From Journalist to True Crime Memoir: Carla Conti’s Writing and Publishing Tips

Thriller 101

Send me a Text Message!

Download the 50 editing mistakes authors make as shared by an editor for Lake Union Publishing!

In this episode, we talk about:

  • Using Documentation to Enhance Authenticity
  • Setting Deadlines for Momentum
  • How to Know When a Story Is Ready

Find out more about Carla HERE

Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate who previously covered the police beat and criminal courts as a newspaper reporter in the Midwest and Northeast. In 2011, she was asked to write about federal inmate Kevin Sanders, who was incarcerated inside the brutal, torturous conditions of Pennsylvania’s Lewisburg Prison. Carla then became part of the legal team that defended Kevin against unjust assault charges and remained his advocate and friend on the outside ever since.

Because of her exclusive access to Kevin’s first-person accounts, she knows the stories that led to the 2018 shutdown of USP Lewisburg’s Special Management Unit, one of the bloodiest experimental prison programs in the country. For a decade, Carla followed Kevin’s journey inside various federal prisons to write an exposé on the world of prison abuse, corruption, and violent prison gangs he experienced. However, she became imperiled by association after two separate prison gangs tried to kill Kevin and learned she was writing a tell-all book about his case.

You can read more about Carla on her Author Profile pages at Amazon, Bookbub, and Goodreads, where you can also ask her questions via the Goodreads forum.

Tweet me @DavidRGwyn

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada