Show Notes
Welcome to episode 3 of Serving Books: from inspiration to publication, the podcast for every industry-outsider who, like me, has lots of questions about how a book goes from being an idea, to landing in readersā hands. In this series Iāve interviewed industry experts including writing mentors, book coaches, writing community founders, editors, agents, book marketers, publicity and pr experts, and book shop owners to bring their insights and knowledge straight to your ears by answering alllll my nosy questions! āš» How do you get words on the page?š How do you choose the right publishing path for you?š¤ Whatās involved in the different stages of editing?šŖ How do you snag an agent and negotiate a book deal?š¤ What are the best ways to work *with* your publisher to prepare and promote your book?š£ļø How might you self-drive your book promotion whether youāre indie or traditional published?š Whatās the booksellerās view on how they select the titles theyāre going to back?ā¬ļø How can you keep the ball rolling after publication?š® And how might you future-proof your career as an author?
This week weāre hearing from editors who are experts in getting your book ready for readers whether you decide to self-publish or go the traditional route to publication. My brilliant guests in this episode are: Adrienne Dines is best known for her work as a storytelling mentor, novelist, and creative writing educator. Over the past two decades she has become highly regarded in UK writing circles for teaching the craft of storytelling Iāve invited Adrienne onto the podcast to talk to us about how writers can work on the stories they are telling until they can be confident they are putting their best book forward, whether they are pursuing a traditional publishing path, or one of the alternative I talked about in the last episode. Next, I speak to Joe Sedgwick, Head of Writing Services at The Literary Consultancy who are the largest provider of editorial services in the UK, about why authors might want to invest in a developmental edit of their work before they send it out to agents or readers. Joe is a literary agent, editor, and publishing consultant with extensive experience helping writers develop their work and navigate the publishing industry. At The Literary Consultancy, he works closely with authors at every stage of their writing journey, offering editorial guidance, mentoring, and insight into what makes a manuscript stand out in todayās publishing landscape. And finally, Catriona Turner is a writer and editor who understands the publishing journey from both sides of the desk. Through her business, The Word Bothy, Catriona helps indie authors transform polished manuscripts into professional books through expert copyediting, line-editing, proofreading, and one-to-one publishing support. Catriona is also an author herself. Her memoir, Nest: A Memoir of Home on the Move, explores questions of identity, belonging, and what it really means to feel at home. That experience gives her a unique perspective on the creative and emotional realities of bringing a book into the world. Today Cat is going to talk us through some of the last - but far from least - stages of the editing process: line editing and copy editing. If youād like future episodes of the podcast to land in your inbox, subscribe to Too Much by Nicola Washington, and youāll be notified every time I release a new episode Further advice about finding editors Cat is a member of the CIEP - Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading - and their website has a directory of their Professional and Advanced Professional members, who have experience, training, and extensive professional development under their belts. Other editing organisations that have directories include the Editorial Freelancers Association, ACES - The Society for Editors, and Editors Canada. Reedsy and the ALLi partner member directory are also useful. If youāre interested in learning more about ALLi, Catriona has an affili
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Welcome to episode 10 of the Serving Books podcast series! We have covered so much ground in this series, and I hope you have found all of the previous episodes useful and interesting - please forward them on to any writers groups or writer friends you think might be interested. Copy this link and send it to your friends as it will open the podcast on whatever platform they use to listen: https://podfollow.com/1826841227 Today was supposed to be the final episode of the series BUT, as Robert Burns so elegantly put it, āthe best laid schemes oā Mice and Men, gang aft agleyāā¦ which is a phrase etched into my brain from when I used to teach Steinbeckās novel to teenagers. Basically, what they were both getting at is that even good preparation canāt always stop things going astrayā¦ In my case the things that have gone astray are my ability to sit at my desk thanks to a frozen shoulder and carpal tunnel inflammation which means I never got round to inviting one of the guests I want to interview, while another guest had to postpone recording because of much more important things they needed to make space for in their own lives. This all means that for today, we are going to hear from one of my guests who is going to talk about future-proofing your career as an author. She has so much to say of value that itās probably for the best that she gets her own episode and I can spread the wisdom out! There will be bonus episodes featuring other special guests once I am able to record them, so please tune in when those episodes are released. Please welcome, Claire Venus āØ "Queen of Substack" and co-author of How to Build a World Class Substack! Before you dive into this episode though, if you are listening to this episode before the 24th September 2026, you might be interested in a free workshop I am running called Setting Up for Instagram Success. This is a FREE online workshop taking place on Thursday 24th September, 2-3pm GMT (replay available). Weāll spend an hour walking through the 5 opportunities you have to capture the attention of every (relevant) potential reader who lands on your account. Youāll learn how to make the best use of: * your handle * your bio * your profile picture * your links * and your pinned posts Come along and set yourself up for success as an author on Instagram! Sign up for free below to attend live and/ or receive the replay:
