Serious Writer Podcast: Recent Episodes
FFPP
Welcome to the SW Family No matter where you are in your writing journey – just starting out, working on proposals, looking for an agent, or marketing your book – we’re happy you’re here and we’re happy to help. – Co-Owners, Cyle Young & Bethany Jett
Picture book author and host of PB Spotlight Brian Gehrlein shares three best practices for picture book writers, including:
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A process for reading and analyzing picture books: Determine what makes them work and what makes you want to read them. What’s motivating page turns. What’s known and unknown, what’s directly and indirectly being said?
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The opportunity of pagination to go from manuscript to a book.
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Art notes and setting up moments for the art to tell the story as well as the power of a wordless/nearly wordless spread.
Additionally, if you want to work with Brian, use promo code "BriansWolves25off" for 25% off. Check out his website here: https://www.pbspotlight.com.
We hope you enjoy this episode!
In this episode Cyle and Bethany discuss why everybody should own the Christian book market guide and the importance of using this tool to cut your teeth in the writing world. Dancing on the head of the Pen discussion and how it helped Bethany beat writer's block. Tune to further your knowledge of the writing world and further develop your craft.
Cyle Young, Bethany Jett, and Cody Morehead are filming together because Bethany is visiting the great state of Michigan.
In this episode, we announce Bethany's new venture as an agent with the Cyle Young Literary Elite agency and share how things look on this side of the agent's desk.
Also, we're planning a Serious Writer trip to Itay in 2023. More details coming soon.
In this episode, Serious Writer co-owners Cyle Young and Bethany Jett share some interesting fun facts and share a few crazy not-so-commonly known writing vocabulary words, including mariko aoki, which explains why you might need a bathroom break when checking out books at the library or bookstore.
Play Along:
- Can you guess which early 20th-century poet slept in a coffin?
- What famous children's author had a secret closet of hats?
- What type of rotten fruit was kept in an author's desk drawer to help him write?
Also, Cyle's wife Patty gave us full permission to air this episode.
All we know is that if she hadn't, Cyle might really wish we had his own secret hiding space, full of hats or not.
Articles on mariko aoki:https://www.bustle.com/articles/102525-why-do-i-have-to-poop-in-bookstores-mariko-aoki-phenomenon-explains-the-weird-reasons-why
Each week, the co-owners of Serious Writer bring you info to help you get further ahead in your writing career and marketing journey. And somehow, each episode contains some type of blooper that we've chosen to leave unedited for your listening pleasure. This week, we present to you an episode on how to write nonfiction and our phrase of the week: "Mooses" of the Adirondack. Enjoy!
In this episode, Cyle Young and Bethany Jett continue the conversation about how to diversify your income as a writer.
This is part 2 of three episodes where we reference an article by author and literary agent Mary DeMuth: That article is here: https://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/author/marydemuth/
Some options include:
- Traditional publishing contracts with large advance (& royalties)
- Self-publishing
- Ghostwriting
- Work-for-hire & Freelance writing
- Copywriting
- Grant writing
- Participating in content creation for cash (ex. Reels Bonuses)
- Create content for social platforms, grow an audience, and earn from your views
- Create ancillary products to sell
[update: The Twitter buyout is constantly changing. This episode was filmed April 2022.]
In a surprising move, South African-born American entrepreneur Elon Musk proposed to buy out Twitter after previously acquiring 9.1% of the company's stock for $2 billion on April 14th, 2022. With all the controversy surrounding the Twitter buyout Bethany Jett and Cyle Young answer, the question of whether is Twitter dead for the writing world?
Diversifying Your Writing Income - Part 1 of 3
Author and literary agent Mary DeMuth wrote this article on diversifying your writer income. In this first part of the series, Serious Writer co-owners Cyle Young and Bethany Jett discuss why having a few avenues of income is a smart decision.
Episode 7
Everything you learned in school, is wrong. Adverbs are bad verbs. The writing world is different than the educational writing world.
- Go to a writers conference. Now.
