% discount by using the code '88CUPSOFTEA' at checkout, WOOHOO! You're supporting our show by grabbing yourself a copy to try Scrivener for yourself. Click here to grab it now and be sure to let me know what you think!

Nova is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us, which was an Edgar Award finalist. She also wrote Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone and is co-creator of FORESHADOW: A Serial YA Anthology. Her newest novel, "A Room Away from the Wolves" releases September 4th.

Nova's episode is motivating to the core, we discuss anything and everything from finances as an artist, relationships, writing through creative blocks, advice about applying for MFA programs, artist residencies, literary agents, and so much more.

Say 'Hi' to Nova on Twitter!

To access Nova's shownotes page, click here!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our brand new feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Are you struggling with the timeline of the publishing process? Are you curious about staying organized as a writer? How do you keep track of each character's storyline and remain consistent? Get ready for this motivating conversation featuring today's special guest Aisha Saeed.

Aisha is a New York Times bestselling author. She wrote WRITTEN IN THE STARS which was listed as a best book of 2015 by Bank Street Books and a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers. She is also the author of the middle-grade novel AMAL UNBOUND a Summer 2018 Indie Next Pick, An Amazon Best Book of the Month, has received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus and is a Global Read Aloud for 2018.

Aisha's experiences are hands-down motivating, from finding which literary agents to contact through a local bookshop, to switching her mindset to approach literary agents confidently, to finally hearing a "yes" after the 30th submission for publication, and so much more.

Say 'Hi' to Aisha on Twitter!

------ Make sure you don't miss out on our brand new feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it! Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

To access Aisha Saeed's shownotes page, click here!

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

------ Today's episode: How do you figure out your character's objective? How do you stay on top of your writing deadline using spreadsheets? How do you balance the plot demands of suspense with character development? What's the relationship like between an author and an editor? Get ready for this motivating conversation featuring today's special guest Gretchen McNeil.

Gretchen is the author of the YA horror/suspense novels POSSESS, 3:59, RELIC, GET EVEN, GET DIRTY, and TEN and her latest novel #MURDERTRENDING.

Gretchen shares all the advice and tips she's learned from her own experiences transitioning from a performing background into a writing career. Along with her technique of applying Stanislavski's acting tehcniques towards analyzing a writer's manuscript, she walks us through the details of finding the right literary agent and shares querying tips.

Please be sure to listen through ALL three announcements. Here are quick links from the announcements:

ANNOUNCEMENT 1: Click here to RSVP! Only RSVP if you are 100% able to make it!

ANNOUNCEMENT 2: For the email subject line, please write "Writer for 3-Year Anniversary Event"

ANNOUNCEMENT 3: If you'd love for your photo to be displayed at the event, send me an email with the subject line "88 Cups of Tea birthday polaroid" and send $2 to www.paypal.me/88cupsoftea to help with the cost of printing.

If you'd love for your message/note to be featured in the display, send me an email with the subject line "88 Cups of Tea birthday message".

What do you do after getting rejected over 300 times? Need all the advice on MFA writing programs? How do you stand out in the querying process? Get ready for this motivating conversation featuring today's special guest Rachel Heng.

Rachel is a Singaporean novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, Suicide Club: A Novel About Living, will be published next Tuesday, July 10th! An early congratulations and happy book birthday to Rachel!

Her fiction has received a Pushcart Prize Special Mention, Prairie Schooner's Jane Geske Award, and has been recommended by The Huffington Post, NYLON, Book Riot and The Independent recently featured Rachel in the article titled 'The Emerging Authors To Look Out For in 2018'.

Rachel does not hold back on all the advice and tips she's learned from her own experiences with rejection and getting into an MFA, and she's so generous to pass on all her wisdom including some seriously incredible querying advice. Do. Not. Miss. This.

Say 'Hi' to Rachel on Twitter!

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I have a small favor to ask. I would love it if you would help our show with a financial gift. When you contribute a financial gift, this also helps our whole community of storytellers. If you'd love to make a special donation to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider any of the following:

• Help sustain 88 Cups of Tea by making a monthly gift in any amount through our 'tokens of love' page
• A one-time contribution by clicking here
• Pick up our carefully crafted writing prompts with your gift of $10 or more

We dedicate a ton of heart and soul into fostering a space that encourages learning, creativity, growth, and community. You'll also get a birthday shoutout in the episode that releases during your birthday week, so be sure to let me know your birth date! The most sincerest thank you in advance for listening and contributing!

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Have you checked out our archive of episodes by yet?

If you'd love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Finally, we're releasing the full, non-edited 3 hour long conversation with V.E. Schwab. This bonus episode is proudly brought to you by Fab Fit Fun! (Be sure to use the promo code 'TEA' for $10 off your first box)

Say 'Hi' to V.E. Schwab on Twitter!

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Have you checked out our archive of episodes by yet?