#AmWriting

Parkland author Dave Cullen on everything you ever wanted to know about pitching and writing a topical nonfiction book at top speed (and going broke doing it).
We talked to Dave Cullen, (https://www.davecullen.com/) about writing Parkland: Birth of a Movement (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062882943) , in ten months while he was 3 years overdue on his current book. 
"I'm just not gonna tell Gail," he said of his editor when he took the first assignment from Vanity Fair--but there was something going on with the Parkland students that grabbed him, and he--with the help of his agent, Betsy Lerner--grabbed it. 
"I just had to."
He describes the process of writing the book, how the length, plan and due dates evolved--and how he almost went broke doing it. 
#FaveIndieBookstore
Dave's #FaveIndieBookstore is Books & Books (https://booksandbooks.com/) in Miami Beach, FL. "It was the only store I specifically asked to visit on my tour."
#AmReading
A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin  (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250094735)
Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Letham (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375724831)
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Story expert Lisa Cron joins Jess and KJ to dig into the mechanics of a good book, including the difference between plot and story, and looking beyond “what happened” to “why did it happen”.
To talk to Lisa Cron is--unless you've already read Story Genius or Wired for Story--to possibly flip everything you thought you knew about story--fiction, nonfiction, short, long, whatever--onto its head.
Story, she points out, isn't plot. It isn't what happens, and then what happens next, and then what happens next. It's the why behind those happenings. It's not, well, a spaceship just landed on the green in front of the library, and I'll either a) rush towards it or b) head for my car.
It's WHY I do those things. It's not just what I do next, but what it is about me, now the main character in this rather stressful tale that may end with us all being the entrees on some giant interstellar menu, that makes me make the no doubt terrible choices that I make (good choices make bad books). And that's my backstory. Which brings me to one of the many, many quick-write-that-down moments in this episode. 
Backstory isn't backstory. It IS the story. It informs every line of every page, every decision, every "because of this, then that," right up until the end, when whatever screwed me up in the first place becomes something I can overcome in order to win the aliens over and persuade them that we're not tasty after all (before I fry them with my laser gun and it's alien nuggets for everyone, with a variety of dipping sauces).
Our guest, Lisa Cron, is the author of Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel* [*Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere] (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781607748892) and Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781607742456) . She also contributed to Author in Progress: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published. (https://writerunboxed.com/2016/06/09/author-in-progress/)
#AmReading
Jess sings the praises of The Lewis Trilogy (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781549174162) , Peter May
Lisa recommends Everything I Never Told You (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780143127550) , Celeste Ng
KJ is still finishing her favorite novel of this year so far, There's a Word for That (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316437165) , Sloane Tanen.
#FaveIndieBookstore
Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/) , Los Angeles
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Jess and KJ extemporize on the power of stickers - where the only thing that matters is getting into the work, and getting the words out. And some bonus advice to authors on what not to do.
Kj here, with a confession: I've been lying to myself
Letting myself off the hook. 
Not keeping my butt in the chair and my head in the game.
I mean, sure, I had lots of excuses. I've been traveling or doing intense farm stuff since April 12. That's almost a month with--count them--only two days of being entirely home without travel or a major, all-day farm commitment. So okay then. Some of those days I called it. I knew I wouldn't get anything done on my next book, and I didn't.
Some of those days I had a reasonable plan. Open the file. Stay with the work. That's all.
But SOME days... some days I futzed around. I kept moving the needle. I let myself quit because "I'm really not focusing" or "this isn't getting anywhere" and although I had time to do something, and plans to do something, I didn't manage to do anything.
So here's the thing about goals, and getting your daily (or 5 days a week, or 6 days a week) sticker: the achievement needs to be hard, but do-able. 
Something that will pull you alll the way in and ask something of you. Something that will measurably move the dial.
If your sticker goal doesn't demand that you say no to some things--no to lunch, maybe, or no to taking a walk on the nice day, or no to a child who wants but doesn't exactly NEED a ride somewhere--in order to say yes to the goal, then the goal isn't high enough. Because it's the saying no that makes you, as Steven Pressfield would say, a pro (https://stevenpressfield.com/2012/02/saying-no/) . It's the saying no that means you're saying yes to yourself as a serious person with work that needs to get done, whether there's anyone else waiting for that work or not.
You're waiting.
I'm waiting.
So this is my declaration of re-intent. My "sticker" for the next 30 days (at a minimum) is 1000 words. No shortcuts, no lowered goals. SOME DAYS I MIGHT NOT GET A STICKER--but there will be no participation awards. No A-for-effort. 
It's sticker or nothing around here, baby. And that's #WhySticker.
Other links in the episode: 
The Secret Library Podcast, episode 147 (https://www.secretlibrarypodcast.com/episodes/martine-fournier-watson-147) : Martine Fournier Watson
What happens when your editor asks you to change a major plot point?
The famed 2-tier outline process (https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting) at Author Accelerator.
#AmReading
Chasing Cosby (https://www.nicoleweisenseeegan.com/chasingcosby) , Nicole Weisensee Egan
The best novel KJ's read yet this year (drumroll please): 
There's a Word for That (https://sloanetanenauthor.com/books/theres-a-word-for-that/) , Sloane Tanen
#FaveIndieBookstore
Book People Austin, TX
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Podcasting from Mom 2.0 Conference with podcaster, journalist and author, Nicole Blades. She tells us about the pros and cons of skipping an agent, using rejection as fuel, and the joys of the writer community.
Nicole Blades (https://www.nicoleblades.com/) is a Podcaster (Hey, Sis! Podcast), (https://www.heysispodcast.com/) Author of Have You Met Nora?, (https://www.nicoleblades.com/have-you-met-nora) The Thunder Beneath Us, & (https://www.nicoleblades.com/the-thunder-beneath-us) Earth's Waters (https://www.nicoleblades.com/earths-waters) --and this is a glorious episode, recorded live and in person at Mom 2.0, in which we really capture the joy of writing, of finding your novel, of getting to do what we do. 
We also get into Tall Poppies, (https://tallpoppies.org/) the writer's sharing group (I'm not sure what to call it) started by Ann Garvin (https://tallpoppies.org/team/ann-garvin/) , which also includes the Bloom   (https://tallpoppies.org/bloom/)
website. I've been seeing this crew ALL OVER Insta this week, sharing each other's books like crazy, and I love it. It's a formalizing of the writer's community we all love and dream of and hopefully have (and we DO--it's called the #AmWriting Facebook group, and while we may not formalize the sharing of each other's work, we sure do do it). 
And I say, as I so often do, that one of my favorite things about being a writer is that it's so easy and wonderful to share and celebrate each other. Because for one thing, we're all in this because we love books and good writing. And for another, nobody who likes books ever just bought one book. 
Other links mentioned in the episode:
Steven Pressfield (https://stevenpressfield.com/books/)
BookPeople, Austin, TX (https://www.bookpeople.com/)
#AmReading
Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524798628)
The Accidentals, Sarina Bowen (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781942444626)
Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781501125652)
My Father's Stack of Books, Kathryn Schulz (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/25/my-fathers-stack-of-books)
Chase Darkness With Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, Billy Jensen (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781492685852)
The Other Americans, Laila Lalami (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524747145)
#FaveIndieBookstore
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.
 Nicole's #FaveIndieBookstore is Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, NY  (https://www.booksaremagic.net/) "Even though I now live in Connecticut, I still feel like I can own this bookstore. Because ... Books Are Magic"
Find out more about our guest, Nicole Blades, here (https://www.nicoleblades.com/) — and check out her latest book, Have You Met Nora? (https://www.nicoleblades.com/have-you-met-nora) here or at Libro.fm. (https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781501968747-have-you-met-nora)
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

