Write About Now

Write About Now

By Jonathan SmallBusinessArtsBooksCareers
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Write About Now episodes

  • Ep. 25—Cosmo Editor-in-Chief Michele Promaulayko Reveals All
    Michele Promaulayko knows what women want. As editor-in-chief of Cosmo, and editorial director of Seventeen and Women’s Health, she both reflects and influences many of their interests and aspirations. On the pod, Michele talks to me about working at a traditionally boy-crazy bible in this #metoo moment and how she comes up with those classic coverlines.
    If you can, please take a short survey on my website to help me better understand what YOU want https://writeaboutnowmedia.com/survey
    1 hr 8 min
  • Ep. 24—Marketing Maven Jaclyn Mullen on How to Sell Yourself in the Digital Age
    How important is to to market yourself as a writer, even if you have no money, few credentials, and even fewer clips? Turns out it's pretty damn important. It's also a lot easier and less expensive than you might think. On this episode of Write About Now with Jonathan Small, marketing expert Jaclyn Mullen of Jaclyn Mullen Media covers such topics as building a website, a blog, email list, and social media following.
    53 min
  • Ep. 23—Oscar Exclusive: Hollywood Reporter's Alison Brower on How to be a Hollywood Reporter
    On the eve of Hollywood's biggest night, I get my red carpet on with Hollywood Reporter Deputy Editorial Director, Alison Brower. She takes me through her impressive origin story, opening strong as an editorial assistant at Cosmo and working her way up to impressive sequels for Oprah and Dr. Oz. We talk about post-Harvey Hollywood and THR's role in giving wronged women a platform to tell their powerful stories. Lastly, I indulge in a little Oscar night prediction for best picture of the year.
    1 hr 18 min
  • Ep. 22 — Writer/Director Joshua Michael Stern on The Secret to Landing Hollywood's Biggest Talent

    On the pod this week, I talk to triple threat Joshua Michael Stern, who writes, directs, and produces films and TV series. Joshua was the creator and showrunner of the Epix series Graves. He's also directed Jobs with Ashton Kutcher, and written and directed Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner and Neverwas with Nick Nolte. Joshua has a knack for casting some of the biggest talent in the business, even when his budgets aren't the biggest in the business. Talent that has appeared in his films includes the people I named above and Ian McCellen, Jessica Lange, Dennis Hopper, Vera Farmiga, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammar, Josh Lad, and the list goes on. In our interview, Joshua talks to me about how he got into writing films, transitioned to directing, then returned to doing all three. I hope you find it inspiring!

    56 min
  • Ep. 21 — Author/Mortician Caitlin Doughty Is the Bourdain of Death

    Caitlin Doughty is obsessed with death—in a good way. She’s turned her fascination with funerals and corpses into a successful career as a mortician, activist, YouTube personality, and bestselling author. Caitlin’s books are must-reads for anyone interested in what becomes of your body after you become not living anymore. Her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, is a funny and morbid memoir about her life as a crematory operator and mortician. In in her new book, From Here to Eternity, Caitlin plays the role of funeral tour guide, reporting on the bizarre and sometimes beautiful death rituals in countries such as Indonesia, Japan, and even in the U.S.  In the podcast, we talk about why she became a mortician and a writer, how the American funeral system impersonalizes death, and how other cultures do death so much better than us.

    52 min
  • Ep. 20 — Bret VandenBos on How to Write a Mic-Drop Speech

    Growing up, Bret VandenBos used to watch The West Wing faithfully every Wednesday night with his dad. “It was my first entrée into talking about policy and politics,” he says. The show would have more impact on his life than he could imagine. Only 30-years-old, Bret now serves as a speechwriter and political communications specialists, as well as a TV writer for such shows as Valor on the CW and MacGyver on CBS. In our interview, Bret talks to me about how he straddles life in the writer’s room and the Mayor’s office, the tried-and-true techniques behind the best speeches, and the stress of being asked to give a speech at his best friend’s wedding.

    The show is sponsored by Scrivener3, the go-to app for writers who want to remain organized and sane.

    Head on over to WriteAboutNowMedia.com, enter the code WriteAboutNow and receive 20% off!

    Sign up for my mailing list and receive Bret's FREE, bonus masterclass on How to Write a Speech. 

    1 hr 1 min
  • Ep. 19 — The Martian Author Andy Weir Aims for the Moon in His New Novel
    Strap on your EVA suits! Andy Weir is on the podcast. The author of the science fiction classic, The Martian, talks to me about his unlikely journey from computer programmer to bestselling novelist. Andy also discusses his new book Artemis, which is set in a city on the moon in the not-so-distant future. We talk about his obsessively detailed and researched world building, his Saudi-born female protagonist, and his reasoning behind why a Frappuccino would taste more like a Crappuccino at Lunar Starbucks.
    47 min
  • Ep. 17 — Gayle Tzemach Lemmon Writes About Heroic Women in War-Torn Countries
    Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, is tough to describe in a few shorts words. She’s written two bestselling books—Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield (2015) and  The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (2011) An on-air contributor to CNN. A journalist for such publications The New York Times and Newsweek. An investment banker and graduate of Harvard Business School. A fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. And a mom of 3. This is how she got there.
    1 hr 2 min
  • Ep. 16 — David Grann on the Secret to Writing Bestsellers
    David Grann has a writing career most of us just dream about. He's a staff writer at The New Yorker and the bestselling author of The Lost City of Z and Kiiller of the Flower Moon. David also happens to be an old college buddy of mine. In the podcast, we talk about his incredible career, which spans from the the New Republic to The New Yorker, and dig deep into his process of finding, researching, and writing such riveting stories.
    1 hr 9 min
  • Ep. 15 — Mars Patel Head Writer David Kreizman on Writing for Soaps, the WWE, and a New Hit Podcast for Kids
    David Kreizman is an Emmy Award-winning soap opera showrunner, a former WWE head writer, and the co-creator and head writer of the hit podcast for kids (and their parents), “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel.” In our in-depth interview, David explains about how Mars Patel went from an idea between friends in a coffee shop to the juggernaut it is today, the unique challenges in writing fictional stories for audio, and what it's like to write for The Guiding Light and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
    42 min

About Write About Now

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Write About Now features in-depth interviews with successful writers of all types and stripes—journalists, screenwriters, novelists, ghostwriters, and more. Host, Jonathan Small, takes a deep dive…

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