This Creative Life with Sara Zarr

When author Faith Gardner grew frustrated with the slowly grinding gears of traditional publishing and wanted to spread her wings a bit, she took matters into her own hands. This is the first episode of this fall's Comebacks, Pivots, and Reinventions series! Get the show notes / newsletter Get the This Creative Life book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music!

What's coming this fall from This Creative Life! Show links: the newsletter the audiobook www.sarazarr.com

When it feels like the world is burning down, is writing something you want to save from the fire? Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music www.sarazarr.com

Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music. www.sarazarr.com

Get the newsletter version of this post. Get the book. Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music.

I’m so happy to be back with one my favorite contemporary novelists, Michelle Huneven. I love the compassion, humor, and reality in how she renders life and relationships. She’s got a brand new book out, Search, which we talk about along with her other books, her background, and process—including the 20-year circuitous journey to the publication of her first novel, Round Rock. I hope you enjoy the episode and, if you’re not already a fan, go explore her catalog. Get the show notes / newsletter Theme music by Dave Connis Support the pod via PayPal or ko-fi Get the This Creative Life book

It's launch day for the This Creative Life ebook, with the paperback close behind! I was recently on Jenn Laughran's Literaticast digging into the content and ideas in the book, and she graciously let me crosspost the ep into the TCL feed.  The Literaticast on Apple Podcasts Get the show notes / newsletter Get 30% off the book with this link and this code: QWBODLO8MX Or find it just about everywhere that sells ebooks! B&N, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Apple. All the links at www.sarazarr.com

Jo Knowles is one of my favorite book people, and she has a new one out this week. That inspired me to pull her 2013 episode up from the archives, where it’s been under lock and key for awhile. Jo writes for and about almost all ages on the young reader spectrum, from picture book (Ear Worm) to YA (Read Between the Lines) to Middle Grade (See You at Harry’s). Her latest, Meant to Be, sounds like it has a lot in common with A Song Called Home. Which doesn’t surprise me a bit—Jo and I have always been interested in similar themes and settings in our work. Check out her work if you don’t know it, and enjoy this trip back in time! Selected Show Notes Jo Knowles online Jo and other guests at the TCL Bookshop shop NEW! thiscreative.life Theme music by Dave Connis

A lot has happened since the last episode! Namely: A Song Called Home and The Temps are both out in the world and no longer under our control, if they ever were. We’re already no longer in our pub-day month; new books come out, people move on. Our role as authors is pretty much done. So, what’s next? As you’ll discover in this episode, neither Andrew nor Sara are sure. Whether it’s Andrew trying to decide what project to focus on now, or me pondering a complete exit from the whole endeavor, we’re both tired and looking for some clarity in the breath-after-pub. We also talk about: checking sales numbers, Sally Rooney’s bucket hat, and how we’d describe “the arc of a launch.” And there’s still one more book left to launch in this series! The This Creative Life book is off to the copyeditor and soon to meets its publishing fate. A Song Called Home The Temps Coming-of-age as apocalypse - Andrew’s piece at LitHub Julia Fox at the Oscars This Creative Life - the book! Theme music: Creative Commons Deep Friendship by Lobo Loco is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

As Andrew and I wait through the last few weeks before our books come out, we digress ever so slightly into an incomplete history of self-publishing, from its reputation as “vanity publishing” to where it converged with the advent of ebooks and e-readers to arrive at its present day status as a messy juggernaut. Also: why every writer should consider learning how to self-publish in the 21st century. Sara’s book now comes out on 3/15; Andrew’s is still scheduled for 3/29. Neither are at the bottom of the ocean! 0-13:30: Updates on our books 13:35-1:07:00: The incomplete history of self-publishing (including diversions to e-readers, the aspiring writer industrial complex, and remembering “New Adult” in its innocent infancy) 1:07:00 - end: Closing thoughts and coming attractions Support This Creative Life Theme music: Creative Commons Deep Friendship by Lobo Loco is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Laurel Snyder is the author of numerous books for young readers, including Orphan Island, My Jasper June, and the Charlie & Mouse books.  In this episode, we talk about staying fluent in the language of childhood, the “ghost of brokenness” when writing from a sad place, how Laurel works with the all-or-nothing cycles of her writing process, being an extrovert in an introvert’s career, and the difficulties of writing about faith and religion. Around minutes 53-58, this turns into a Real Housewives podcast. We’re not sorry! Theme music by Dave Connis. This podcast is ad-free. Find out how to support it here. Thank you! More show notes / subscribe to get the podcast in your email

The Launch Box is back! Andrew and I talk about letting go, publicity (including his experience with a freelance publicist), and have a breakthrough about what might be behind the Book Blues for a lot of writers. Also, we catch up on The Temps movie option and where we stand on unboxing videos. Ephemera: Ringo Starr, Scrivener syncing, and the ghost of Dorothea Brande. Andrew DeYoung Sara Zarr Ask a question / get extended show notes Support the pod Theme music: Creative Commons Deep Friendship by Lobo Loco is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

I’m so excited to kick off 2022 with my conversation with Preeti Chhibber, a multitalented lady with just the energy we need to help take us into a new year. Preeti is an author, podcaster, speaker, and all-around badass who has published multiple IP projects as well as her original work. In this episode, we talk about how she got started in IP and what it takes to succeed in that world, managing a many-tentacled freelance career, and the risks and rewards of stating what you want to the world. Theme music by Dave Connis. This podcast is ad-free. Find out how to support it here. Thank you!

In this episode of The Launch Box, Andrew and I discuss the mysteries of professional gift-giving, how to balance big-picture career thinking with getting the writing done, the possibilities of being a weekend novelist, and EVENTS. Also, Sara gets a review and Andrew answers the TCL two questions. Plus so much more. Andrew DeYoung Sara Zarr Ask a question / get extended show notes Support the pod Theme music: Creative Commons Deep Friendship by Lobo Loco is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Sara helps cast her audiobook, Andrew gets a movie option, Sara learns more about Ingram Spark for self-publishing, and we both write letters to booksellers hoping to endear them to us. Also, everyone is burned out, including Andrew's cat. Andrew DeYoung Sara Zarr Ask a question / get extended show notes Support the pod Theme music: Creative Commons Deep Friendship by Lobo Loco is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0