Plenty to get ready for NaNoWriMo season!
Hey, friends! Sorry I'm a little behind -- technically this is the September newsletter 🤣
Speaking of newsletters: Have you checked out the weekly Track Changes newsletter yet? Meant for aspiring writers and seasoned pros alike, I use the newsletter to explore more aspects of the publishing industry and offer exclusive interviews and writing advice. Sounds interesting right?
Topics covered so far include:
How Barnes & Noble's new CEO is changing how they buy and sell books;
How publishing delays, Barack Obama, and a failed merger could screw midlist authors this fall; and
Real talk from award-winning YA author Jeff Zentner about how he writes while holding down a full-time day job.
Since I don't run a Patreon for First Draft, it's the best way to support the podcast (while getting lots of bonus content), for just $5 a month.
Give it a try! Sign up now to try it for 30 days for free.
Thank you all so much for all you've already done to support First Draft, and Track Changes, and me. I appreciate everything so, so much!
Read on for...
🏅Sharing gratitude for our sponsors!
📆 A quick programming note
🗣️ Some recent interviews featuring Sarah Enni
🎧 Recent can't-miss First Draft episodes
🗳️ Some timely links
💎 Links for TELL ME EVERYTHING
🏅 Sponsors 🏅
This month, many episodes of First Draft were brought to you by Everything I Thought I Knew, by Shannon Takoaka, out from Candlewick Press now!
📆 Programming Note! 📆
Starting in October, new episodes of First Draft will be released on Thursdays! That will keep our episodes from being lost in the hubbub of new book release excitement every Tuesday, and tee you up with a great conversation for the weekend.
🗣️ First Draft and Sarah Enni in the News 🗣️
In a recent episode of With the Call, a podcast from The Under Review an online literary journal which focuses on sports, literature, and culture, Sarah talked to host Terry Horstman about writing and fantasy football playing in the year of COVID. She also reads her fantastic Twitter thread/essay dubbed as "fandemicsy football" by Terry. Listen on
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Website
Laura Maylene Walter interviewed Sarah about Track Changes and publishing anxiety for the Kenyon Review blog. An excerpt:
Understanding that I truly had so little power was very freeing to me. A book takes off or it doesn’t. I don’t have to take on the weight of that responsibility; I have to try my best and keep writing books. Ultimately, I came to understand that I have so little power that I’m going to choose to give myself a break and not act like I can control this world.
Read the interview here!
🎧 Recent First Draft Episodes 🎧
Painting Impossibilities With Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist, illustrator of The Day the Crayons Quit, and author and illustrator of How to Catch a Star, The Fate of Fausto, and Here We Are talks about his newest picture book, What We’ll Build.
Listen here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Shooping Together With Carson Ellis
Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of bestselling picture books Home and Caldecott Honor book Du Iz Tak?, talks about her newest picture book, In the Half Room.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
International Settings (A Mighty Blaze YA Weekend Panel)
A conversation between Randy Ribay, author of the National Book Award Finalist Patron Saints of Nothing; Kelly Yang, author of Parachutes; Laura Taylor Namey, author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow; Mayra Cuevas, author of Salty, Bitter, Sweet.
This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together.
You can watch the Zoom video of this panel at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page, here.
Listen here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Therapy on the Page With Justin Reynolds
Justin Reynolds, author of The Opposite of Always, talks about his new young adult contemporary novel, Early Departures.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Track Changes Bonus Episode: The Don't Ask Me Where I'm From Team
A conversation between the entire team behind debut young adult novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From: author Jennifer de Leon, Literary agent Faye Bender, partner and founder of The Book Group, and Caitlyn Dlouhy, Vice President & Editorial Director–Caitlyn Dlouhy Books at Simon & Schuster.
This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) for all the help putting that entire celebration together.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Owning the Audience of One With Arvin Ahmadi
Arvin Ahmadi, author of Down and Across, Girl Gone Viral, and his latest, How it All Blew Up.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Grief and Trauma in YA (A Mighty Blaze YA Weekend Panel)
A conversation between Joseph Moldover, author of Every Last Breath; Alex Richards, author of Accidental; Liz Lawson, author of The Lucky Ones; Rocky Callen, author of A Breath Too Late; and Nina de Pass, author of The Year After You.
This conversation was held as part of A Mighty Blaze’s YA Weekend, and many thanks to Joseph Moldover (author of Every Last Breath) and Jennifer de Leon (author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From) for all the help putting that entire celebration together.
You can watch the Zoom video of this panel at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page, here.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
The Theme Song of Your Interests With Anne Helen Petersen
Anne Helen Petersen, freelance journalist and cultural critic with her biweekly newsletter, and author of nonfiction books Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema and Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman, talks about her newest book, Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Opening the Mailbag With Lilliam Rivera
This week is a new mailbag episode, where I--along with a very special guest--will answer listener questions! Joining me today is Lilliam Rivera, author of The Education of Margot Sanchez, Dealing in Dreams, Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, and her newest YA novel, Never Look Back, a retelling of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice set in the Bronx (out now)!
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
Soul Research With Tiffany Jackson
Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Allegedly, Monday’s Not Coming, and Let Me Hear A Rhyme, talks about her new book, Grown.
Listen to our interview here, on iTunes, or on Spotify!
🗳️ Just Gonna Put This Here 🗳️
💅 ICYMI 💅
