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On this week's episode of Drafting Notes we are discussing that thing every writer hates: The Synopsis! Nobody enjoys them, but how do you write them? What should you include? What should you leave out? We discuss all this and even talk about why synopses can help you find the heart of your story.

Drafting Notes is a series in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them!

Drafting Notes episodes are available early if you join our Patreon - check it out and get this and other great benefits!

Drafting Notes and Page One - The Writer's Podcast are brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Watch this episode as a full video interview on YouTube

Phoebe Morgan is the Executive Fiction Publisher at Simon & Schuster, with a career spanning major publishing houses including HarperCollins, Orion, Octopus Books, and Hodder & Stoughton. Specialising in crime fiction while also working across general and book club fiction as well as romantasy, she has published numerous Sunday Times, New York Times, and Kindle bestsellers. A passionate champion of new voices, she was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards (2022) and has received both a Shooting Star Award (in association with The Bookseller) and a Trailblazer Award (with the London Book Fair). She also runs a very informative blog for authors called The Honest Editor, as well as being a successful author in her own right, with five novel published, the latest one being The Trip.

We had a great chat with Phoebe, hearing all about how she first moved into publishing and what her day-to-day as an editor for one of the Big 5 publishing houses is really like. We also talk about the role of sales and marketing in publishing houses' decisions on what to acquire, hear about how book auctions work, and get into whether the mid-list is sometimes a neglected part of publishing.

Links:

Phoebe's website

Follow Phoebe on Instagram

Visit her Honest Editor site

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube now!

Francesca T. Barbini is an award-winning editor, translator, and founder of Luna Press Publishing, the acclaimed independent press specialising in speculative fiction and academia. Born in Rome and now based in Edinburgh, her work has earned multiple British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards. She also supports the Tolkien Society and designs the BSFA Awards booklet.

We had great fun chatting with Francesca and learning why she decided to start a small press, and discuss the advantages that a small press can have over the larger publishing houses. We also talk about what makes a book a success from her point of view, and why she loves to nurture authors and see them grow into huge successes.

Links:

Luna Press Publishing

Follow Luna on Instagram

Follow Luna on Bluesky

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Headley is the Managing Director and co-founder of Goldsboro Books, one of the UK’s leading independent booksellers, and founder of the D H H Literary Agency. Originally from York, David studied theology before building a 25-year career at the heart of the publishing industry. Through Goldsboro, he created the UK’s largest collectors’ book club and became a major influence in hardback fiction sales, while as an agent he represents a wide range of bestselling and award-winning authors.

We had a really interesting chat with David hearing about how he set up Goldsboro Books and then moved into literary agency. We hear what he catches his attention as an agent (in good and bad ways!) and also talk about the state of the industry, what types of books he thinks are selling at the moment, and why he thinks it is the toughest environment for authors he has seen in over twenty years.

Links:

Submit to David at DHH Literary

Goldsboro Books

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube!

Self-publishing has become a serious and viable route for many authors who can't or don't want to find a traditional publisher. But can it work for everyone? We discuss why some genres are more suited than others, and also talk about all the extra work that is needed to make a real success of self-publishing.

Drafting Notes is a series in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them!

Drafting Notes episodes are available early if you join our Patreon - check it out and get this and other great benefits!

Drafting Notes and Page One - The Writer's Podcast are brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook

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Drafting Notes is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch this episode as a full video episode on YouTube

Ed Wilson is an agent and director of Johnson & Alcock, representing a vibrant list of fiction and non-fiction, from new voices to established, bestselling and award-winning authors, including RJ Barker, Shauna Lawless and Sam Holland.

We had great fun chatting with Ed about all things agent-related. He tells us about how he first got into agenting, and we discuss the all-important query letter and the mistakes that will result in a quick pass. We also talk about the role that luck can play in the publishing world, as well as the current state of the industry and whether the outlook is getting bleaker for authors. Plus, he tells us about the time a client named a car after him...

Links:

Ed's page at Johnson & Alcock

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video on YouTube

On this week's episode, we discuss Ireland's UBI experiment for artists and writers, and why we would love to see other countries follow suit (but aren't holding our breath). Plus, we look at why indie presses are pressing the panic button, and discuss the latest BookTok marketing scheme - theme-scented books (a topic Tariq gets very excited about!)

00:00 Intro

01:10 Luck of the Irish - UBI for writers

13:45 Indie Presses - Time for trade support?

24:34 Smell of Success? TikTok, Trends and Garlic Mayo

39:56 Off Script - Nadine finds another stranger than fiction story for inspiration

46:18 Off Script - Horror Movie updates and True Crime chat

Links:

Ireland's Basic income for the Arts Scheme made permanent

Indie Presses in existential crisis call for support

Garlic Mayo Book Marketing

Nadine's Stranger than Fiction story

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more!

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channel.

Liza DeBlock began her publishing career as an assistant at Eccles Fisher Associates in 2018, where she gained a deep understanding of the international book market. After moving into literary agenting and working with Robert Caskie and Silé Edwards, she honed her skills selling rights for bestselling authors including Richard Osman, Claire Douglas, Abigail Dean, Saara El-Arifi, and Hannah Kaner and was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022. Now at Greenstone Literary, she is building her own curated list of fiction and non-fiction authors, including them Sally Abé, Dominic Franks, Stacey Thomas, Natalie Chandler, Carys Green, and Pim Wangtechawat.

We had great fun chatting with Liza and hearing how she moved into agenting after being a literary scout and what she wants (and doesn't want!) to see from a query letter. Plus, we talk about the importance of international rights to an author, and hear her views on the latest literary trends and what direction the industry may take in the future.

Links:

Liza's agency profile at Greenstone Literary

Follow Liza on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch this as a full video episode on our YouTube channel

We all know that querying is the main method for finding an agent, but are there other ways? Many of the guests on Page One have spoken about different experiences in how they finally found an agent, and we ourselves have also tried things like competitions and so on. On this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of some of these alternative methods.

Drafting Notes is a series in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them!

Drafting Notes episodes are available early if you join our Patreon - check it out and get this and other great benefits!

You've finished your book and you're ready to send it off - but what should you include in the query letter? And perhaps more importantly, what shouldn't you include? We discuss it all on today's Drafting Notes!

Drafting Notes and Page One - The Writer's Podcast are brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on Bluesky

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Drafting Notes is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video on YouTube

On this week's episode, we are talking about a scarcity of books for the Booker Prize and wondering if that is due to poor books or too narrow a category for prizes. Plus, we join the Alchemised train and wonder if fanfic turned to publishing gold shows publishers are unwilling to gamble on new stories, and more generally discuss how risk-averse the industry can be and why that narrows the chances for new authors.

00:00 Intro

01:04 Anthropic Settlement Update

03:22 Booker Prize in crisis?

17:46 Alchemised success - Turning FanFic into Gold

24.20 Betting on Bestsellers - Do Publishers Play the Odds?

36:56 Off Script - Nadine finds another stranger than fiction story for inspiration

43:14 Off Script - Our Favourite Horror Movies

Links:

Sign up for Anthropic settlement

Doyle says Booker Prize struggled to find good novels

Alchemised - Fan fiction turned into a bestseller

Why Romance Readers can't quit Dramione

The Publishing Industry has a Gambling Problem

Nadine's Stranger than Fiction story

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more!

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.