Summary

In this episode, Ashley Winstead shares her journey as a multi-genre author. From her querying and Pitch Wars to landing her literary agent, Ashley emphasizes the importance of persistence in the face of rejection. She also explores what it means to write across different genres in terms of her readership, as well as the varying experiences she has had with multiple publishers. Ashley also comments on the importance of investing in self-promotion and the impact of social media on book marketing. She shares what she’s learned about building a community with readers while also setting boundaries.

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Ashley Winstead is the national bestselling author of This Book Will Bury Me, Midnight is the Darkest Hour, The Last Housewife, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, The Boyfriend Candidate, Fool Me Once, and The Future Saints. Her books have been Library Read picks, Loan Star picks, Best of Amazon picks, Best of Apple Books picks, and have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, and Library Journal.

Her work has been covered by New York Times, Washington Post, CrimeReads, Parade, Cosmopolitan, Good Morning America, Good Housekeeping, Seattle Times, and Southern Review of Fiction, among others. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages worldwide and optioned for television. Ashley holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature and lives in Houston.

She is represented by Melissa Edwards of Stonesong Press LLC.

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