London Writers' Salon

Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • 4.9 (54)
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A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

  1. 12h ago

    #211: Laura Palmer & Jessie Sullivan — How to Market Your Book, from the Founders of Digital-First Publisher Pellerin Books, Finding the Readers Who Will Love Your Book, and Why the Best Book Still Wins

    Pellerin Books founders Laura Palmer and Jessie Sullivan on how readers discover books now, where to put your marketing money, and why the quality of the book still decides everything. You'll learn The rule that quietly decides which authors get a publisher’s time, budget and attention.Why the first question about marketing a book is never “how?”How to research your readers and your market without paying for a single tool.The metric that makes an ad campaign look like it is working when nothing is.What a cover and a developmental edit should cost, and the one place never to skimp.Why raising your ad budget too fast makes it perform worse, not better.How subscription reading changed what a sagging middle chapter costs a writer.Whether a publisher actually cares how many followers you have.Three books on writing that between them cover almost everything, and the two-word rule that keeps readers turning pages.Why you cannot keyword your way into a reader’s life in the age of AI search.Resources & Links 📄 Interview TranscriptPellerin BooksK-LyticsPublisher RocketKindlepreneurPellerin SubmissionsBookbubSave the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica BrodyOn Writing by Stephen KingA Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George SaundersPellerin Publishing AdviceAbout Pellerin Books Pellerin Books is a new independent publisher of popular fiction, built for the way readers discover and fall in love with books today. It publishes immersive, emotionally engaging stories readers can’t put down – from thrillers to romance, historical fiction to science fiction, saga to fantasy and everything in between. It is a digital-focus publisher, which means ebooks and audiobooks are at the heart of what it does, although all its titles are available in paperback for readers who love to hold a book in their hands. At Pellerin, we believe deeply in good books and the difference they can make. We became publishers because we believe in the craft of storytelling, the power to create living worlds and characters that reach beyond the page. Making books, for us, is a way to be part of that strange magic that binds reader and author when the right book gets into the right hands. About Laura Palmer & Jessie Sullivan Laura’s love of storytelling drew her into the publishing industry in 2007 as an assistant at Quercus Books, where she was part of the team that discovered and published Stieg Larsson. In 2010, she joined Corvus, where she rode the ebook boom, delivering sales previously unheard of for new authors, and was shortlisted for the Kim Scott Walwyn prize for women in publishing. In 2012, she co-founded Head of Zeus, alongside publishing veterans Anthony and Nicolas Cheetham. As executive director and fiction publisher, Laura ran three imprints and published more than a hundred authors at Head of Zeus. Bestselling authors she has worked with include Dani Atkins, JP Delaney, Dan Jones, Graham Masterton and Amanda Prowse. Jessie Sullivan has spent her career at the intersection of publishing and performance-led marketing. She is one of the most commercially effective marketers in modern publishing, with over £8 million in directly attributed revenue and more than £10 million in total marketing impact. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  2. 6d ago

    #210: Lily King — Emotional Arc, Women and Literary Ambition, Silencing the Inner Critic, and Why Patience Is a Writer's Real Craft

    Award-winning novelist Lily King on finding the emotional arc of a novel, writing the scene you keep avoiding, and making peace with ambition, self-criticism and the long road to a first book. You'll learn Why the scene you most want to avoid is usually the one your book needs.How a small change in the final pages of one section can rebuild an entire novel.What it means to think in emotional arc rather than theme.The difference between being hard on yourself about writing and being hard on yourself while you write.Why giving yourself permission to write about your own life can unlock everything that follows.When a middle section goes flat, and how to find the engine it's missing.How ambition shows up differently for women writers, and the shame that can come with it.A notebook method built on margins, timelines, and a daily writing log.Why a bad review can be more useful than praise.What nine years on a first novel teaches you about patience.Resources & Links 📄 Interview TranscriptIt's Not The End of the World by Judy BlumeThe Pleasing Hour by Lily KingThe English Teacher by Lily KingEuphoria by Lily KingTom Lake by Ann PatchettHeart the Lover by Lily KingPlot and Structure by James Scott Bell@lilykingbooks - Lily's InstagramThe Correspondent by Virginia EvansAbout Lily King Lily King is the award-winning author of six novels. Her most recent novel, Heart the Lover, was published on September 30th, 2025. She has also published a collection of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Her 2020 novel, Writers & Lovers, won the New England Society Book Awards and was a New York Times Notable Book and chosen as a top-ten best book of 2020 by The Washington Post, NPR, People Magazine, and The Los Angeles Times. Her 2014 novel Euphoria won the Kirkus Prize, the New England Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Euphoria was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by The New York Times Book Review. It was included in TIME's Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014, as well as on Amazon, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and Salon's Best Books of 2014. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  3. Aug 30

