Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
The Shit No One Tells You About WritingEpisodes
Episodes of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
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In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a children's picture book and a literary fiction query. They discuss avoiding vagueness, no matter the genre; using illustrator notes in a picture book pitch; the need for tension, e
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest agent, Jo Ramsay, to critique two queries. They discuss the issue of withholding too much plot in a query; highlighting the stakes in your query; the importance of first lines in a
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss choosing a unique title for your work; having a strong plot connection between your main characters in a multi POV novel; avoiding situations where the agent has to make too many assum
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss keeping your author bio paragraph concise; the need for causality in a plot paragraph; paying attention to the language you use in a query so you don't create confusion surrounding th
In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews game designer, curator, and writer, Holly Gramazio to discuss her debut novel, The Husbands. The two discuss Holly's journey to publication; the novel’s inspiration and genre; how game design len
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by Ron, to discuss his query submission. They chat about Ron's curiosity-inducing first query paragraph; the line between giving away too much plot and sharing just enough in a que
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss the need for external pressure in your major dramatic question; the three sets of questions that create tension at the beginning of a story; surprising your reader in your first five
In today's Books with Hooks segment, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by two acquisitions editors at Atria Books, Elizabeth Hitti and Melanie Iglesias. Melanie is a senior editor at Atria Books and has worked on various bestselling titles, in
In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss the importance of specifying between awards for published and unpublished manuscripts; the difficulty with trying to sell a book whose main character’s race and culture differs
In today's Bumper February Bonus Episode, Bianca kicks it off by interviewing interviews tech anthropologist and author, Nikki Payne. They discuss her latest novel, Sex, Lies, and Sensibility, a retelling of the classic, Sense and Sensibility;
In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by emerging author, Sarah. They discuss ways to make a novel sound less quiet in a query; the necessity of a hook; when it's acceptable to comp to a hugely successful novel
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly discuss small tweaks for an overall 'fantastic' query; a good example of framing and planting curiosity seeds; starting a novel with a scene where the protagonist is waking up; being careful
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique an upmarket/southern-gothic query and a book club romance. They discuss a "perfect" first query paragraph; the importance of accurate framing in a query; when a content warning is ne
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss the need for specificity with regard to plot details when you have a more psychological book/concept; avoiding too much backstory in the opening pages; the need for your first chapter
In today's January Bonus Episode, Bianca interviews Jami Attenberg, author of 1000 Words: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round. They discuss Jami's 1000 Words of Summer newsletter and the idea of being a
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by guest listener, Erica. They discuss the need to illustrate external plot points within a query letter, even if the book is more quiet/internal; using plot as scaffolding for the
In today's Books with Hooks, CeCe and Carly discuss what agents look for with a resubmission; the issue with starting with themes in a query letter; the need for your plot and stakes to have a 'domino' effect; infusing character description wit
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe discuss the importance of eliminating any confusion in your query; the distinction between having a 'perfect' query letter and one that does the job; how plausibility issues may or may not be a proble
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest Alicia Clancy, executive editor at Lake Union Publishing. They discuss the need to establish what is real and what is made up in a fantasy query; the importance of physical movemen
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss an example of an excellent hook and query letter in general; the issues with beginning your novel with a cliched scene; the importance of emotional layers in interiority, especially w
In today's December Bonus Episode, Bianca interviews Sarah Lariviere, YA author of The Bad Kid, Time Travel for Love and Profit, and the upcoming, Riot Act. They discuss Sarah's decision to base her latest novel in her hometown; pinpointing wha
In today's Books with Hooks, CeCe, Carly, and Bianca are joined by Harvey to discuss his submission. They chat about illustrating plot escalation in a query; boosting SEO through your title choice; stakes that are personally important to the pr
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca discuss a historical mystery and a women's fiction query. They chat about whether starting from a male or female POV may (or may not) affect how agents request pages; why an author whose work
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by guest, Ronnie Alvarado, a senior editor at Simon Element. They discuss two queries, one of which includes a resubmission. The four discuss why agents might pass on a resubmissio
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly and CeCe critique two listener query letters, one fantasy and one middle-grade fiction. During which, they discuss the need for characters to physically move around and the idea that a lack of movement
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