The Florida Writer Podcast

One of the most common issues writers have is not having a clear vision of their ideal reader. Instead of thinking about an "avatar," focus on the hearts and minds of your audience, not the color of their eyes or where they went to high school. In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen and AJ Harper chat about how to serve your audience. A book is not about something; it's for someone.

AJ Harper is an editor and publishing strategist who helps authors write transformational books that enable them to build readership, grow their brand, and make a significant impact on the world. As a ghostwriter and as a developmental editor, she has worked with hundreds of authors, from newbies to New York Times bestselling authors with millions of books sold. AJ teaches her method in Top Three Book Workshop and the Must-Read Editing Workshop. She is the Head Writing Coach for Heroic Public Speaking, the premier speaker training program created by Michael and Amy Port. She is a writing partner to business author, Mike Michalowicz. Together they've written nine books, including Profit First. AJ is the author of Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives--Including Your Own. Connect with her at ajharper.com.

Readers don't want generic and tired, and neither do literary agents. In this Florida Writers Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Allen O'Shea Literary Agent co-founder Marilyn Allen about having a great client-agent relationship, seducing readers with the X-factor, and developing fresh content from old ideas.

Marilyn Allen is a literary agent and founding partner in the Allen O'Shea Literary Agency. She has culminated 25 years of experience by doing sales and marketing for various publishing houses. She served as Associate Publisher, Director of Marketing and Senior Vice President to Harper Collins, as well as Vice President to both Penguin and Simon & Schuster. She has directed sales and marketing teams for Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster, and Avon Books.

Marilyn has had the pleasure of working with authors such as Stephen King, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, John Gray and Mary Higgins Clark, but currently represents many nonfiction authors including several New York Times bestselling writers. Her focuses are nonfiction, cooking, health, parenting, crafts, self-help, pop culture and business. She herself has co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Book Proposals and Query Letters (Penguin Books) with her partner Coleen O'Shea.

Imagine being a girl coming of age after the death of a dictator and the rise of democracy. In her recently debuted memoir, Promenade of Desire: A Barcelona Memoir, Isidra Mencos takes her audience on a treasure hunt as she searches for the quiet, descriptive, lyrical words to describe her extraordinary journey during a time of cultural self-discovery in Barcelona, Spain. Enjoy this Florida Writer Podcast as host Alison Nissen and Isidra chat about her journey to publication that began in Spain and flourished in California.

Originally from Spain, Isidra Mencos has lived in the US since 1992. She holds a PhD in Spanish and Latin American Contemporary Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught Spanish language, literature, culture, and creative writing for twelve years. Since she started writing creative nonfiction in English in 2016, her essays have been published in literary journals like Diálogo, Chicago Quarterly Review, The Penmen Review, Newfound, Stirring Literary Journal, The Manifest-Station and Front Porch Journal. One of her pieces was listed as Notable in the Best American Essays Anthology. Her work has also appeared in widely read online publications like Wisdom Well, WIRED, and Better After Fifty. Her debut memoir Promenade of Desire—A Barcelona Memoir came out October 11, 2022 (She Writes Press).

Recovering art gallery owner Linda Moore used her love of art to write her debut novel, Attribution which features an art historian who finds a hidden masterpiece. Host Alison Nissen and Linda chat about travel, the world of art, and the complexity of creating book covers with artwork.

Linda Moore studied art history at the Prado while a student at the University of Madrid and earned degrees from the University of California and Stanford. Her writing has appeared in numerous art journals and anthologies. She has looked at art on all continents and visited over 100 countries. She resides with her book-collecting husband in California.

Eliot Kleinberg shares how to help the audience love your writing by eliminating unnecessary words. As a former journalist turned blogger and novelist, his experience with the world of words gives us insight into how to make something sound better with host Alison Nissen.

Kleinberg, born in South Florida, spent nearly a half century in daily journalism before retiring in December 2020 after 33-1/2 years at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach. In addition to covering local news, he also wrote extensively about Florida and Florida history.

He has written or contributed to more than a dozen books, all focusing on Florida. They include "Black Cloud", about the great 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane; two "Weird Florida" books, and "Palm Beach Past" and "Wicked Palm Beach", collections of items from "Post Time," his weekly local history column that ran for more than two decades in the Post. "Florida Time," covering the history of the entire state, debuted in 2019 in Gatehouse newspapers statewide.

His tenth book, Peace River, his first work of fiction, is a historical novel based at the end of the Civil War. He now is writing a series of adventures of 1920s Miami police detective Nate Moran.