    #209: Literary Agent Rachel Mann — What Makes an Agent Say Yes, Navigating the Submissions Process, and the Tension Between Art and Commerce

    CAA literary agent Rachel Mann on what makes her say yes to a manuscript, how to navigate the submissions process without losing control of your career, and why cutting is the work that makes prose land. You'll learn Why the recognition an agent needs is physical rather than analytical. What to do when you're not sure your manuscript is ready to send out. How to buy more time after a full manuscript request without killing the momentum. Why telling other agents about your requests works in your favour, even if it feels grubby. The realistic rhythm for chasing an agent who has gone quiet. Whether refusing to use social media can cost a writer representation. A question worth answering before you sign with anyone, and why the answer shapes the edit. The edit most manuscripts need before submission, and why it rarely means adding. How poetry's distillation applies to prose, whatever you write. What still gives an agent hope in a market where people are reading less. Resources & Links Rachel's Website Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr Waterstones Puffin Jo Unwin Literary Agency Karolina Sutton agent Harriet Poland agent Sarah Harvey agent John Ash agent Boy Parts by Eliza Clark Ottessa Moshfegh author Society of Authors The Arvon Foundation To Query CAA: Email ukbooksubmissions@caa.com. To submit, please send a cover email, one-page synopsis and the first three chapters of your work, or the rough equivalent. About Rachel Mann Rachel Mann is a Literary Agent at CAA and represents a broad range of work – largely fiction, with some non-fiction — from commercial to literary, in adult, young adult, and middle-grade markets. Her clients include Eliza Clark, Caleb Femi, Jade LB and Aisling Rawle, and have won and been listed for major prizes, including the Granta Best Young British Novelist, the Forward Prize for Poetry, the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, the YA Book Prize, The Bookseller Discover Prize, and the Carnegie Medal. She spent ten years editing and commissioning fiction for young people at houses including Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, and was global publishing director at the Roald Dahl Story Company. She became an agent in 2018 and joined CAA in 2023. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  4. Aug 23

    #208: What Keeps Us Writing? Memoirist Deepa Paul, Essayist Gina Beach, and Novelist Daisy Buchanan on Finishing a Book an Hour at a Time, Writing in Community, and Taking Yourself Less Seriously