- Read in your genre and subgenre. Learn the style of that genre.
- Get the resources you need from the beginning. (Emotions thesaurus & Story Trumps Structure)
TIP: The 1st book might not be published.
You can practice into publish later.
Fear: I won’t have another story after this one.
Tip: Learn the rules first before you break them.
Modern story is based on 3-act structure. Act 1 is short. Act 2 is rising action over the middle and it’s longer; character development. Climax. Act 3 is descending action.
Fantasy: Hero’s Journey of the 3-Act Structure. - Know how to structure a story.
- Set a regular writing time period or a daily word count. Earnest Hemingway - writes 500 words a day. Stephen King writes 2000 words a day. Jack London - 1500. Mark Twain - 1400. Michael Crighton - 10,000 words - Jurassic Park. Suggestion - start lower until you’re consistent.
- Just write and don’t edit.
- Write in scene, not sequence. The Tik Tok guide to writing a book.
Tip: Know the word count for your genre.
Bonus: Write flash fiction.
Tools: Word Scrivener
Resources
SW Fiction Proposal
The Emotions Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman
Story Trumps Structure
https://stevenjames.net/books/story-trumps-structure/
James Scott Bell - Write from the Middle
https://writershelpingwriters.net/2014/03/james-scott-bell-write-middle-method/
In this episode Bethany Jett and Cyle Young discuss:
- How to create a hook for your book
- Fiction and Non-Fiction
- Marketing as an author
Timestamps:
0:33 Do you need Platform?
5:20 Will this book sell?
6:00 ROI
11:01 Borrowed Platform
15:51 Does the publisher want a good book?
21:01 A Little goes a long way
22:35 The big C word
26:48 Try new things
30:10 Expectations
In this episode Cyle Young picks Cody Morehead's (Serious Writer Creative Director) brain on where to start with your website. Cyle and Cody cover where to start, why you may want to pay for this, and tips for those who dare to tackle this task themselves.
- 00:21- Children's Writing
- 1:21 How does your Idea Fit the Market
- 4:00 Book Style
- 6:55 Start Quick
- 10:54 Non-Fiction Know Your Why
- 12:59 Define Your Target Audience
- 17:43 Set Goals
- 19:14 Write in Chunks
- 26:34 Loosen Up
- 33:01 Marketing and Platform
- 42:18 Closing Remarks
Some great quotes:
- “The ones that work the hardest and hustle the most get the book deals.” - Cyle Young
- “If someone tells you that you need platform, they’re just eliminating their competition.” — Bethany Jett
- “…net of minutia…” - Cyle Young
- “You don’t get a pass for being new.” — Bethany Jett
- “An erratic writing life produces erratic results. A consistent writing life produces consistent results.” — Cyle Young
LINK:
Bethany quoted Seth Godin as building the platform “three years” ago. Here’s the actual quote we need to share:
“The best time to start that was seven years ago. The second best time is right now. So start!” - Seth Godin
Reference link: https://writetodone.com/seth-godin-part-2/
Timestamps
In Episode 2 of the Serious Writer Podcast Bethany Jett and Cyle Young discuss:
1:26 10 Tips for children's writing
1:42 Moral Delima
2:58 Entertainment
4:45 Hangout with kids (Know Your audience)
10:39 Short and Sweet
12:06 The mentor influencer research method
15:05 Social media and research
22:09 Fiction Writing Tips
23:29 Don't start with weather
25:16 Prologues
32:21 NO Exclamation Points!!!!!
35:55 Don't use Dialects
38:15 Conclusion, Second Annual Intensive and Contest Details
In the very first Serious Writer Podcast Bethany Jett and Cyle Young discuss:
1:20
Tips and exercises for writers
6:38
Understanding story structure & Character development
10:11
Write to Sell
11:40
Write now edit later, get feedback from others, think about publishing
12:53
Non-Fiction
13:49
How not to write a book? (Susan Shapiro)
19:27
Storyboarding
26:00
Marketing
33:02
Closing statements and Contest Details