Book Writing & Publishing

Ever feel like everyone has some secret book marketing hack? Most of those “shortcuts” are just expensive detours.

In this episode, I’m calling out three distractions that keep indie authors spinning their wheels. First up: Kirkus Reviews. Are they legit? Yes. Are they worth the price for most self-published authors? Maybe. But if you're hoping a $400 review is going to move thousands of copies, well, it probably won't. 

Then we dive into the Amazon Bestseller badge obsession. 

Finally, we'll talk about AI. As someone who edits A LOT of manuscripts, I can spot AI-generated content from a mile away. So can readers. In publishing, the long game truly is the shortcut.

 🎉 NOW OPEN!

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Wanting to get out of your own way so you can write the damn book already? 

👉 CLICK HERE to write the first draft of your nonfictio...

In this episode, I sit down with Tiffany Graham Charkosky to talk about her forthcoming memoir, Living Proof (October 21, Little A), a book written and shaped over years of writing and rewriting.

At just 11 years old, Tiffany lost her mother. For decades, she believed it was an unexplainable tragedy, until a DNA test unearthed information that changed everything. That discovery didn’t just reshape her understanding of her mother’s death; it also made her question what she might unknowingly pass on to her own children.

INSIDE THE EPISODE

• The emotional (and editorial) decision-making around what belongs in a book
• How long it took for her story to find its true shape (and why)
• The surprising speed of her publishing deal once it all came together
• How do we process loss as kids versus adults? And what happens when new information forces us to reinterpret our past?

Tiffany’s story is as deeply personal as it is universally relatable. 

ABOUT TIFFANY

Tiffany Graham Char...

Miranda Cowley Heller's father was a book editor; her grandfather edited Jack Kerouac and was friends with Hemingway. That legacy, while inspiring, left her frozen when it came to pursuing her own writing. 

Instead, she built a thriving career in publishing and TV, eventually heading up drama series at HBO. Then, in her 50s, she wrote the novel she’d been carrying around for years, The Paper Palace, which became a New York Times #1 bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick. 

Now, she's returned to her first creative love—poetry—with a stunning new collection: The Deep Water Knows. “Poetry is almost like putting snapshots of your soul into the world,” she tells me. 

In this episode, Miranda gets real about the myth of getting wiser with age, the vulnerability of releasing creative work into the world, and why your voice is never too late to matter.

ABOUT MIRANDA

Miranda Cowley Heller has worked as senior vice president and head of drama series at HBO, developing and overseeing ...

Author Lori Gold is pulling back the curtain on publishing, in both this conversation and her newest novel, Romantic Friction. 

INSIDE THE EPISODE

⭐️ Yet another reason bestseller lists aren’t what you think (I didn't know this until I read her book!)

⭐️ A great tip for handing reviews without spiraling (or swearing off Goodreads forever)

⭐️ What AI is doing to authors' voices, and why it should concern all of us

⭐️ How writing happens even when you're not writing

⭐️ How Lori studies the bones of books she loves to make her own writing even stronger

CONNECT WITH LORI

Instagram: @lorigoldsteinbooks

Grab a copy of Romantic Friction

👉 CLICK HERE to write the first draft of your nonfiction or memoir written in 33 days!

...even if you don't have a cabin in the wilderness, 4 uninterrupted hours a day to write, or confidence that you're a "real" writer. No overwhelm, no confusion. Just simple, actionable steps.

Awesome Email Templates for Authors

From communicating with...

What started as sharing her story online about living with chronic illness turned into a book deal with Penguin Random House. In this episode, Gigi Robinson shares how she leveraged consistency, relationships, and a clear vision to go from content creator to published author.

Here’s what we get into:

• Why she chose to write A Kid’s Book About Chronic Illness (and how it ended up getting picked up by Penguin/DK).
• The ridiculously simple promo strategy Gigi swears by: bring the book everywhere and make it part of the conversation.
• Why she went the children’s book route to make a heavy topic more digestible.
• Her take on promotion as storytelling, not selling.
• How she filters advice from all the "experts” while staying aligned with her bigger vision.

CONNECT WITH GIGI

Website: gigirobinson.com

Instagram: @itsgigirobinson

TikTok: @itsgigirobinson

👉 CLICK HERE to write the first draft of your nonfiction or memoir written in 33 days!

...even if you don't have a cabin in th...

