The Writescast Network

Okay, so this isn’t the final conversation I’ll ever have with Dan Schiro, but it is the final conversation to be broadcast by the Writescast Network. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, especially our guests and listeners, without whom these podcasts very clearly never would have existed. Write on. Write well. Take care. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

For the penultimate episode of Writescast Network programming, I’m joined by an avid reader who just so happens to be my wife. Over the course of our discussion, we chat about what gets her to pick a book off a shelf, what keeps her engrossed while reading, and what will have her shelving a book just as fast as she picked it up. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Sarah Smith joins the show to discuss her most recent release, SIMMER DOWN, along with what got her into writing romance in the first place, among other topics. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Author M.A. Hinkle discusses the importance of separating one’s personal identity from one’s writerly self, as well as how writers can go about surviving the, well, *gestures broadly,* we confront on a daily basis. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Dr. Lindsay Weisner discusses her ten steps for finding happiness while pursuing one’s creative endeavors. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

After an important update on the future of the Writescast Network from host r.r. campbell, Writers’ Institute Director Laurie Scheer returns to the show to discuss the dissolution of the University of Wisconsin’s Continued Studies in Writing program. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

How can we keep readers on their toes? What writing exercises can you do to keep those readers tiptoeing about your pages? In this episode, Ekta Garg explores just that with help from Nick Spalding’s LOGGING OFF. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Go ahead: judge a book by its cover. With author and marketer Carol VanDenHende’s five principles for book cover design, you’ll better understand what makes for a quality cover and how you can be a more constructive participant in the cover design process. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Author of young adult paranormal fiction Mary Jane Capps joins us for a discussion about a truly spooky subject: impostor syndrome. So what is it and how can we overcome it? You’ll have to tune in to find out. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

What can a champion-boxer-turned-CEO teach authors about what it takes to thrive in the world of writing? A lot, it turns out, as Héctor Colón demonstrates through his five virtues for life, leadership, and authorship. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

If a picture is worth a thousand words—and words mean everything to authors—how much is Instagram worth to those of us in the writing community? Author and playwright Briana Morgan joins the show to help us answer this question and more. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Author and Facebook phenom J. Scott Coatsworth joins the show to discuss what it takes to create and participate in thriving writer and reader communities on Facebook. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

She-Ra. Schitt’s Creek. Geopolitics. Maggie Derrick and r.r. campbell cover a lot in this episode, and it’s all in the name of helping you better write anti-heroes. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

YouTube is a treasure trove of DIY content, music streaming, and, of course, cat videos. But for many writers, YouTube is so much more. For this episode, I speak with one such writer, Meg LaTorre, who also happens to be the founder of the beloved iWriterly YouTube channel. Want your question or comment featured on a future episode of this show? Say hello at writescast.net/hello. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and...

Summer drags on, and with it, uncertainty around the world. To find solace and certainty within ourselves and within the walls of our homes, we turn to four members of the writing community for their words of encouragement and inspiration. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Sometimes a book launch doesn’t go as planned, but there’s no need to fret. Author Dan Woll is actively relaunching Death on Cache Lake, and he joins us to talk through the challenges and opportunities one might encounter during when relaunching one’s book. Want your question or comment featured on a future episode of this show? Say hello at writescast.net/hello. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your...

Well, writerfolk, this is a wild one. After going #FullMingo in the episode introduction, r.r. campbell and Maggie Derrick explore the challenge that is synopsis writing. As they discuss and debate, they borrow a few bits from the McElroy brothers and take potshots at their capitalist overlords. Here’s the synopsis guide they reference during the episode. And this is the writing prompt generator referenced later on. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake...

After we take a few moments to reframe how we look at our querying statistics, Amanda Zieba joins the show to discuss the ABCs of authorpreneurship—and how understanding them can help us turn a writing hobby into a writing career. Want your question or comment featured on a future episode of this show? Say hello at writescast.net/hello. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Ekta Garg explores The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni to develop an understanding of mood: what it is, how we can develop it, and how we can maintain that moodiness throughout our manuscripts. As always, she provides writing exercises along the way to get you thinking about the mood in your manuscript. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

Author Judith Joy explains that taking advantage of the law of attraction can do wonders to stave off the inundations of negativity that find us so often as writers. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.