It's hard enough to start a subscriber email. But what if--like freelance writer Lyz Lenz, who has two books coming out in the next twelve months--you asked your fans to pay for it? It's so crazy, it might just work.
Hello from the Mom 2.0 conference, where Jess and I just did a panel on Launching a Speaking Career. More on that in an upcoming episode--but meanwhile, this one's a real thought-provoker. Most of us struggle with what's a good use of our time in our writing careers. We've talked a lot about the value of an email subscriber list when it comes to selling books and sharing your work--but what if the email is your work, or becomes a way to share your work? 
Journalist Lyz Lenz (https://lyzlenz.com/) uses Substack (https://substack.com/) to share a largely subscriber-only email (https://lyz.substack.com) with a group of readers/fans whose financial support has helped to carry her through the ups and downs of a freelance career. 
Other links mentioned in the episode: 
Lyz Lenz's Contently (https://lyzlenz.contently.com/)
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, Roxane Gay (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062413512)
Ann Friedman's Newsletter (https://www.annfriedman.com/weekly)
#AmReading
Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781501125652)
Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, Dani Shapiro (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524732714)
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, Erik Larson (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307408877)
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, Mark Bowden (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780802144737)
The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation, Mark Bowden (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780802147301)
#FaveIndieBookstore
Lyz Lenz's fave is Next Page Books (http://npbnewbo.com/) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Bart knows all the local gossip and has always been a great supporter of my work." Find out more about our guest, Lyz Lenz, here (https://lyzlenz.com/) —and check out the first of the TWO books she's working on this year, God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss and Renewal in Middle America on IndieBound. (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780253041531)
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingfor details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template (the one KJ swears by).
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Uber-Coach Jennifer Louden on finding your "enough" and letting it power you forward.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Math storyteller [Steven Strogatz](http://www.stevenstrogatz.com/) makes both calculus and dictation seem approachable and fun. #notkidding