This week, I’m joined by publicist Emily Florence, and we’re talking about how to set publicity goals before you start chasing them, why a Today Show appearance might not sell nearly as many books as you think, and how to make your marketing feel less like shouting into the void and more like having conversations that matter.

Here’s what we get into:

• Why knowing your goals (career author? credibility? visibility?) makes all the difference
• The surprising truth about big media hits (and what works better)
• Building an author platform that doesn’t rely on hacking the algorithm or pretending to be someone you’re not
• How to build a real-deal, supportive author community (no fake “collabs” required)

👉 CLICK HERE to get the first draft of your nonfiction or memoir written in 33 days!

...even if you don't have a cabin in the wilderness, 4 uninterrupted hours a day to write, or confidence that you're a "real" writer. No overwhelm, no confusion. Just simple, actionable steps.

Bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz has published nearly 80 books (yes, 80), and in this episode, she shares what it really takes to build and sustain a long-term writing career. From surviving the shifting tides of publishing to protecting what gets you "in the mood" to write, she shares the kind of wisdom every author loves hearing. 

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

🎉 Melissa's advice: Don’t quit your day job until the math says you can

🎉 Success is wonderful; it also resets with every new book

🎉 How to protect your creative hours (8am–1pm, in her case)

🎉 Books are logic puzzles, not lightning strikes (I love this analogy!)

🎉 If social media isn’t fun, don’t do it. Period. (Who's cheering?)

🎉 The final sprint before deadline is where the magic (and panic) often happen

Whether you're writing book 1 or book 71, this episode's packed with truths you'll be grateful for.

CONNECT WITH MELISSA

Website: melissa-delacruz.com

Instagram: @authormelissadelacruz

X: @MelissadelaCruz

Faceboo...

Thriller author N.L. Blandford isn't afraid to go dark—like, murder scene dark—and she absolutely loves it.

In this episode, she talks about writing gritty thrillers with complex villains you’ll root for and recoil from. Natasha never planned to become an author. She just wanted to cross “write a book” off her bucket list. Now she’s five books in, spanning multiple series, and shows no signs of slowing down.

We talk about:

• Why she never plots in advance (hint: her characters have strong opinions)
• Her secret weapon for book sales (spoiler: it’s not bookstores)
• Why she chose to publish “wide” to support Canadian platforms like Kobo
• What she’s loving and learning while writing a new series about a fictional mob family in Nova Scotia
• Why “show vs. tell” trips up so many new writers (and how she works through it)

CONNECT WITH N.L. BLANDFORD

Website: www.nlblandford.com

Instagram: @nlblandford

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nlblandford

Books: Bookshop.org, Amazon.com

STILL ...

She’s back! One of my all-time favorite guests, Neely Tubati-Alexander, returns to talk about her third novel, Courtroom Drama. As always, she brings a refreshing, no-nonsense take on staying creative and productive in the unpredictable world of publishing.

INSIDE THE EPISODE

📚 Why Neely sprints through her first drafts instead of obsessing over every word

📚 How she embraces her "pantser" style (yep, she often writes the beginning and end first, with no outline in sight)

📚 What it’s really like to write books in the cracks of everyday life, and how reality TV, genre-hopping, and real-life fascinations all sneak into her stories

📚 Using the writing of the next book to stay grounded when the release of the current one is causing stress

📚 Why research is her secret creative fuel, from courtroom procedures to video game design

📚 How the evolution of publishing is finally making room for authors to explore their full range of creativith

Neely’s approach is honest, energizing, and...

What happens when your first novel becomes a global sensation, and your next one takes nearly a decade?

In this episode, bestselling author Nicola Kraus (of The Nanny Diaries fame) gets delightfully honest about what it really takes to write, edit, and publish a book in today’s ever-shifting landscape. From the high highs to the humbling in-betweens, she shares what she’s learned about trusting your process (even when it’s slooooow), navigating a traditional publishing world that’s barely recognizable, and why writing in the present tense might just save your story.

Inside the episode:

• Why her latest novel took nearly a decade to write and release
• How editing is actually where the magic happens (even if it feels like a root canal)
• The sneaky power of tense, and why it matters more than you think
• What authors really need to know about publishing today (spoiler: it’s not just “write the book”)
• The simple truth about how readers find books they love 

ABOUT NICOLA KRAUS

Nic...