In this first episode of How to Write a Book, Elizabeth Day’s new podclass series, hosts Sara Collins, Sharmaine Lovegrove and Nelle Andrew discuss coming up with ideas.

Just where do ideas for books come from? How do you know if they’re any good, or even if they’re right for you to pursue? Our expert podclass provides answers to all of this - and even a lesson in how to know when your idea might be ready to send to an agent.

And we could not have a more experienced bunch to guide you on this journey. Sara Collins is the bestselling novelist and screenwriter currently serving as a judge for the 2024 Booker Prize. Her debut novel, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, won the Costa book awards in 2019 and she later wrote the TV screenplay. Nelle Andrew is a literary agent and former Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards, and Sharmaine Lovegrove is the co-founder and managing director of Dialogue Books, an inclusive imprint at a major publishing house. Each of them is an expert in one stage of the publishing journey…. and all are literary nerds (in the best possible way).

Together, Sara, Sharmaine and Nelle are your on-hand writing community giving you the push you need to get started on that novel, memoir, or piece of non fiction you've always dreamed of writing.

We hope you enjoy our part 1 & part 2 on IDEA. If you don’t want to wait for next week’s episode, you can subscribe now and binge them all at once by tapping ‘subscribe’. You’ll get to listen to all episodes ad-free and get exclusive subscriber access to How To Fail and Failing With Friends.

Books discussed in these episodes include:

•  The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

•  The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

•  Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

•  Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth

•  The Color Purple by Alice Walker

•  Scissors, Paper, Stone by Elizabeth Day

•  Paradise City by Elizabeth Day

•  Magpie by Elizabeth Day

We also talk about Christopher Booker, Kit de Waal, The Seven Basic Plots and Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.

Executive produced by Elizabeth Day for Daylight Productions and Carly Maile for Sony Music Entertainment.

Produced by Imogen Serwotka.

Please do get in touch with us, your writing community, with thoughts, feedback and more at: [email protected]

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