Michelle Maryk has had a long career in acting and sketch-writing, and her debut novel, The Found Object Society, was just been released from Disney Hyperion. 

Michelle and I discuss how her acting background informs her writing, how she got hooked on writing conferences, and, of course, her writing and publishing journey.

• Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.
• Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.
• Send me an email at [email protected]
• To pitch to the podcast, go here
• Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: https://www.michellemaryk.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellemmaryk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellemmaryk/
• The Found Object Society: https://oblongbooks.com/michellemaryk
• https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803997/the-found-object-society-by-michelle-maryk/

• Scrivener: https://www.literatureandlatte.com
• Conferences mentioned: AWP, Thrillerfest, Bouchercon, Hampton’s Whodunit, Murder by the Book
• Authors mentioned: Fiona Davis, Ashley Winstead, Danielle Girard, Angie Kim, Jean Kwok, Rebecca Makkai, Georgina Cross, Claire McIntosh, Vera Kurian, Laura McHugh, Kathleen Barber, Jennifer McMahon, Jennifer Fawcett, Jason Allison
• Audiobook narrator mentioned: Saskia Maarleveld
• Publicist mentioned: Kathleen Carter

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Karin Gillespie has had FIVE literary agents and has published in all the ways: Big 5, small indie press, & self-publishing. With 20+ years of experience in publishing, she knows how to pitch a novel and what it takes to sell a book. 

She is the author of the popular southern fiction Bottom Dollar Girls series, and her most recent novel, The Pitch Queen, is a satire of the publishing industry.

*Please note that many of Karin's books are NOT found on my bookshop shop, but you can find them here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001HCVXHY?ingress=0&visitId=f635e3bd-82e6-4b1d-8801-59eef6329175&ref_=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&ccs_id=2b2e06d5-a67a-4cf7-970c-147eb9b2e948

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: https://karingillespieauthor.com
• Substack: https://pitchyournovel.substack.com

• Joanna Penn: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
• Kindlepreneur: https://kindlepreneur.com/
• Cynthia Swanson’s episode: https://shows.acast.com/the-long-road-to-publishing/episodes/694afa4009314afbec4973bc
• Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA): https://www.womensfictionwriters.org/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Author Lincoln Michel talks about teaching, freelancing, being a lit mag editor, and writing his popular Substack newsletter, Counter Craft. We also discuss short story collections, AI in publishing, and why authors should write weird things. Lincoln's latest genre-blending novel is METALLIC REALMS, and he is the author of THE BODY SCOUT, which was named one of the 10 Best Science Fiction Books of 2021 by The New York Times and one of the 75 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time by Esquire.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: https://lincolnmichel.com/
• Substack: https://countercraft.substack.com/ 
• METALLIC REALMS at Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/88357/9781668058671

• Electric Literature: https://electricliterature.com/
• Tony Tulathimutte's book, REJECTION: https://bookshop.org/a/91104/9780063337886
• The Substack Article about "The Golden Age of Weird" : https://www.hapitalist.com/p/the-golden-age-of-weird-is-here?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=440539&post_id=179456650&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1bdoot&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Raidah Shah Idil’s middle grade fantasy novel, HOW TO FREE A JINN, was first published in Australia before being picked up by a U.S. Big 5 publisher. Raidah and I talk about writing and publishing, and bond over being writer-moms with Type A personalities. 

Australian author Raidah Shah Idil was born in Singapore, grew up in Sydney, worked in Jordan, and now lives in Malaysia with her husband, three children and mother-in-law. Raidah earned her BA in English and BS in Psychology from the University of New South Wales, and her Diploma of Counselling from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Raidah's debut middle grade fantasy novel, How To Free A Jinn, was highly commended by the Victorian Literary Premier Awards and won the Readings Children's Prize in 2025. Salaam Reads (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) has published and distributed the book in the US, Canada & the UK. Raidah loves ginger tea and noodle soup, and dreams of uninterrupted sleep.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: www.raidahshahidil.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/raidahwrites
• HOW TO FREE A JINN: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Free-a-Jinn/Raidah-Shah-Idil/9781665982627

