DIY MFA Radio

Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I'm interviewing Calee Lee, the founder and CEO of Xist Publishing, the largest independent digital-first children's publisher. She is also the author of more than 15 books for children. Dedicated to helping kids develop a lifetime love of reading, she founded Xist Publishing in 2011 to provide beautiful books for the touchscreen generation. Today she'll share insights about alternative paths to publishing. For writers who don't want to go with abig 5 publisher but also don't want to self-publish, there is an alternate route. In this episode Calee tells us about medium and small press publishers, in particular her own company, Xist Publishing, which is a digital-first independent children's publisher. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/051

Hey Word Nerds! Welcoem to another episode of DIY MFA Radio. Back in June, I went on my first mini writing retreat right here in my howntown of NYC. I didn't go too far, just a couple of miles, but I got a hotel and spent about 24 hours immersed in my writing. In those 24 hours, I managed to knock out around 7000 words of the manuscript I've been working on. To give you some perspective, on a good week at home, I'm happy if I get 4000 words. And that's in a whole week! I discovered I could hammer out almost double the number of words in a 24-hour writing retreat than I do on a regular week at home. What a HUGE return on investment! This retreat taught me that occasionally putting my life on hold and immersing myself in writing (even if just for a little while) can have a huge impact on my manuscript. Especially since my first deadline is only a few weeks away. To learn more about this retreat, and get some actionable tips to help you create one of your very own, check out this episode. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/050

Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I'm so excited to interview Beatriz Williams. She is the author of international best sellers Overseas, A Hundred Summers, and The Secret Life of Violet Grant. Her new book, Tiny Little THing, hit bookstores on June 23 and is out now. I'm reading it right now and let me just say, it's incredible! In his episode, Beatriz and I talk about her creative decisions as she crafted this fascinating book. DIYMFA.com/049

Today I want to talk to you about a crucial part of my own creative life: The Brain Book. It's my portable office. When I have the Brain Book with me, I know I can be creative and productive anytime, anywhere. Not only does the Brain Book contain my book's outline, my to-do list, etc., it also carries little totems and mascots so that I don't have to be attached to any place in particular when I want (or need) to write. In this episode, I'm going to give you a quick rundown of what my brainbook looks like. Then I'm going to challenge you to build your own Brain Book and share pictures of it with me! To see pictures of the Brain Boon in action, follow me on Instagram. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/048

Hey Word Nerds! Thanks so much for being here with me today. We're going to talk about a bit of DIY MFA's core philosophy and I'll teach you a game-changing techique that has helped writers turn their writing lives around completely. I usually only share this technique with my DIY MFA 101 course, but it is SO important that I wanted to talk about it on the podcast today. If you take only one lesson away from DIY MFA, I hope this is the one. This small change can have a HUGE impact on your writing. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/047

Welcome to our official Book Expo America (BEA) 2015 recap. In this episode, I pull together insights I gained from attending various sessions at BEA this year, plus trends I observed while exploring the show. Overall, I can sum up the direction that publishing is going in two words: identity and community. In this episode I dig into different reasons why these themes will dominate the industry in comming years and what they mean for us as writers. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/046

Welcome to another interview episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I'm so excited to introduce you to author Joe Wenke, and share this interview with him. But first, a little background info. Joe Wenke is a writer, social critic and LGBTQI rights activist who has written several books. His most recent book--The Human Agenda--is about sexual orientation and gender identity, with a special focus on "finding common ground in our shared humanity." In this interview, Joe shares insights and tips he learned about writing a piece of narrative nonfiction based on conversations and interviews. There is a lot of invisible craft behind this style of nonfiction and he pulls back the curtain and gives us a glimpse of how he put this book together. For show notes and more info: DIYMFA.com/045

Hey word nerd! Thanks for joining me. Today's episode is all about how to take your writing from a hobby to something more. This episode was inspired by an email I received from a fellow word nerd named Emily. She wrote: "I want to be a writer when I grow up, and I've been told that I'm even good at it. I love writing, I really do, I just... I feel like I'm never going to get past writing essays, fanfiction, and short stories for local contests. Do you have any advice?" Emily, thanks for asking this very important question. This is a big topic that a lot of writers struggle with, but don't fret! I have a few suggestions that will help you stay on track and maybe even turn your writing hobby into something more. For show notes and more info: DIYMFA.com/044

Hey there, word nerds! Thanks for joining me for this episode of DIY MFA Radio. Today I want to share with you some survival tips for Book Expo America (BEA), the publishing industry's premier trade show in the US. BEA 2015 is the Big Kahuna of trade shows in the US. If you're in the book business, this is where you want to be. This event is centered on BOOKS, but writers can get a lot out of the expo as well. Because there's so much going on, though, it can be a little overwhelming. Fear not! This Book Expo survival guide episode will give you all the inside details on how to make the most of this event. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/043

Hello and welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I'm so excited to interview bestselling author Steve Berry. Steve Berry is a New York Times and internationally bestselling thriller author and creator of the Cotton Malone series. His books have been translated into 40 languages, with more than 19 million printed copies in 51 countries. A 2010 NPR survey named one of his books--The Templar Legacy--one of the top 100 thrillers ever written. Clearly when it comes to writing books that captivate readers, Steve Berry knows his stuff. Listen in to learn how this bestselling thriller polished his craft and hear him share some of his top tips for writers. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/042