    In this special episode we go behind the scenes with memoirist Deepa Paul, essayist, cookbook author Gina Beach, and novelist Daisy Buchanan and talk about the two things that keep them going: the passion behind the work, and the practice that makes the work possible. From an essay that no editor wanted to a Women's Prize-longlisted memoir, a personal research rabbit hole that became a four-year book project, and the journey from idea to novel, this is a personal conversation with three writers about about why they write the things they write — and what kept them going. You'll learn Why an essay no editor wanted a decade ago turned out not to be an essay at all. How to break a book into tasks small enough to finish inside a single hour. The case for treating your own interior life as seriously as any grand subject. How a rabbit hole of personal research turned into a four-year book project. Why the hardest part of self-publishing has nothing to do with production. When procrastination is doing useful work, and when it's just filling the gaps. What changes in your writing once you stop trying to get it right. A reason to stop measuring a writing session by its word count. How sitting alongside other writers quietly rearranges your sense of your own work. The tidal metaphor that makes a bad writing day easier to let go of. Resources & Links Writers' Hour Ask Me: A Memoir of Daring to Love Differently by Deepa Paul Deepa Paul 'The power of an hour' — Deepa Paul interviewed by the Women's Prize Nurture: Oil-Free, Plant-Based Cooking for Health by Regina Beach Regina Beach All Grown Up: A hilarious and heartwarming new novel inspired by Little Women by Daisy Buchanan Daisy Buchanan — Creative Confidence Clinic About the Guests Deepa Paul is a Filipina-Indian author living in Amsterdam. Her writing explores the balance between being a mother, wife, girlfriend, daughter, adventurer, and herself – all at the same time. Her debut, Ask Me: A Memoir of Daring to Love Differently, was longlisted for the Women's Prize. Regina Beach is a disabled poet and essayist. Originally from the American midwest, she now calls the Welsh Valleys home. Her writing has appeared in Global Poemic, Boldly Mental, The Rail, Haiku by You, Five Minutes, Visual Verse, The Horror Tree, and Disoriented among others. She is the founder of the literary magazine Lesions | Art + Words, which features the work of people living with chronic health conditions. Her book is Nurture: Oil-Free, Plant-Based Cooking for Health. Daisy Buchanan is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author of Insatiable (longlisted for the CWIP prize), Careering (as heard on BBC Sounds), Limelight and Pity Party, and the non-fiction titles How to Be A Grown Up, The Sisterhood and Read Yourself Happy. She writes for major newspapers and magazines from the Guardian to Grazia, and is host of the chart-topping podcast You're Booked. Her latest book is All Grown Up: A hilarious and heartwarming new novel inspired by Little Women. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  5. Aug 16

    #207: Writing Bestselling Middle-Grade Fiction — Jasmine Richards (Storymix), Natalie Doherty (Puffin and HarperCollins), Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) on Standing Out on the Shelf and Writing Unputdownable Voice | Compilation

    Children’s fiction studio founder Jasmine Richards (Storymix), publisher Natalie Doherty (Puffin and HarperCollins Children’s Books), and bestselling author Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) on shaping an idea commercial enough to sell, what makes a children’s book impossible to put down, and trusting the unconscious to write it.   You’ll learn Why the most commercial idea is the one that centres its reader from the very first thought. How a single pithy log line can carry a book all the way from the slush pile to the playground. The counterintuitive trick of starting your story at chapter three. How to read what children are reading now so your pacing keeps up with theirs. What a publisher is really looking for when a manuscript lands on the desk — and why voice comes before plot. How the categories from early readers to YA actually break down on the bookshop shelf. The difference between weaving in a message and writing a book that feels worthy. The case for never self-censoring in a first draft, and saving the negotiation for later. How tiring out your conscious mind can unlock a freer, more instinctive way to draft. Why the goal of writing should be the writing itself, not the bestseller list.   Episode Links #050: Jasmine Richards — How to Pitch Commercial Children’s Fiction & The Business of Children’s Publishing #081: Natalie Doherty — The Magic of Writing for Children, Market Trends & Behind the Scenes of Publishing Children’s Books #035: Soman Chainani — Writing Dark Tales for Children & Balancing Creative Work with Discipline   About the Guests Jasmine Richards is the author of over a dozen children’s books, ranging from picture books to teen fiction. Her most recent novel, Keeper of Myths, was published by HarperCollins. She has over 15 years of experience as an editor, including roles at Hamish Hamilton, Puffin, and Dutton Books in New York. Jasmine is the founder of Storymix, a children’s fiction studio, where she uses her unique experiences to develop new voices and inclusive stories. Natalie Doherty is a Publisher at Puffin, although during this interview she was at HarperCollins Children’s Books. She’s worked with award-winning and bestselling authors, including Tom Fletcher, Robin Stevens, R. J. Palacio, Tamzin Merchant, and Nazneen Ahmed Pathak. Before moving into editorial in 2010, she worked in Contracts and Rights at Hachette and holds a BA in Modern European Languages and an MA in Translation. Her recent middle-grade acquisitions include Simon Stephenson’s The Snowman Code and Philippa Leathley’s Inkbound. Soman Chainani’s debut series, The School for Good and Evil, has sold more than 3 million copies, been translated into 30 languages across 6 continents, and became a major motion picture from Netflix starring Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Kerry Washington, and Michelle Yeoh, with Chainani as an executive producer. Each of the six books in the series — The School for Good and Evil, A World Without Princes, The Last Ever After, Quests for Glory, A Crystal of Time, and One True King — debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list. A graduate of Harvard University, Soman created his own fairy-tale major before going on to an MFA in film at Columbia University. He has made films that have played all over the world, and his writing awards include honors from Big Bear Lake, the CAPE Foundation, and the Sun Valley Writers’ Fellowship. In Beasts & Beauty: Dangerous Tales, Soman reimagines old stories into fresh fairy tales for a new era. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  6. Aug 9

    #206: Maya C. Popa — Writing with Wonder, Surviving Rejection, and Building a Life in Poetry

    Poet Maya C. Popa on writing with wonder, the ruthless craft of revision, and building a sustainable life in poetry. You’ll learn Why wonder has more in common with the sublime — the beautiful and the terrible — than with simple delight. How a poem loses its charge the moment its ending is visible from the opening line. What “negative capability” asks of a writer stuck in the dark middle of a draft. The question worth asking when the work feels uncomfortable and you’re certain something has gone wrong. A ruthless method for finding a poem’s true entry point — often buried three-quarters of the way down. When to cut the images you love most, even the ones that took hours to invent. How to write about longing and love without collapsing into confession. Why asking your writing to carry your finances can quietly poison your relationship with it. What to guard at all costs while holding space for other writers. The freedom that arrives once rejection stops meaning anything at all. Resources & Links 📄 Interview Transcript If You Love That Lady by Maya C. Popa Gerard Manley Hopkins - Poetry Foundation Wound is the Origin of Wonder by Maya C. Popa Paradise Lost by John Milton Maya’s Substack Conscious Writers Collective Poetry Society of America Awards Maya’s ‘Five Things I Have Learned’ class About Maya C. Popa Maya C. Popa is a Romanian American poet. She holds a PhD on the role of wonder in poetry from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was a recipient of a department bursary for exceptional merit, and previous degrees from Oxford University, New York University, and Barnard College. Popa is the author of If You Love That Lady (W. W. Norton, 2026); Wound Is the Origin of Wonder (W. W. Norton, 2022), named one of the Guardian’s Best Books of Poetry; and American Faith (Sarabande, 2019), a runner-up for the Kathryn A. Morton Prize, judged by Ocean Vuong, and winner of the North American Book Prize in 2020. She has also received awards from the Poetry Foundation and the Oxford Poetry Society. Popa is the poetry reviews editor at Publishers Weekly and is the founder of Conscious Writers Collective, where she teaches and oversees all literary programming for poets and prose writers. She lives in New York City. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  7. Aug 2

    #205: Casper ter Kuile — Sacred Writing, Turning Routine into Ritual, Rest as Creative Fuel, Moving Past Self-Doubt (From The Vault)

    Author Casper ter Kuile on transforming everyday writing into a sacred ritual, drawing on rest and reflection to fuel creativity, and moving past self-doubt to write as a gift for others. You'll learn Why the point of the work week might be the rest, not the other way around. How to turn an ordinary daily habit into a ritual using three simple ingredients. What a weekly tech sabbath can unlock in your most creative thinking. The reframe that turns a dreadful first draft into something you can build on. A piece of advice from a mentor that dissolves the pressure to say something new. How reading writers you love can quietly refill the tank when you're stuck. Why treating your writing as a gift changes the way you handle criticism. The practice for staying humble and kind toward yourself in equal measure. What sacred reading traditions can teach you about going deeper into any text. Why the smallest groups, not the biggest audiences, are where meaning actually forms. Resources & Links Casper ter Kuile's website The Power of Ritual by Casper ter Kuile The Nearness Harry Potter and the Sacred Text (podcast) Sacred Design Lab "How We Gather" report The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel Seth Godin About Casper ter Kuile Casper ter Kuile is the author of The Power of Ritual and the co-founder of The Nearness: a space to explore life's big questions with like-hearted others. Casper holds Masters in Public Policy and Divinity from Harvard University, is the former cohost of popular podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, and loves harmony singing, the London Review of Books, and arriving at the pub after a long country walk. He lives with his husband in Brooklyn, NY. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

  8. Jul 24

    #204: Secrets & Rituals of Building a Writing Practice — Seth Godin, Amie McNee, Mason Currey on Choosing Yourself, Protecting Your Writing Time, and Process Over Outcome | Compilation

    Bestselling and award-winning writers Seth Godin (The Practice), Amie McNee (We Need Your Art) and Mason Currey (Daily Rituals) on choosing yourself before anyone else does, protecting the hour you actually have, and why the practice that works is the one that fits your life rather than someone else’s. You’ll learn Why "grow a thicker skin" is the wrong advice for a writer facing rejection. What shifts when you notice the harshest rejection you face each day is your own. The case for lowering your standards if your ambitions are big. How an hour that doesn’t look like writing can still be an hour of writing. What the word discipline shares with the word disciple, and why it changes how a project turns out. A quiet argument for half an hour a day over the perfect routine you can’t sustain. Why chasing the writer you think you should be pulls you away from the work. When a good outcome hides a bad decision, and what that means for your practice. The difference between talent and skill, and why only one of them applies to writing. Episode Links #158: Amie McNee — Creating Without Permission, Overcoming Self-Doubt, Facing Rejection, Building a Life on Your Own Terms, Embracing Social Media as an Artform #177: Mason Currey — Daily Routines and How Artists Work, Focus Time and Protecting Your Best Hours #150: Seth Godin — Obscurity Is the Enemy, Here’s How to Stop Seeking Validation, Find Your Audience and Build a Creative Practice About the Guests Amie McNee is a trained historian turned creativity coach, writer, and speaker best known for her popular Instagram account, @InspiredtoWrite, and The Unpublished Podcast. She’s self-published two historical fiction novels: The Rules Upheld by No One and Regrettably, I Am About to Cause Trouble. Her book We Need Your Art: Stop F*cking Around and Make Something is a manifesto on the vital, human importance of creating. Her most recent novel, To Kill a Queen, a queer historical mystery set in Elizabethan London, was published in 2025. Mason Currey is a writer and editor living in Los Angeles and the author of the Daily Rituals books. In addition to compiling the Daily Rituals books, Currey was a design-magazine editor for ten years, working as the managing editor of Metropolis, the executive editor of Print, a senior editor at Core77, and the programming chair for the 2015 Core77 Conference. His freelance writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, and Slate, and he has delivered talks on the creative process to high school and college students, writers’ groups, and the partners of the design consultancy IDEO. He sends out a fortnightly newsletter on routines, rituals, and wriggling through a creative life. His latest book, Making Art and Making a Living: Adventures in Funding a Creative Life, was published by Celadon Books in 2026. Seth Godin is the author of twenty-plus international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work and have been translated into 39 languages – among them Unleashing the Ideavirus, Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, The Dip, Linchpin, Poke the Box, and All Marketers Are Liars. He writes the most popular marketing blog in the world and speaks to audiences worldwide. He is the founder of the altMBA, the founder and former CEO of Squidoo.com, the former VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, and the founder of the pioneering online startup Yoyodyne. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

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About

A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

Information

  • Creator
    Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    212
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2020-2024, London Writers' Salon
  • Show Website
    London Writers' Salon

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