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Cynthia Swanson’s Harper Collins debut, The Bookseller, was a NYT bestseller with a film option from Julia Roberts. Less than a decade later, after struggling to find a publisher for her third book, Cynthia decided to self-publish her psychological suspense novel Anyone But Her and was named Indie Author of the Year.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website:https://cynthiaswansonauthor.com/
• Substack: https://thewhatifjournal.substack.com/
• BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/cynswanauthor.bsky.social
• ANYONE BUT HER: https://bookshop.org/p/books/anyone-but-her-cynthia-swanson/974d6c0c0e31c3ec

• Jane Friedman article: https://janefriedman.com/self-publishing-after-a-bestseller/
• The Author’s Guild: https://authorsguild.org/
• Indie Author Project: https://indieauthorproject.com/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

In this special end-of-year episode, Eva reflects on the first 16 episodes of The Long Road to Publishing, hints at what's to come on the podcast in 2026, and awards some "superlatives" to a few of the episodes and guests. She also talks about her podcast goals and how listeners can qualify to win a free copy of Courtney Maum's book: BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL!

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

Link to Superlatives post:

Link to index post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSnBFL8lRir/?img_index=1

Link to information about the book giveaway contest: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSp67pxicQf/?img_index=1

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Darlene P. Campos is the author of a YA novel, two middle grade novels, and a picture book. Earlier this year, only a month before the release of her middle grade historical novel, she suffered “the worst rejection of her life.” In this episode we learn about Darlene’s publishing journey, as well as this shocking rejection and how she survived it.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at the Long Road Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: https://www.darlenepcampos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darlenepcampos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarlenePCampos
• Buy The Center of the Earth: Bookshop: https://tinyurl.com/bduf9avr or Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-center-of-the-earth-darlene-p-campos/1147493966?ean=9781955058285

• Eva's essay on the Brevity blog: https://brevity.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/long-road-to-publishing/
• Darlene's essay on the Brevity blog: https://brevity.wordpress.com/2025/03/19/rejection-is-a-piece-of-cake/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Lindsey Goldstein got serious about her writing career at the age of 40, and her debut novel Gap Year is a middle-age coming-of-age story. Lindsey talks about revising Gap Year many, many times, parting ways with an agent who wasn’t a good fit, and signing with a small, indie publisher. 

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

-Unfortunately Lindsey's book Gap Year is currently unavailable on bookshop, but you can order it here: https://egretlakebooks.com/gap-year-a-novel/

• Website:www.lindseygoldsteinauthor.com, 
• IG: @goldsteinlindsey 
• Substack newsletter: lindseygoldstein.substack.com 
• TikTok:@lindseygoldsteinauthor
• Preorder GAP YEAR: https://egretlakebooks.com/gap-year-a-novel/

Lindsey mentions the following:

• Pitch to Published (P2P): https://www.facebook.com/groups/pitchtopublished/
• JoyPitch: https://joypitch.wordpress.com/
• Women's Fiction Writers Association: https://www.womensfictionwriters.org/
• Writer's Digest Online workshops: https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Rebecca Thorne is the instant USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times bestselling author of the Tomes & Tea series. She started out pursuing traditional publishing for many years. With great strategy and timing, she ended up finding huge success with self-publishing… then the traditional publishers came a-knocking! She now has two series being re-published with the Big Five imprint Tor.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: https://rebeccathorne.net/
• This Gilded Abyss: https://bookshop.org/a/91104/9781250422125
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccathornewrites/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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

Kate Broad published ten romance novels with Entangled (and wrote a LOT of books that didn’t sell) before publishing GREENWICH, her literary debut, with St. Martin’s Press. Kate's publishing journey is WILD and she has so much great advice to share about writing and publishing.

-Follow me on Substack or subscribe to my Substack Newsletter for Writers.

-Find me on Instagram and Blue Sky.

-Send me an email at [email protected]

-To pitch to the podcast, go here

-Find books by guests and books mentioned on the podcast at https://bookshop.org/shop/evalangston

• Website: katebroad.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/katebroadbooks
• Substack: https://katebroad.substack.com/
• Buy Greenwich: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250363046/greenwich/

The Long Road to Publishing is produced and edited by Eva Langston, and the intro/outro music comes from the artist Soundroll on #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/lost-in-love

License code: EEKRDQPCTGSBM5LZ

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