The Life of a Publisher Part 2
Welcome back to Part 2 of Life of a Publisher.
Join Pam on The Convo Couch as she chats to Rebecca Saunders, Head of Fiction at Hachette Australia.
Anybody who listened to Part1 it will know that at the end of that conversation, Pam asked Rebecca about whether an author needs to get a manuscript report or even a profession edit done before submitting to a publisher. And then ended the episode on this cliffhanger!
In this episode Rebecca answers that question and covers a whole lot of other things about what happens once your manuscript is picked up by the publishing house: how the editorial process works, cover selection and design, author branding, going in a new direction as an author, what is selling well in Australia today, and what Rebecca is currently seeking.
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, enjoy!
Video of the full chat (Parts 1 & 2) out soon!
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The Life of a Publisher Part 1: Rebecca Saunders, Head of Fiction, Hachette Australia.
After recapping her holiday reads, and farewelling Anna from Anna’s Shop Around the Corner, Pam chats to Rebecca Saunders, Head of Fiction at Hachette Australia. Rebecca started her career as a journalist and went into publishing in London where she spent 15 years working at various publishers before coming back to Australia to take up the role as Head of Fiction at Hachette.
Rebecca publishes fabulous authors like Joanna Nell, Kelly Rimmer and Natasha Lester. In this interview she talks about her publishing career, a typical day at the office, what it's like to be a very busy publisher, how an acquisitions meeting works, the role of social media, author branding and so much more. So much on fact this is a two part episode!
Also news on two tickets to see Caroline Baum interview Nadia Wheatley about Charmian Clift at next weekend’s South Coast Writer’s Festival.
So grab a cup, sit back and settle in for part one of the life of a fiction publisher with Rebecca Saunders.
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New Writing Directions Part 2: Meredith Jaffé, The Tricky Art of Forgiveness
Today's episode is the second in a two-part focus on writers taking new directions in their author career. Last week Pam chatted to Sasha Wasley and this week's guest is Meredith Jaffé.
Meredith is the author of four novels for adults: The Fence, The Making of Christina, The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison and her new release The Tricky Art of Forgiveness. She has also published a middle grade novel, The Horse Warrior and was the founding director of Storyfest a fabulous writing festival on the south coast of NSW. With a break of four years between her second and third adult fiction titles, and a new publisher, Meredith has moved into a new phase of her author career with the publication of her two latest novels.
Meredith has a wealth of writing experience and in this episode talks about her new release, working with a different publisher and what it's like to now be on a book a year schedule. So grab a bevvy of your choice, and join Pam and Meredith Jaffé on the Writes4Women Convo Couch.
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New Writing Directions Part 1: Sasha Wasley, A Caravan Like a Canary
Outback romance series: Dear Banjo, True Blue and Love Song. She also writes in the paranormal genre, under the pen name S.D. Wasley, for both adults and young adults. Last year Sasha published her first contemporary fiction title with Pantera Press, Spring Clean for the Peach Queen, and will soon be going into middle grade fiction. Sasha wears a lot of different writing hats, has a couple of pen names and a lot of diverse interests, including a new genre that she talks about at the end of this interview.
In this interview Pam chats to Sasha about her new release, A Caravan Like a Canary, published last month by Pantera , as well as talking about the new direction in Sasha's author career and how that has come about.
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New Release Feature Author: Kelly Rimmer, The German Wife
Today's guest is someone whose name is synonymous with amazingly written, turn the page, contemporary and historical fiction novels: Kelly Rimmer.
Kelly is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of contemporary and historical fiction, including books like The Secret Daughter, The Things We Cannot Say and The Warsaw Orphan. Her new release is The German Wife, a dual timeline historical fiction title set in Huntsville, Alabama in the early years of the space race and in the years prior to and during the Nazi regime. It's a story that tugs at your heartstrings so well, because Kelly's fiction is powerful and grounded in the whole range of human experience and emotion.
In this episode Pam chats to Kelly about the book, her writing process and connecting with her characters. Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy this fabulous chat with Kelly Rimmer.