Jess, we learn, was told in an early math class not to give up her day job, and so she gave up on math—until she found [Steven Strogatz](http://www.stevenstrogatz.com/), whose writing puts a human, topical, understandable face on numbers from algebra to calculus, and glories in seeing “the math in everything”. If you’re the master of a topic that seems too narrow, academic or wonky for a larger audience, consider finding fresh ways into the subject—or “every way,” says Strogatz. If you can’t relate to one analogy, he’s ready with another, and it’s that willingness to try multiple ways to get his ideas across that’s made his work popular.

Strogatz is a teacher first, writer second (now you know why he and Jess bond)---and he uses dictation to find his way into a more natural voice in his writing in the simplest way possible: he holds his phone up to his mouth while he walks the dog and talks into his notes app, the one where you just press the little microphone button on the iPhone.

I’ve tried this (this is KJ) and it makes me crazy, because I struggle not to watch the words come out and correct them. For Strogatz, though, the opposite is true. “It helps me get around my OCD tendencies,” he says. “If I’m writing on a keyboard and see the words, my immediate instinct is to start deleting them.”

#AmReading

[Educated, Tara Westover](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780399590504)

[The Tangled Tree, David Quammen](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781476776620) 

[Inheritance, Dani Shapiro](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781524732714)

[Dead Wake, Erik Larson](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307408877)

#FaveIndieBookstore

Steven Strogatz's Fave is [Buffalo Street Books](https://www.buffalostreetbooks.com/) in Ithaca, NY. It's his local--"I was just in there last week. You just feel surrounded by great books." Buffalo Street Books is a co-op! Members join and get dividends, year-end profit-sharing (I'm guessing they're not getting rich there, but still) and--best of all--their local bookstore is still alive and kicking. 

Find out more about our guest, Steven Strogatz, [here](http://www.stevenstrogatz.com/) — and check out his latest book, [Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781328879981), on [IndieBoundor](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781328879981) at [Twitter](https://twitter.com/stevenstrogatz).

This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit [Author Accelerator](https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting) for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.

Find more about [Jess here](http://www.jessicalahey.com/), and about [KJ here](https://kjdellantonia.com/).

If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out [Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship](https://www.marginallypodcast.com/).

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Mignon Fogerty on Pet Peeves, riding a wave and what to do if you're a writer--and grammar still scares the bejabbers out of you.
Plenty of writers #fangirl on Mignon Fogerty (https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl) , who took her own quest to make grammar rules easy and accessible and turned it into a mini-empire. In her case, the podcast (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/quick-dirty-tips/grammar-girl-quick-and-dirty-tips-for-better-writing) came first, the books (https://us.macmillan.com/author/mignonfogarty/) second--and what followed is a fun exploration of being creative around a subject and finding a way to make it your own. 
A few links from the episode:
Peeve Wars Board Game (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/grammar-girl-s-peeve-wars)
The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780805091656)
#AmReading:
Semicolon, McKayla Debonis (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781978328365)
Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere), Lisa Cron (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781607748892)
I Miss You When I Blink: Essays, Mary Laura Philpott (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781982102807) A (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312379353)
KJ mentioned A Circle of Quiet (https://www.madeleinelengle.com/books/non-fiction/a-circle-of-quiet/) , from Madeline L'Engle. And then she ended up not liking it. (https://kjdellantonia.com/2019/04/08/a-book-that-will-get-you-out-of-your-head-and-one-that-wont/)
Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe, Steven Strogatz (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781328879981)
Laughing at My Nightmare, Shane Burcaw (https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250080103)
Find out more about our guest, Mignon Fogerty, here (https://us.macmillan.com/author/mignonfogarty) —and check out her books on IndieBound (https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=grammar+girl) or at Libro.fm.  (https://libro.fm/search?q=mignon+fogerty&searchby=authors&sortby=relevance&country=all&country_select=#results)
This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. 
Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingfor details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.
Find more about Jess here (http://www.jessicalahey.com/) , and about KJ here (https://kjdellantonia.com/) .
If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship (https://www.marginallypodcast.com/) .

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Part 2 continues with Sarina Bowen's guidance about what you should put in your email list, and how to market your email before, or after, you’re published.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Sarina Bowen guides us through where and how to start up an email list, how to grow it and how to keep it healthy in the first part of a two parter on email lists.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe