#157. 10 Surprising Lessons From My First Book Launch
Earlier this year, I published my first book, The Story Grid Masterwork Analysis Guide to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone—and I learned soooo much about book marketing. Tune into this episode to hear the ten surprising lessons I learned from my first book launch, including things like: [03:10] What I learned about asking for Amazon reviews—and how asking for favors was the most uncomfortable part of the book launch process for me[04:30] A look behind the scenes at my marketing plan...
3 Sep 202418min
#156. Student Spotlight: 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 4)
Do you ever wish you could see a behind-the-scenes look at how other people write? In this episode, you’ll get to hear directly from five of my Notes to Novel students as they share how they brainstormed, outlined, and wrote their books inside the Notes to Novel course. I asked each of them to share the biggest thing that helped them get to “The End” of their drafts, and that’s exactly what they’re sharing with you today. In the episode, you’ll hear things like: [01:50] How fast draftin...
27 Aug 202425min
#155. 10 Things That Will NOT Make You A Better Writer
As someone who’s worked with hundreds of authors, I see people making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Mistakes that are easily avoidable once you know they’re mistakes. In this episode, I’m sharing some of these mistakes. Specifically, the 10 things that will NOT make you a better writer—and oh boy is it a juicy episode! In it, you’ll hear me talk about: [01:27] Why waiting until you feel more “ready” to write is actually one of the worst things you can do (and spoiler alert:...
20 Aug 202432min
#154. Coaching Call: Critiquing Jac Sahlin's Query And First Five Pages
“I think your story has a genre identity crisis. That’s probably why you’re not getting responses from agents.” ← That’s what I told my new friend, Jac Sahlin, about the duology she’s currently querying. Tune into this episode to hear Jac and I talk through her query letter and first five pages—and to hear my thoughts on why she hasn’t received any requests from agents. Although Jac isn’t technically a client of mine, our conversation will give you a peek behind the scenes into what it’s lik...
13 Aug 20241h 20min
#153. Scene Analysis: Chapter 5 "Diagon Alley" From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
“How many scenes are in the Diagon Alley chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?” Believe it or not, this is one of the most frequently asked questions I get from writers when they hear I’ve written a book breaking apart this mega best seller scene by scene. And it’s a valid question! This chapter was the hardest chapter for us to analyze when putting together The Story Grid Masterwork Analysis Guide to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. But this week, Abigail K. Perry and I ...
6 Aug 202447min
#152. Three Act Structure Breakdown: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
How did Rowling deliver on the life-and-death stakes an action story requires, but in a way appropriate for middle-grade readers? How did she consistently weave together the external plot and Harry’s character arc in such a way that they’re inseparable? Tune into this episode to hear Abigail K. Perry and I talk through the plot structure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone using the Story Grid’s Five Commandments of Storytelling. Yep, we’ve broken down the beginning, middle, and end of ...
1 Aug 202437min
Bonus: The Global Story Structure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Rowling is a master at weaving the external plot with Harry’s internal character arc—and using the external plot events to help Harry grow and change. In this episode, you’ll hear Abigail K. Perry and I talk through the big-picture plot structure of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone using the Story Grid’s Five Commandments of Storytelling. We’ll also discuss how this story fits in the Action Genre Framework and how Rowling adapted that framework to suit a middle-grade audience. ⭐ Rate +...
30 Juli 202417min
Bonus: How To Write Scenes Like Rowling (An Interview With Savannah Gilbo & Abigail K. Perry)
J.K. Rowling is the master of layering things within her scenes. She’s also fantastic at raising the stakes from scene to scene, too. But how does she do it Tune into this episode to hear Abigail K. Perry and I talk to Tim Grahl (the CEO of Story Grid) about what it was like to study Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone—what we learned from J.K. Rowling about writing scenes and so much more. ⭐ Rate + Review + Follow on Apple Podcasts "I love the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast!" ← If tha...
25 Juli 202427min