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Craft of Writing: Emotional Honesty in Writing with Lee Kofman
This month's Craft of Writing episode is a chat with Dr Lee Kofman about her new non-fiction release, The Writer Laid Bare. It's part memoir, part a book about writing, and a fabulous insight into a writer's process.
Lee is a Russian born Israeli-Australian author of six books, and an editor of two anthologies. A writing teacher and mentor based in Melbourne, Lee is multi-lingual and has been published in Israel in Hebrew but now writes exclusively in English. She is the author of two memoirs, Imperfect, which was shortlisted for the NIB Literary Award, and The Dangerous Bride. She's also edited two anthologies of personal essays featuring prominent Australian writers, Rebellious Daughters, and Split, both published by Ventura Press.
Lee was the blogger in residence for Writers Victoria for three years and her blog about writing was a finalist for the Best Australian Blogs in 2014. It was also the origin of her latest release, the writing and reading guide The Writer Laid Bare: Mastering Emotional Honesty in a Writer's Art Craft and Life which is the book we chat about on this podcast.
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New Release Feature Author: Megan Albany with Cassie Hamer
Writes4Women host Pamela Cook shares what she's currently reading before handing over to guest host Cassie Hamer who chats with debut author Megan Albany about her debut release The Very Last List of Vivian Walker.
Cassie Hamer is a Sydney based author whose debut novel After the Party was an Australian bestseller. Her second book, The End of Cuthbert Close was published in 2020, and Cassie's third novel, The Truth About Faking It will be in stores in early May.
Megan Albany loves to bring humour and joy to the creative process and believes everyone has a story to tell. She has spent over 25 years working as a journalist, editor, scriptwriter, songwriter and composer. The Very Last List of Vivian Walker is about Vivian who although dying, still has a huge number of things left to finish on her to-do list.
Cassie and Megan chat about writing a debut novel, about the soundtrack for the book, about how Megan has used some of her own experiences in the story, and about tackling the difficult topic of death.
So grab a cuppa and join Cassie and Megan on the Writes4Women Convo Couch.
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April New Release Feature Author: Genevieve Novak with Meredith Jaffé
Welcome to the April New Release Feature Author with guest host Meredith Jaffé chatting to debut author Genevieve Novak.
Meredith is the author of four novels for adults, The Tricky Art of Forgiveness (released just a few weeks ago and, The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison (currently in the Better reading Top 100 books), The Making of Christina and The Fence. She's also written the first in a children's series, Horse Warrior, which was published in 2019 and has contributed a short story emergency undies to the 2019 Funny Bones anthology.
Genevieve Novak is our guest on the podcast today.
Genevieve is a writer from Melbourne who writes romantic comedies, content, and really long text messages. After studying creative writing at the University of Adelaide, Genevieve worked as a copywriter, social media manager and producer in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. Her debut novel, No Hard Feelings has just been released by Harper Collins.
This is a great chat between a more experienced author and a debut novelist, as they share their experiences of writing, and chat about the book.
Grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy this episode with Meredith Jaffé and Genevieve Novak.
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Plan Your Writing Life with Audrey Hughey
Audrey Hughey is the founder of the Author Transformation Alliance, a community dedicated to uplifting and empowering authors at all stages to reach their vision of success. Step by step with a powerful network of support to guide them. Writing became Audrey's passion from a young age and notebooks quickly filling with high fantasy and science fiction story.
Audrey first saw her byline in print in July of 2015 since attaining her BA in English writing and her ma in ancient and classical history, or she has returned to completing her works in progress alongside. Serving her fellow writers by educating self-marketing authors on the finer points of leveraging the digital world to reach more readers when she's not writing or working with other authors.
Audrey's Author Planner is an invaluable tool for writers and in this episode she talks about the importance of planning, gives great tips for getting words on the page and shares her business wisdom.
Grab a cuppa and enjoy Pam's chat with Audrey Hughey.
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Convo Couch Special with Rae Cairns & Dinuka McKenzie
Welcome to a Convo Couch Special: debut crime/thriller authors Rae Cairns and Dinuka McKenzie chat about their novels, paths to publication, writing processes and publishing experiences.