Sherri Winston may have had a degree in journalism, but it was when she joined a writers group that helped her transition to full-time Middle-Grade Fiction author. Hear Sherri's inspiring story in this Florida Writer Podcast with host Alison Nissen.

Sherri Winston is the author of President of the Whole Fifth Grade, as well as my latest book, Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution, which was long-listed for a National Book Award. She also recently published her first book for early readers, Wednesday and Woof: Catastrophe along with several other books in the series.

She was born and raised in Michigan and attended Michigan State University, then much later the University of Michigan as a journalism fellow. She is the proud mama of her daughter, Kenya, and a proud aunt many times over.

So you want to earn money as a writer? Don't ignore the newspaper industry. In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with newspaper veteran Nafari Morris about pitching to newspaper editors. Newspapers have changed, but they still need great content.

Nafari recommends that you:

• send a well-edited introduction
• mention your experience with the topic/subject
• have a willingness to be flexible
• don't be afraid to show your personality
• PRO-TIP: find the email of a direct contact on places like Twitter

Nafari Morris is a former journalist of 17 years, and now a freelance writer and public relations specialist. She started her journalism career at the Hartford Courant as a copy-editing intern, then joined the copy desk of the Wilmington Star-News. She began her 12-year stint with Trib Total Media in 2001, working on the copy desk for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and other publications, as an assigning editor for the hyper- local weekly newspapers and as a weekly columnist for the Trib. She was an assistant metro editor for The Ledger in Lakeland before leaving the journalism industry.

As a columnist, she earned several awards, including the Robert I. Vann Media Award for Best Column in 2011, second place in the Column category for the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors in 2013, Pennsylvania Women's Press Association Excellence in Journalism Award for Best Column in 2013, the Association for Women in Communication's Clarion Award for non-opinion/informative column in 2014 and the Golden Quill Award (Press Club of Western Pennsylvania for best column in 2013 and 2015.

Her work also led to local radio and television interviews, including appearances on Pittsburgh radio stations KDKA AM and WESA FM, along with WQED TV. She participated in a roundtable at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill about the future of local journalism in 2022.

Nafari's freelance work has led to her work being published in The Washington Post, Adweek, Tennis magazine, Shondaland.com, Leaps magazine, Bello Collective, Belt Magazine, ZORA magazine and other publications. She lives in central Florida with her children, dogs and tennis racquets.

The world of publishing is confusing! Listen to this conversation between the Florida Writer Podcast host Alison Nissen and the owner of Orange Blossom Publishing Arielle Haughee who breaks down her process from the submissions through publication.

Arielle Haughee (Hoy) is a six-time RPLA-winning author and the owner of Orange Blossom Publishing. She is an editor, speaker, and writing coach, and was previously the Executive Vice President and Marketing Chair for the Florida Writers Association. She was honored with the President's Award from FWA in 2020, and in 2021 Pling's Party was awarded Children's Book of the Year. Her press, Orange Blossom Publishing, publishes books about love, humor, and wellness for women and children.

Take a cue from soap operas and reality television and "Tune in Tomorrow." Inspired by her career as a soap opera critic, Randee Dawn flips the script and puts mythical creatures in charge of the soap opera industry. Enjoy this conversation with host Alison Nissen and Randee as they chat about the value of cliffhangers, writing funny, and the importance of offering effective criticism.

Randee Dawn is an author and journalist focusing on speculative fiction across the categories (science-fiction, fantasy and horror) at night, while writing entertainment and lifestyle stories during the day for publications including Today.com, NBCNews.com, Variety, The Los Angeles Times and Emmy Magazine.

You may have seen her name in other publications over the years, including Soap Opera Digest and The Boston Phoenix, E! Online, New Musical Express and Mojo.

Her first novel, Tune In Tomorrow, will be out from Solaris/Rebellion in 2022.

Things have to come together for the universe to allow a project to bloom. Jaimie Engle stopped by The Florida Writer Podcast to discuss her multi-genre success with film, television, novels, and comics. In this Conversation, host Alison Nissen and Jaimie chat about how to be productive while you are waiting for your projects to be optioned.

In 2021, Jaimie made a tough decision to end her journey as a publisher and embark on a career as a screenwriter. In just 15 months, she sold her first feature-length screenplay and began writing the novelization adaptation. From dream to becoming a professionally optioned and produced woman in the film industry, Jaimie chronicles her adventures in her blog.

Meet Jaimie at the 2022 Florida WritersCon from October 28-October 30.