Page One - The Writer's Podcast

This episode is also available on our YouTube channel as a full video episode! Watch it hereOur series of industry episodes continues as we talk with leading literary agent Jamie Cowen. Jamie has worked in publishing for 18 years. Before joining Ampersand literary agency in 2013 he was a commissioning editor at HarperCollins, and prior to that he worked in legal and contracts departments at HC and the Hachette Group. Jamie’s clients at Ampersand include Tendai Huchu (The Library of the Dead, Tor UK and US), Adrian Selby (Snakewood, The Winter Road and Brother Red; Orbit), Mark Hill (His First Lie, It Was Her, The Bad Place and The Woman in the Wood; Sphere and Head of Zeus), and even our very own Tariq Ashkanani!We had great fun chatting to Jamie, learning how he became an agent, what he looks for when receiving queries and hearing him explain how he uses a synopsis when assessing a query. We also hear whether he will take on a manuscript that needs some work, how important the agent/editor relationship is and much more!Links:Visit Ampersand AgencyFollow Jamie on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is also available on our YouTube channel as a full video episode! Watch it hereOur special series of episodes chatting with leading figures in the publishing industry to find out how to get your book published continues this week with the amazing Eric Smith. Eric is a Young Adult author and literary agent with P.S. Literary living in Philadelphia. As an agent represents brilliant authors such as Alison Stine and Mike Chen. On the writing front, his latest book, Jagged Little Pill: The Novel, a collaboration with Alanis Morissette, Academy award-winner Diablo Cody, and Glen Ballard, is an adaptation of the Grammy and Tony award winning musical.We loved chatting with Eric and hearing about what looks for in queries (both for fiction and non-fiction), discussing the importance (or not) of comp titles, finding out how he works with his authors and get other hints and tips for those of you who are querying now or are about to! We also chat about his own writing and hear how he came to write the novelisation of Jagged Little Pill with Alanis Morissette and Diablo Cody.Links:Visit PS LiteraryFollow Eric on TwitterVisit Eric's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is also available on our YouTube channel as a full video episode! Watch it hereIn the first of a special series of industry episodes following a books journey from being picked up by an agent all the way to Hollywood, we chat with superstar literary agent, Juliet Mushens! Juliet started her publishing career in 2008 at HarperCollins, and became an agent in 2011. She has been shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year four times and is currently the number 1 ranked UK fiction dealmaker on Publishers’ Marketplace. In 2021 she was picked as one of the 150 most influential people in publishing by The Bookseller and The Times ran a piece recognising her as the first agent to represent the number 1, 2 and 3 UK bestsellers in the same week: ‘Star literary agent first to top the charts three times’. More than a dozen of her clients are Sunday Times bestsellers and four hit number 1 in 2022 alone. Her clients include million-copy no. 1 bestseller Jessie Burton, multi-million copy NY Times bestseller Taran Matharu, record-breaking multi-million copy no. 1 bestseller Richard Osman. Her guide to YA creative writing was published by Hodder in 2015.We loved speaking to Juliet about how she became an agent, and talking with her about what she looks for in a query letter (including some very important dos and don'ts!) Plus, we hear how she works with authors that she represents, and chat about how she secures such brilliant deals for her clients.Links:Visit Mushens EntertainmentFollow Juliet on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Hamdy is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author and screenwriter who writes topical, thought-provoking novels, often inspired by real events. His latest novel, The Other Side of Night is out now.We had great fun chatting with Adam, hearing about how he moved from being a strategy consultant to writer - thanks in part to an idea he had for a screenplay involving 80s actor, Judge Reinhold! We also hear about his process, why he needs to frontload his planning, and why The Other Side of Night took five years to write.Links:Buy The Other Side of Night and Adam's other novels now!Visit Adam's websiteFollow Adam on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Diana Reid is a Sydney-based writer. Her debut novel, Love & Virtue, was an Australian bestseller and winner of the ABIA Book of the Year Award, the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year Award, the ABA Booksellers' Choice Fiction Book of the Year Award, and the MUD Literary Prize. Love & Virtue was also shortlisted for the Indie Debut Fiction Award, the ABIA Matt Richell New Writer Award, and Highly Commended at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Diana was also named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist in 2022.We had a really interesting chat with Diana, hearing how she decided to write her debut during lockdown, and discussing the whirlwind journey to it becoming such a huge success in Australia. We also discuss the influences of Donna Tartt and Sally Rooney on her writing, and hear about the challenges of writing her second novel, Seeing Other People.Links:Buy Love & Virtue in the UK now!Bloody Scotland websiteBloody Scotland event with Tariq and Marco!Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gordon J. Brown (AKA Morgan Cry) is the author of nine crime thriller novels set in Spain, Scotland and the US. He is also a founding board director of crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland. His latest book, Any Day Now, is out now.We had great fun chatting with Gordon and hearing about how he got into writing and how real life situations have inspired his fiction writing. We also talk about the pros and cons of pseudonyms, and he tells us about where the idea for Bloody Scotland (Scotland's premier crime writing festival) came from.Links:Buy Any Day NowBuy his Morgan Cry booksVisit Gordon's websiteFollow Gordon on TwitterBloody Scotland websiteBloody Scotland event with Tariq and Marco!Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shauna Lawless is a debut author whose gripping new historical fantasy novel, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, intertwines Irish mythology with real-life history. Released on 1 September 2022, it is already creating huge buzz.We loved chatting with Shauna and hearing how she turned a love of Irish mythology and folklore into such a thrilling novel. We hear how she began her writing career by carving out one hour at a time until she had a full length novel. She also talked to us about the importance of getting and providing criticism of writing, and tells us about her tough but ultimately very successful submission search.Links:Buy The Children of Gods and Fighting Men now!Follow Shauna on Twitter and InstagramVisit Shauna's websiteCritique CirclePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kasim Ali works at Penguin Random House. He was longlisted for the B4ME Short Story Prize (hosted by his now UK publisher Fourth Estate), and GOOD INTENTIONS was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcherran Prize. He's also had a short story published in The Good Journal.We had great fun chatting with Kasim, whilst also hating him (not really!) as he told us about his ridiculously prolific rate of writing and how he is able to write his novels without ANY planning... We also had a great discussion about the importance of representation in fiction and look at the current state of the publishing industry. Oh, and we also talk vampires and Marvel...!Links:Buy Good Intentions now!Follow Kasim on TwitterVisit Kasim's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Simcox is a London-based filmmaker who has shot commercials for brands such as McLaren, Primark and Unilever, and music videos for Britpop veterans as well as fresh on the scene alt-country stars. He began his film career by writing and directing three features: the first sold to Netflix before Netflix was Netflix; the second and third won awards and critical acclaim at festivals worldwide, and so didn’t sell at all. He moved into the world of novel-writing with his hit debut, The Dying Squad, all about a ghost cop who investigates his own murder. His latest novel in that series, The Generation Killer, is just out.It was great fun chatting to Adam and hearing how he moved from the world of films to novels, including treading the hard path of over 150 submission letters to agents (along with the accompanying rejections or silence). He told us how he still uses his film experience to help him in writing his novels and why he would love to continue working in both worlds.Links:Buy Adam's books now!Follow Adam on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is one of a special series of short episodes speaking to some of the best comedians appearing at this year's Edinburgh Fringe! These episodes will be released daily during the week of 8 August 2022.Michael Spicer literally became an overnight sensation when he posted his first-ever Man in the Room Next Door sketch on Twitter. Since then, he has become one of the biggest comedians on Twitter and appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, as well as acting in programmes such as Bridgerton and After Life. This month, he brings the Room Next Door to the Edinburgh Fringe.We loved chatting with Michael and hearing how he owes his success to Boris Johnson, talking about how he finds and edits material for his sketches, and also discussing how to stand out as a comedian on social media. We also hear about his show at the Fringe and find out what is planned after the Room Next Door...Links:Buy tickets for Michael's show, The Room Next Door, at Assembly George Square Studios at the Edinburgh Fringe 2022Follow Michael on TwitterVisit Michael's YouTube channelPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.