Rae Cairns is a former youth worker turned crime writer. She writes crime with heart; thriller and suspense novels featuring everyman (and woman) characters. Her first novel, The Good Mother, was shortlisted for Best Debut Crime Fiction in the 2021 NED KELLY awards. It draws on her background as a youth worker mentoring disadvantaged youth, many of them children of the paramilitaries, in Northern Ireland during the final years of ‘The Troubles’.
Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian writer and book addict. Her debut crime-fiction manuscript The Torrent won the 2020 Banjo Prize (entered as ‘Flood Debris’) and was published by HarperCollins Australia in February 2022. When not writing, Dinuka works in the environmental sector and volunteers as part of the team behind the Writers’ Unleashed Festival.
Grab a cuppa and sit back and eavesdrop as Rae and Dinuka talk all things books and publishing.
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Cultivating Creativity with Eliza Henry Jones
In this Heart of Writing episode Pam chats to Eliza Henry Jones about the creative process, writing trauma, her life on her beautiful flower farm in the Yarra Valley, horse riding, motherhood...and more.
Eliza is an author, freelance writer and PhD candidate based on a little flower farm on Wurundjeri land in the Yarra Valley.
Her latest novel Salt and Skin will be published by Ultimo Press in August 2022.
She is the author of In the Quiet (2015), Ache (2017) and the young adult novels P is for Pearl (2018) and How to Grow a Family Tree (2020). Her novels have been listed for numerous awards including the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, QLD Literary Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Indie Awards, ABIA Awards and CBCA Awards.
Eliza is currently a PhD candidate at Deakin University, examining how historic sites of trauma manifest in the environment and through more-than-human bodies.
Grab a cuppa and sit back and eavesdrop as Pam chats to Eliza about a diverse range of writing topics and finds out what's at the heart of her writing.
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New Release Feature Author: Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
Today's guest is Shankari Chandran, chatting about her new release Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens.
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is Shankari's third novel. Her debut, Song of the Sungod and her second, The Barrier, have been short and long listed for international literary awards and have been optioned for film. Chai Time is receiving rave reviews. It's a story about family and memory, community and race, but it's ultimately a love letter to storytelling and how stories shape, who we are.
In this episode, Pam chats to Shankari about her path to publication, the inspiration for the novel and the difficulties of writing about race.
Grab a cuppa - or a cup of chai - and join Pam and Shankari on the Writes4Women Convo Couch.
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Emerging Authors Panel: Holly Craig, Valerie Miller & Alicia Thompson
Something a little different in this episode…
A Convo Couch chat with three emerging authors: Holly Craig, Valerie Miller and Alicia Thompson.
This is the first panel chat on Writes4Women so I'm really excited today to introduce you to these authors. Grab a cuppa and sit back as Holly, Valerie and Alicia share their writing journeys, the highs and lows so far and what’s happening with their writing.
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New Release Feature Author: Lizzie Pook chats to Maya Linnell
Today's New release Feature Author episode features debut author Lizzie Pook chatting to best-selling rural fiction author Maya Linnell.
Lizzie's historical fiction title, Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter is a rollicking adventure set in 1896 on the rugged coastline near Broome, Western Australia. Her protagonist is Eliza Brightwell, a feisty young woman who sets out to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance. And as she scours the streets of Bannon Bay and the seas beyond she uncovers corruption, prejudice, blackmail, and lots of long buried secrets.
Guest host Maya Linnell is a best-selling author of rural fiction. She lives in Victoria and her novels are set in country locations that are almost as gorgeous as her own property. Maya has appeared on the podcast previously to talk about one or the other of her amazing rural fiction books, but this time she's asking the questions.
Grab a cuppa and enjoy eavesdropping on Maya and Lizzie's chat.
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Heart of Writing: Josephine Moon, Autistic in Residence
Josephine Moon writes warmhearted contemporary mashups of uplit and foodie fiction: stories about life, love, careers, and food. Sometimes set in Australia, sometimes overseas and always with a great feel-good vibe, Jo's novels are published internationally and her collective sales are approaching a quarter of a million.
