#DearAugust
I saw that #DearAugust was tending today, and it made me think of my hopes for this month. I hope to write at least 100 more solid pages of my current project, which I've fallen back in love with. I hope a dear friend welcomes her baby into the world, and that they both stay safe and healthy. And I want very much for my community to find ways to art as hard as they can amid the chaos and fear all around right now.
It's Leo season, and I hope you're taking on some of that fearless joy and self-love. We all deserve it. 🦁
I continue to release new episodes of Track Changes, the spinoff series that seeks to share knowledge and insight about the publishing industry. Last week I released "Inequality in Publishing," which highlights and contextualizes what I see as three major inflection points where systemic inequality gets perpetuated in our industry: employment practices in publishing; acquisitions meetings; and the bottleneck of corporate book-buyers.
Podcasts continue to be a comfort to me right now, so if First Draft has done the same for you, I am honored.
Read on for...
🗣️ I started a First Draft Facebook Group - join up and chime in!
🔥 Check out the panels from the A Mighty Blaze: YA Weekend, including...
📌 A panel feat. the author, agent, and editor of a single book (!), and...
📌 A panel with an author, agent, and editor with amazing BTS info!
🎧 Recent can't-miss First Draft episodes
🗳️ Some timely links
💎 Links for TELL ME EVERYTHING
🔥 Check Out These Awesome Panels! 🔥
A Mighty Blaze: YA Weekend
Me, Jennifer de Leon (author of Don't Ask Me Where I'm From) and Joseph Moldover (author of Every Moment After) teamed up with A Mighty Blaze to present this slate of panels filled with authors who debuted during COVID-19.
👆 Click each one to watch the video of the panel and find links to all the authors and their books! 📚
In this Track Changes panel, I talk to the author, agent, and editor of Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, to get insight about how the project came to be! Jennifer de Leon, Faye Bender (agent at The Book Group) and Caitlyn Dlouhy (Vice President & Editorial Director–Caitlyn Dlouhy Books at Simon & Schuster). Tons of insight about publishing and info on how agents and editors work behind-the-scenes to make a book a success. Click to watch!
In THIS Track Changes panel, I talk to professionals from every major stage of a book's journey, including Abigail Hing Wen, debut author of New York Times bestselling Loveboat, Taipei; Joanna Volpe, president and literary agent at New Leaf Literary and Media; and Alvina Ling, VP, Editor-in-Chief of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. So many practical tips and insight in this one -- click to watch!
🎧 Recent First Draft Episodes 🎧
Opening the Mailbag With Brandy Colbert
This week is a new mailbag episode, where I--along with a very special guest--will answer listener questions! Joining me today is Brandy Colbert, author of Pointe, Little & Lion, The Only Black Girls in Town, and more! Her latest book, The Voting Booth, is out now.
Listen here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Track Changes: Inequality In Publishing
🔍📚 How bad is structural inequality within the U.S. publishing industry, how did it get that way, and what can we do to make it better? Industry experts and activists contextualize, illuminate, and identify some of the key inflection points that perpetuate inequality and get into what every book lover can do to enact change.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
It's a Woo-Woo Thing With Kim Johnson
Kim Johnson, college administrator and mentor of student activists, on her debut author of This is My America, out now!
This episode is sponsored by Revision Season, a seven-week, virtual master class in revising your novel, led by Elana K. Arnold, author of Printz honor winner Damsel and National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and more.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Falling Onto the Earth With
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Alaya Dawn Johnson, Nebula-winning author of YA novels The Summer Prince, Love is the Drug, and more. Her new adult speculative fiction novel, Trouble the Saints, is out now!
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Digital Native Lit
With Hank Green
Hank Green talks about A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, the sequel to his #1 New York Times bestselling debut, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Hank is, along with his brother John Green, the CEO of Complexly, co-host of the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel and the Dear Hank and John podcast, and is also co-founder of VidCon, DFTBA Records, and Crash Course.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Track Changes: After the Book Deal
💻 ➞ 📚 What happens between signing the book contract and seeing a book on shelves? Industry experts walk us through edit letters, production schedules, cover designs, first pass pages, sales meetings and more.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
The Friendship Canon With Aminatou Sow and
Ann Friedman
Hank Green talks about A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, the sequel to his #1 New York Times bestselling debut, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Hank is, along with his brother John Green, the CEO of Complexly, co-host of the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel and the Dear Hank and John podcast, and is also co-founder of VidCon, DFTBA Records, and Crash Course.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Track Changes: After the Book Deal
💻 ➞ 📚 What happens between signing the book contract and seeing a book on shelves? Industry experts walk us through edit letters, production schedules, cover designs, first pass pages, sales meetings and more.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
🗳️ Just Gonna Put This Here 🗳️
Donate to Fair Fight, which advocates for free and fair elections!
Find a mutual aid organization near you, and donate time or money (or get assistance)!
💅 ICYMI 💅
