The Manuscript Academy #MSWL

We are so pleased to welcome agent Erica Bauman from Aevitas Creative Management to the podcast!

We discuss:

*How to make your work more atmospheric

*Where to place emphasis when writing between genres

*Balancing keeping the reader in their heads vs. their senses

*When the genre of our world gets closer to dystopia, how does the dystopian genre change?

*Why do agents ask for exactly your metatags—and then say no?

Meet with Erica here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/faculty-members/erica-bauman

Erica Bauman is a literary agent at Aevitas Creative Management and represents a wide variety of authors across middle grade, young adult, and upmarket adult fiction, including acclaimed YA author Maria Ingrande Mora, New York Times Bestseller Kayla Cottingham, and Lambda Literary Fellow Naseem Jamnia.

Erica is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and has worked in the publishing industry since 2012. Prior to Aevitas, she worked at Spectrum Literary Agency.

Based in New York, Erica is most interested in commercial novels that feature an exciting premise and lyrical, atmospheric writing; imaginative, genre-blending tales; speculative worlds filled with haunting, quietly wondrous magic; fresh retellings of mythology, ballet, opera, and classic literature; sharply funny rom-coms; graphic novels for all ages; fearless storytellers that tackle big ideas and contemporary issues; and working with and supporting marginalized authors and stories that represent the wide range of humanity.

Debut author Kristy Jackson joins Julie and Jessica to talk about her new middle grade book, MORTIFIED, now out in bookstores everywhere! From embarrassing middle school moments to querying hiccups, Kristy talks about her 20+ year-long writing journey, how she found the right agent for her, and how perseverance made all the different to achieving her publishing dreams.

Learn more about Kristy here: https://www.kristyjackson.ca/

In the first installment of the Manuscript Academy Book Club, we have Liv Constantine, the pen name for internationally bestselling sister duo Lynne and Valerie Constantine!

Joined by Jessica, Julie, and the Manuscript Academy community, Valerie and Lynne answer your questions about how to collaborate and edit as a team, how to get the best results when querying, and how to keep your work fresh when writing multiple books in the same genre.

**Please note that there are spoilers for The Last Mrs. Parrish as noted verbally in the episode.**

01:00 Meet the Authors: Liv Constantine
01:19 The Journey to Success
03:26 Collaborative Writing Process
12:09 Crafting Unputdownable Thrillers
16:47 Pitching and Querying Tips
19:39 The Impact of Reese's Book Club
25:31 Character Development and POV Shifts
26:04 Crafting Intricate Plot Details
27:33 Collaborating as Sisters
31:15 Balancing Writing and Marketing
34:58 Navigating the Publishing Industry
36:59 Advice for Aspiring Writers
38:40 Creating Realistic Psychopath Characters
42:54 Final Thoughts and Reflections

Learn more at https://livconstantine.com/

You’ve heard of the all-important voice—but how do you make it more vivid, both on the page—and in your life?

Enter Jessica Doyle-Mekkes, an author, voice coach, and eloquent speaker on how your voice in your life and your voice on the page are linked, vitally important—and within your control to improve.

Listen along for what helps your voice come out as you intend—whether singing, public speaking, or reading your character aloud to an audience on your book tour.

We also discuss:
***Do agents share projects with each other? Yes! In fact, this book happened in part because agent Jessica (Sinsheimer) saw author Jesica (Doyle-Mekkes) and just had a feeling she’d be a good fit for Katharine.
***Learning to write a book proposal from the ground up—and, in one case, overnight
***What makes an ideal client? What do agents look for?
***How much platform do you *really* need? There are two kinds of platform—here’s how to leverage both, and how Jessica builds hers (and you can too)
***How you can start preparing NOW for your readings on your future book tour

Find I'm Speaking: Every Woman's Guide to Finding Your Voice and Using It Fearlessly wherever books are sold.

Meet with Katharine here: https://manuscriptacademy.com/faculty-members/katharine-sands

We are thrilled to introduce our very own Julie Kingsley's debut novel! It's called The Space Between You and Me and came out this week!

"That summer, I finally grew into myself. The problem? I grew too fast. And fruit that grows too fast often bursts in the sunshine."

With her agent Lane Heymont (Tobias Literary Agency), we discuss:

*What happens if you have film interest before book interest
*How Hollywood runs on FOMO (fear of missing out)
*How Julie got a sensitivity read with her film interest
*When book agents send your work to Hollywood
*When agents announce your book and why
*What “film interest” looks like after your book is announced
*Leveraging Hollywood pettiness to increase odds of an option
*How the etiquette of Hollywood is vastly different from NY Publishing
*The “secret sauce” for being fought over
*What is a hook?
*Planning your Easter Eggs

Learn more about Julie's book here: https://www.juliekingsley.com/
Learn more about Lane here: https://thetobiasagency.com/lane-heymont

Content Warning: This podcast discusses suicide, grief, and loss.

Pam O'Hara's beautiful writing captivated our expert audience during a recent Manuscript Academy panel, so much so that it was picked for our 2024 MSWL Agent Choice Awards.

Pam joins Jessica and Julie to speak about her stunning memoir about love, loss, and losing a loved one by suicide. We discuss everything from platform, to crafting your voice, to how to position a serious and sad topic for your audience, and more. Agents and editors, this one is in need of representation, if you're listening and like what you hear. We know we did.

Learn more about Pam here: https://pamelaohara.com