Welcome to episode 9 - the penultimate episode! - of Serving Books: from inspiration to publication. The podcast where I map what it takes for a book to go from being a glimmer of an idea to landing in your readersā hands. In this series Iāve sought to answer the questions I have as a publishing industry outsider by interviewing industry experts including writing mentors, book coaches, writing community founders, editors, agents, book marketers, publicity and pr experts, and book shop owners to bring their insights and knowledge straight to your ears! In this episode I speak with three guests about a variety of ways authors can keep the momentum going post-launch that are off the beaten tracks of newsletters and social media: * James, founder of Reading Rebels, offers his insights into how authors can hold effective school visits * Karen Powell from ethical audiobook platform xigxag talks about the opportunities they offer authors to reach their listeners * and Elizabeth Morris , creator of the Crib Notes newsletter and community, tells us about the possibilities offered by working in collaboration with bookish influencers and content creators If youāre new to the podcast you might want to start at the beginning: Or, select an episode from this list of everything Iāve released so far: āš» How do you get words on the page?š How do you choose the right publishing path for you?š¤ Whatās involved in the different stages of editing?šŖ How do you snag an agent and negotiate a book deal?š¤ What are the best ways to work *with* your publisher to prepare and promote your book?š£ļø How might you self-drive your book promotion whether youāre indie or traditional published?š Whatās the booksellerās view on how they select the titles theyāre going to back?ā¬ļø How can you keep the ball rolling after publication?š® And how might you future-proof your career as an author?
Welcome to episode 8 of Serving Books: from inspiration to publication, the podcast for every industry-outsider who, like me, has lots of questions about how a book goes from being an idea, to landing in readersā hands. If youāre enjoying the series so far, please share it with all your writerly friends to help me reach more listeners, or if you rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts this will help the algorithms do their magic šŖ Serving Books answers questions likeā¦ āš» How do you get words on the page?š Which is the right publishing path for you?š¤ Whatās involved in the different stages of editing?šŖ How to snag an agent and negotiate a book deal?š¤ What are the best ways to work *with* your publisher to prepare and promote your book?š£ļø How might you self-drive your book promotion, whether youāre indie or traditionally published?š Whatās the booksellerās view on how they select the titles theyāre going to back?ā¬ļø How can you keep the ball rolling after publication?š® And how might you future-proof your career as an author?
Welcome to episode 7 of Serving Books: from inspiration to publication, the podcast for every industry-outsider who, like me, has lots of questions about how a book goes from being an idea, to landing in readersā hands. If youāre enjoying the series so far, please share it with all your writerly friends to help me reach more listeners, or if you rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts this will help the algorithms do their magic šŖ Serving Books answers questions likeā¦ āš» How do you get words on the page?š Which is the right publishing path for you?š¤ Whatās involved in the different stages of editing?šŖ How to snag an agent and negotiate a book deal?š¤ What are the best ways to work *with* your publisher to prepare and promote your book?š£ļø How might you create an āauthor brandā in a way that doesnāt make you want to die of cringe, and self-drive your book promotion, whether youāre indie or traditionally published?š Whatās the booksellerās view on how they select the titles theyāre going to back?ā¬ļø How can you keep the ball rolling after publication?š® And how might you future-proof your career as an author?
Welcome to episode 6 of Serving Books: from inspiration to publication, the podcast for every industry-outsider who, like me, has lots of questions about how a book goes from being an idea, to landing in readersā hands. In this series Iāve interviewed industry experts including writing mentors, book coaches, writing community founders, editors, agents, book marketers, publicity and pr experts, and book shop owners to bring their insights and knowledge straight to your ears by answering alllll my nosy questions! If youāre enjoying the series so far, please share with all your writerly friends to help me reach more listeners, or if you rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts this will help the algorithms do their magic šŖ Questions likeā¦ āš» How do you get words on the page?š Which is the right publishing path for you?š¤ Whatās involved in the different stages of editing?šŖ How to snag an agent and negotiate a book deal?š¤ What are the best ways to work *with* your publisher to prepare and promote your book?š£ļø How might you self-drive your book promotion, whether youāre indie or traditionally published?š Whatās the booksellerās view on how they select the titles theyāre going to back?ā¬ļø How can you keep the ball rolling after publication?š® And how might you future-proof your career as an author?