Podcast: So You Want to be a Writer

In Episode 80 of So you want to be a writer: One Direction releases a children’s book (say what?), how to use author events to grow your fan base and sell more books, why dads reading to kids is important, things to think about when co-authoring a book, it’s time to start

In Episode 79 of So you want to be a writer: What writers should’t do on social media, a typewriter that pours beer (instant writing reward!), protecting your freelance identity, how to capture someone else’s voice and be a kick-butt ghostwriter, fashion bloggers are now powerful, the new book Big Magic by

In Episode 78 of So you want to be a writer: Valerie reads 270 short stories, book 3 of Allison Tait’s “The Mapmaker Chronicles”, Bauer Media shutting down Zoo Weekly magazine, what skills a Vogue editor needs, do you agree with brand journalism? Faulty freelance writer assumptions, how to fit freelance writing around

In Episode 77 of So you want to be a writer: What literary agents want to see before signing you, cool tech tools for writers, Stop Capitalising Everything, beware of vanity publishers, and some of the best advice from writing veteran Stephen King. Meet food critic and Writer in Residence Larissa Dubecki,

In Episode 76 of So you want to be a writer: Australia’s podcasting boom, 51 words you might be mispronouncing, freelancing mistakes newbies make, the book Woe is I by Patricia O’Conner, a magazine for cats by cats (yes, you read that correctly), Writer in Residence Stephanie Clifford, author of Everybody Rise,

In Episode 75 of So you want to be a writer: Tourists pay to run a Scottish bookshop for a week, who exactly is an “emerging” writer, manspreading, fur baby, and other terms that have made it into the Oxford Dictionary, the ballpoint pen’s role in the demise of cursive handwriting, revisiting

In Episode 74 of So you want to be a writer: The 2015 winners of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, 10 things we think we need to do before we start writing, Mark Latham being weird at the Melbourne Writers Festival, author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris, forthright about authors’ rights

In Episode 73 of So you want to be a writer: Grab your blind date with a book, quirky micro book reviews, one traveller’s odd reading habit, an embarrassing mix up at the Kennedy Awards, the book “Write Better, Faster” by Monica Leonelle, what uber-blogger Heather from Dooce said at this year’s

In Episode 72 of So you want to be a writer: Cover reveal for Allison Tait’s latest instalment of The Mapmaker Chronicles, brutally honest writing advice from brutally honest writers, US bookshop offers refunds for Go Set a Watchman, an author sends out manuscripts out under a masculine pseudonym, how women authors

In Episode 71 of So you want to be a writer: Five essential podcasts for writers, National Bookshop Day, Richard Linklater top choice to direct The Rosie Project movie, the psychology behind writer’s block, an awesome interactive map of the most famous road trips in American literature, Reservoir Dad the movie, text

We’re on a break this week while Valerie moves house and argues with a certain telco provider about promised installation dates… but in the meantime, we thought we’d share your top 10 podcast episodes for 2015 (…so far!) 1. Ep 45 – Lisa Heidke Our first episode back for the year! We

In Episode 70 of So you want to be a writer: The hotly debated “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee, the exciting life of the original Nancy Drew author, cool new Lego visual storytelling app, a 15 minute writing productivity hack, the difference between comprises and consists, Writers in Residence brother-and-sister

In Episode 69 of So you want to be a writer:  The printed word is alive and well in luxurious libraries, maps of fictional worlds, a cunning way to write a best seller and lose weight, science confirms walking fosters creativity, great writing advice from children’s book editors, the difference between

In Episode 68 of So you want to be a writer:  Stunning sticky page markers, why journalists should care more about media business models, Ruth Rendell competition, Random House’s kid/teen writing comp, Screenwriter in Residence Tim Gooding, your readability score, protocol when following up with an editor on a commissioned piece,

In Episode 67 of So you want to be a writer: Ten works of literature that were seriously strenuous to write, Eat, Pray, Love anthology looking for submissions, The Sydney Morning Herald to reverse “dumb idea” and bring subediting back in-house, Darren Rowse launches new Problogger podcast, Writer in Residence Andy Griffiths,

In Episode 66 of So you want to be a writer: The word nerd test, what a blogger’s morning routine looks like, new books from EL James and JK Rowling, the book ‘Modern Australian Usage: A Practical Guide for Writers and Editors’ by Nicholas Hudson, why scheduling will make you a better

In Episode 65 of So you want to be a writer: Valerie and Allison congratulate AWC graduate Belinda Williams on her latest novel The Pitch published with Momentum, they discuss two new content marketing agencies launched in Australia, HarperCollins’ new Book Bliss, the 29 Minute Book service for those who want to be

In Episode 64 of So you want to be a writer: Essay writing competitions with real estate prizes, co-written books, 27 interesting facts about words that you probably didn’t need to know, to outline or not to outline your novel, Damian Madden’s weekly “creativity interview”, how to approach celebrities for interviews, the

In Episode 63 of So you want to be a writer: Australian writers on #WhereIWrite, the ethics of branded content marketing, famous authors who were rejected by publishers, the superpower all published writers have (and you can have too!), Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner on art, a street map made up of

In Episode 62 of So you want to be a writer: Sydney Writers’ Festival wrap up, the most borrowed books from Australian libraries, how much (or little) publications pay freelance writers, the rise and demise of the paragraph, crime short stories inspired by Bruce Springsteen songs, the book ‘How I Became