On March 26th, 2021, Jo came out as autistic. It's an experience she describes in her podcast (Autist in Residence) as terrifying. The diagnosis has made a lot of sense of things that have happened in Jo's life and she's made it part of her mission to share her journey with the world in the hope of helping others.
In this episode she talks about how the diagnosis has impacted her writing and creative process, and how the coming out has affected her life.
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Craft of Writing: Lyn Yeowart, The Silent Listener
In this Craft of Writing episode Pam chats to debut author Lyn Yeowart about her writing process for The Silent Listener, including using fact to create fiction, writing trauma and the role of voice and tense in creating plot and character.
There's also a Heart of Writing element to this conversation as Lyn talks about imposter syndrome and finding the courage to put her work out into the world.
Lyn has a lifelong love of books and words and has worked as a writer across many fields but the The Silent Listener is her first published novel. It's an unforgettable literary suspense novel set in the dark, gothic heart of rural Australia, propelling the reader back and forth between the 1940s, 1960s and 1980s. Dubbed as 'Australia's Where The Crawdads Sing', it's a gripping, beautifully written book with plot twists that will keep you turning the pages until you reach the end.
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Merry Christmas from Pam and Writes4Women
Pam pops into your ears and onto your screens to wish you all a very happy Christmas and say a massive thank you for your support in 2021.
There's also a few hints about guests and plans for 2022 and news on a survey where you're invited to share your thoughts on the podcast, provide guest suggestions and be in the running to win a $30AUD book voucher.
Stay safe everyone, have a happy Christmas and see you all in 2022.
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Heart of Writing: Nikki Gemmell's Creative Journey - Dissolve
In the final episode for the year Pam talks to best-selling international author Nikki Gemmell about her memoir Dissolve: The Journey of a Creative Woman Roaring to Life in a Man's World.
Nikki is the best-selling author of thirteen novels and four works of non-fiction. She pens a weekly column for The Australian newspaper and also writes novels for children. Four of Nikki’s books, Shiver, Cleave, The Bride Stripped Bare and The Book of Rapture, made the longlist of “Favourite Australian Novels” as chosen by readers of the Australian Book Review.
Dissolve documents the struggle between love and creativity that initially broke Nikki's heart but resulted in the writing of her debut novel Shiver and the blossoming of her career.
Grab a cuppa and join Pam and Nikki on The Convo Couch for the final conversation of 2021.
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Christmas Special: Bookish Gift Recommendations from Pam & Friends
Join Pam and a bunch of writer friends as they share the books they'll be gifting this Christmas and the ones they're looking forward to reading over the holidays.
You'll be hearing from all members of The Inkwell: Pamela Cook, Michelle Barraclough, Laura Boon, Rae Cairns, Terri Green, Joanna Nell, Penelope Janu, Terri Green and Angella Whitton, along with Sandie Docker, Meredith Jaffe, Leanne Lovegrove and Maya Linell.
So many fabulous book recommendations from crime to romance, historical to uplit...and some ideas for kids too! If you're looking for gift ideas - or just love to find out about books to add to your pile - don't miss this episode!
With one more episode to go for 2021, Pam also gives an (almost) end of year round up and writing update.
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Convo Couch Facebook LIVE : Fiona McIntosh, The Spy's Wife
Fiona McIntosh is a bestselling Australian author of 40 books.
Currently known for historical fiction titles, Fiona also writes crime, fantasy for both adults and children and time slip. She's also penned one non-fiction title: How to Write Your Blockbuster. Fiona spent many years in PR, sales and marketing in the travel industry and her very first attempt for at writing fiction garnered the attention of a global publisher. She's been writing fiction ever since. She also runs fantastic masterclasses for writers, and has an alumni of over 400 hundred students.
The Spy's Wife, a page-turning tale os betrayal, espionage and love set in pre WW@ England and Germany, is Fiona's latest release.
Fiona recently joined Pam on the Writes4Women Convo Couch to discuss the book, her writing process and to share some top tips for authors.
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