Literaticast

Is this the year you've promised yourself you'd finally finish that manuscript, or stop playing on your dang phone so much and get into a healthier writing routine? Author Jami Attenberg joins me to talk about her new book 1000 WORDS: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused and Productive All Year Round, as well as lots of other stuff: The differences between writing fiction and memoir, finding your writing compass, getting motivated when the creative well seems to have run dry, how to start writing again if you've been away from it for a while, the importance of building writerly community, plus the #1000wordsofsummer project, cult documentaries, and more! Links to all the books we chatted about are in the shownotes on my website: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

Happy Holidays! In this episode, I give a bit of an End-of-the-Year rundown -- what sold this year, what good stuff happened, and what's the mood? Then Middle Grade author Alex Gino joins me to chat about their new book, GREEN, out now from Scholastic, and what it is like being a "mid-career" full-time author. From evolving editorial relationships, to finding a writing process that works, to building an author brand; how have things changed for Alex since their shiny debut era? Show notes, along with links to all the books we chatted about, are available at https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

It's the most wonderful time of the year -- BOOK GIFTING TIME! I'm joined by booksellers Nicole Brinkley from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY, and Cathy Berner from Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, TX, and we give you 50+ great recommendations for all the readers in your life, or for your own To Be Read pile. Love these bookseller recs? Support your local independent bookstore! Or, visit Blue Willow Bookshop or Oblong Books! Or, click the links in the show notes to purchase from Bookshop.org and a percentage of the sales goes straight to supporting indie bookstores! Thanks, and happy shopping. :-) For the show notes and links to all the books we chat about in this episode, visit https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

Kid-lit power couple Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay are collaborators in both life and in books. They met in high school, grew into underground artists and zinesters, and in recent years, have become an award-winning and New York Times Bestselling creative powerhouse team. We talk about how they got started, how they work together, and the many (MANY) projects they have out and cooking! Show notes, including links to all the books we talked about, can be found on my website: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

The multi-talented Phoebe Wahl joins me to talk about how she got her start in publishing, as well as how she manages to run the cutest online shop in history, do brand collaborations, make films, thrive on social media, raise a toddler and more in addition to her busy career as an author-illustrator of picture books. And Phoebe will tell us all about her latest book - a debut YA novel called PHOEBE'S DIARY, based on her own teenage diaries and fully illustrated. ​We'll also discuss topics like Fat Representation, Shipwrecks, Taxes and Weird Shoes! The show notes and links to all the books we chat about can be found at: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

Librarian, author, blogger, podcaster -- our guest Betsy Bird wears a lot of hats. She is not only a bona fide children's book expert but also has a great knack for predicting ALA Awards! As the awards are being given out at the end of this month, Betsy's going to take us behind the scenes and talk about the mysterious process of how the awards are even chosen, and what books MIGHT take home some hardware this year! (Will we be right? WHO KNOWS! But it will be fun to find out!) She also answers some listener questions about library etiquette, book banning, what she'd like to see more of in the picture book space, and more. Check out the show notes for more information, links to all the books we talk about, as well as a link to the ALA award livestream so you can watch the awards in real time: https://www.literaticat.com/literaticast

Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator and author Cindy Derby joins me to discuss her unusual path to an illustration career, getting inspired, dealing with burnout, navigating social media, what she learned from dog finishing school, and so much more. We also celebrate Cindy's latest picture book, BLURP'S BOOK OF MANNERS, about a sentient ink blot that needs etiquette lessons, which is brand new from Roaring Brook. Show notes and links can be found at www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

The annual Great Big Holiday Gift Guide is BACK, baby! Booksellers Nicole Brinkley from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY and Kassie King from the Novel Neighbor in St Louis, MO are joining to give their recommendations. If you're looking for holiday gifts for the kids in your life (or, for your own cozy winter reading), this episode is a must! Please remember to order your holiday books as early as possible - continued supply chain issues, etc, mean that it might be tough to get some of these at short notice. Please support your local independent bookstores whenever possible. Happy reading! Shownotes with links to all the books we talk about can be found at www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

We're back from hiatus, and excited to chat with Jemiscoe Chambers-Black. Jem is one of the newer agents at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and a rising star who has had many awesome deals (and even a NYT Bestseller) in her two years at the agency -- especially amazing considering the fact that she started in the midst of the Pandemic. We'll talk about what she's looking for in a manuscript (and a client!), how to establish a great author-agent relationship, and how she keeps her sanity and focus in a wild time, among other topics. Show notes and transcripts for each episode can be found on the website: www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

Award-winning YA author (and podcast host!) Sara Zarr joins me to talk about the joys and challenges of crafting a sustainable writerly life. She has practical and inspirational insights for newbies and mid-career authors alike in her new book, This Creative Life: A Handbook for Writers, from the myth of "genius", to best practices for getting feedback, to the realities of dealing with procrastination and burnout -- and we discuss all of it. We also chat about her brand-new middle grade novel, bonus Pirates, dead eyes, Harry Styles and MORE! Check out the show notes for links (and a special surprise for listeners!): https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

New agents can be great to query, as they have a lot of energy and are actively building their lists! Paige Terlip is an Associate Agent at ABLA. She's been an agent for just over a year and she's already making a splash with great clients and sales. Paige and I talk about her philosophy of agenting, her feelings about rejection, and what she is looking for in a client. Plus, she helps me answer some listener questions about everything from query tips to the state of publishing. Shownotes, with links to more info and the books we discussed: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

My guest today is author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, who writes picture books, graphic novels, YA, fiction, non-fiction... basically a little bit of everything! She talks about her experiences with an MFA program (and questions you might ask yourself if you are thinking of going to such a program). She also discusses how she juggles writing in multiple categories, managing creative ebb and flow, and how (in the words of MT Anderson), "a change of pace is the same as taking a break." We also talk about her latest picture book, LOVE IN THE LIBRARY, which is especially close to her heart as it is the true story of her grandparents and how they met as prisoners in an Incarceration Camp. She's a genius and I'm so excited for you to get to know her! Show notes (with links to everything we talked about) can be found at https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

My guest for this end-of-year show is Alison Morris. She's a book expert, and the Senior Director of Title Selection at FirstBook, a non-profit that provides literally millions of books to underserved kids (and so much more) -- we'll talk about it, and how YOU can support their vital mission. She's also here to give us a heads up about Books We Might Have Missed while we were all SOMEWHAT busy with other things, like, you know, a global pandemic. I'm going to ask her about trends she's seeing, award predictions, and SO much more. Join us, won't you? Detailed show notes, including links to ALL the books we discussed on this episode, can be found at https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

My guest this month is graphic novelist Gareth Hinds. He's famous for doing amazing Graphic Novel reinterpretations of classics like the Odyssey, the Iliad, Shakespeare, Poe and more... and we'll talk about how he chooses projects, and how he adapts them for modern readers and a graphic format, tips for aspiring graphic novelists, and so much more. We'll also get into his NEWEST project -- a modern classic -- GRACELING, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, adapted from the YA fantasy by Kristin Cashore, which is on shelves now. For links to all the books we chatted about, go to the show notes: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

It's almost Holiday Time already (yeah, I know, yikes!) - and I want to encourage people to get their bookish gift shopping done early this year, and to pre-order books if you want them before Hanukkah or Christmas. To that end, it's time for the annual Holiday Gift Guide! Bookseller Melissa Posten joins me to give some great recommendations of beautiful Fall 2021 books for giving (or, hoarding for yourself!). Full show notes along with links to every book we chatted about can be found here: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

Welcome back to the Literaticast! I'm back from hiatus with lots to say - first, about some of the newsworthy books of mine that came out during my absence. Then I'm joined by my friend, the prolific translator and author Lawrence Schimel, coming to us all the way from Madrid. We chat about World Kid Lit Month, and about the importance of books in translation and the International kid's book market. Lawrence tells us fascinating things about translating children's books, and we talk about how two of his new baby books caused an International Incident, just in time for Banned Books Week. And so much more. Plus, find out what we're obsessed with! If you'd like to read the articles we discussed, or purchase any of the books we talked about on the show, head to the detailed show notes: https://www.jenniferlaughran.com/literaticast

My guests are award-winning author-illustrator Grace Lin and editor-in-chief of Little Brown Books for Young Readers Alvina Ling. Both are accomplished children's book pros, lifelong besties, AND hosts of the popular podcast Book Friends Forever. They both have a LOT to say about all things Kids Books. We're going to get into stuff like how the industry has changed over the years, how to confront Burnout, and so much more. Plus, of course, lots and LOTS of book recommendations, and what we're obsessed with. Enjoy it! And, wishing Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Almost-New-Year to us ALL!

Guest agent Molly O'Neill from Root Literary joins me and we take it back to basics, talking about query letters and debunking some myths. We also dig into what the pandemic has been like for the publishing industry from our points of view. And Molly recommends some awesome books for your holiday purchasing pleasure! Finally, we get super-over-excited about TV shows: Ted Lasso, The Crown, and Queen's Gambit.

I check in with my friend Suzanna, the co-owner and buyer for Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck and Millerton, NY. She talks about how the bookstore has weathered these wild times, what has changed, and what booksellers have learned -- and together, we give AWESOME BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS! Get your pencil and paper ready and prepare to order awesome gifts for the holidays (and treats for yourself, too!)

Today we're talking pop culture! If you insert specific pop culture references in your work, how do you walk the line between seeming current now, and possibly making your book seem dated a couple years from now... and how DOES a grownup stay current, anyway? How can 1980's TV inform the way you structure your book, and what can superhero stories teach us about crafting a short pitch? All this and more with my special guest, MG and YA novel writing superstar Lamar Giles!