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Story structure is one issue fiction editors love to disagree about. At one end of the spectrum, some promote rigid templates, while others say "anything goes."

In this episode, I cover ...

• the problem with rigid approaches to story structure
• why I dislike Save the Cat! and the Hero's Journey
• why you should think about story structure but not get hung up about it

Enjoy!

Links from today's ep!

• Hustle culture versus the Literary Academy: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/post/two-cultures-in-publishing-hustle-culture-vs-the-literary-academy
• How universal is the Save the Cat beat sheet?: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/post/the-save-the-cat-beat-sheet-a-cultural-anthropological-approach
• Club Ed course – Plot and Story Structure: https://www.clubedfreelancers.com/product/editing-for-plot-and-story-structure-sep-8-oct-5-2025/
• Romancing the Beat: https://www.campfirewriting.com/learn/romancing-the-beat
• The Hero's Journey: https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey
• The Heroine's Journey: https://gailcarriger.com/books/hj/

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Psychotherapists and counsellors often feature in TV, film, and books. While there are all sorts of good story reasons to include them, they often do unrealistic things like sit in very nice offices and break boundaries with clients!

In this episode, I discuss therapists in fiction with Aimee Walker, a counsellor/psychotherapist turned romance editor. We chat about some recent bad examples – including the therapist in Dept. Q – and look at why writers might choose to include a therapist in their book or TV/film script.

You can find out more about Aimee Walker's fabulous coaching and editing business here: https://aimeewalkerproofreader.com/

Dept. Q: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995114/

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: https://www.bacp.co.uk/

NEW: Support this podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheFreeLancerPodcast

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Today is all about niching! Do you need one as a book editor? What will your clients say or think?

How will they find you? And are niches necessary – or always a bad thing?

Tune in for some fresh perspectives on the topic and the details on what I have planned for Season Two!

Marketing for Weirdos: https://www.bearcoaches.com/m4w

The Tyranny of the Niche: https://offthegridclubhouse.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-niche

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Social media marketing isn't for everyone, and for small business owners, it comes with several tricky traps and challenges attached.

Junk AI content and tech bro CEOs aligned with hard-right governments stripping people of their rights are making it less appealing too.

And so this year loads more people are rethinking their social media marketing or ditching it completely.

In this ep, I cover the pros and cons of social media and why I've decided to take a step back from it. Enjoy!

Tarot: https://www.theuncrossedpath.com/readings

Off-the-grid toolkit with Amelia Hruby: https://offthegrid.fun/podcast

Attachment styles and social media: https://www.attachmentproject.com/psychology/social-media/

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Is generative AI making the publishing world a better place? Or is it leaving a bad taste?

So far, it's pretty clear to me there's a lot of hype, stolen data, angry authors, some benefits, and a truckload of problems. But it does and will have some important uses! 

In this episode, I take you through my AI decision making and policies, and narrate the damage (and limited positives) I see happening at the moment.

Links:

Draftsmith: https://draftsmith.ai/

The Mechanical Turk: https://www.mturk.com/

Human-in-the-loop: https://levity.ai/blog/human-in-the-loop

Expert-in-the-lead: https://www.transl8r.eu/xitl/

Gartner Hype Cycles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle

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It's all take, take, take!

This week is all about how extraction – a pattern of one-sided taking from others – can show up in our small businesses.

I cover how it's hardwired into big businesses, and how things can get confusing for small business owners.

Traps of being exploited, or of exploiting others through icky marketing and pricing strategies, can leave small business owners feeling overwhelmed.

If you want to learn more, sign up for Bear Hebert's inspirational Marketing for Weirdos course, which discusses extraction in more detail.

In the episode, I mention hybrid publishing. If you don't know what that is, check out Jane Friedman's blog post.

And finally, here are my thoughts on Save the Cat!

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Today's episode is all about how editors can get trapped in a cycle of satisfying and interesting but low-paid work for Big 5 publishers. #opensecrets

I call this cycle a prestige trap, and explore the allure of high-prestige, satisfying projects, despite the low pay. I describe what attracts editors to take on this kind of work.

In the second half of the show, I focus on the emotional aspects to this trap and how they link to editor self-esteem.

And finally, I offer possible ways of escaping the trap and encourage editors to be intentional about their career choices.

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Welcome to episode 1! Today I'm discussing all the problems I see with self-publishing from my fiction editor perspective.

First, I discuss my values misalignment with the self-publishing industry.

Then I dive into serious issues and points that both editors and authors need to consider.

And to wrap it up, I reveal who self-publishing really works for (except for big corporations like Amazon), and explain why I've pulled away from this space.

Links

⭐  The Alliance of Independent Authors' AI policy:

https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/ai-policy/

⭐  Joanna Penn's positive take on using ChatGPT:

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2023/05/05/ai-assisted-artisan-author/

⭐  The Society of Authors' more critical position statement:

https://societyofauthors.org/where-we-stand/artificial-intelligence/

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This is a trailer for a new show called The Free Lancer.

The Free Lancer is a show discussing all things publishing through a queer, social justice lens. It’s for authors and editors navigating the industry in a heart-centered way—one that prioritizes care, relationship-building, and sustainable work practices over the relentless grind of capitalism, tech-bro culture, and AI promises. It explores how author and editor businesses can survive and thrive while also transforming the industry to fight for a better world.

Please subscribe to this podcast!

For fortnightly updates,sign up to The Free Lancer newsletter here.

Support the show

💎Need a human-edited transcript? Here you go: https://thefreelancer.buzzsprout.com/

🥰 Check out my newsletter for stories, opinions, and tips on how to survive publishing without exploiting yourself or others: https://thenarrativecraft.kit.com/e8debf1dd5

💎My Learning Center: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/learning-center

🥰 And my website: https://www.thenarrativecraft.com/