PubCrawl Podcast

WE ARE BACK! FOR REALSIES, Y'ALL. Kelly and JJ go through a backlog of questions, give answers, and catch up a bit on life. Also: their call for submissions for their query critique podcast is still open! If you would like your query critiqued by the two of us, please send them to publishingcrawl@gmail.com with the subject QUERY CRITIQUE.

JJ and Kelly are back with another Half Pint Happy Hour (that's more like a full size pint this time around. We're chatty). We answer questions about social media in fiction, how to finish a draft, and how (not) to personalize your query for agents. Also, snail slime face cream! This is Kelly's first time editing the podcast (standing ovation for JJ, who has edited every single other episode to date) so her apologies if the audio quality is not what you're used to. She's learning.

We're BACK! Despite deadlines and life chaos in general, Kelly and JJ just couldn't stay away. Welcome to Half-Pint Happy Hour! These are short episodes where we check in, catch up, and answer questions to tide us all over until we can return to full-length content.

This week Kelly and JJ talk about promotion and getting the word out about your book, including whether or not to put money into your own promotion, hiring a publicist, making swag, or putting out a newsletter. We also announce a brief hiatus for the month of March, but we'll be back in April with our next Query Critique episode, so send us your queries!

A bit of a contentious topic this week, but JJ and Kelly discuss the boundaries between your public self and your private self and how that can affect your publishing career, including tips on what to do when your book is called out for harmful content. They also have tips about skincare, especially Korean beauty, if you're into that sort of thing.

This week Kelly and JJ discuss Wintersong because JJ didn't have the brain space or the bandwidth to participate in a cogent discussion about writing or publishing. Also: SPOILERS. If you haven't read the book, you might want to give this episode a skip, or just skip to the very end, where we move on to our other usual sections. Spoilers start at 13:15 and end at 49:35.

This week JJ and Kelly tackle another writing topic: POV, or Point of View. APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY, everyone! The week this episode was supposed to go up was release week for JJ, so she had no time to edit or put up show notes. Still, better late than never, right?

This week Kelly and JJ talk about SALES & SUCCESS, or Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper. We're kind of a downer in this episode, but we want to keep things real for you. Also, we know these are trying times, so remember to take care of yourselves too.

This week JJ and Kelly continue with their Publishing 101 REDUX series with Submissions. As per usual, JJ Keeps Things Probably a Little Too Real. Als: JJ finally gets Kelly to admit that puns are great, and they discuss their love of Lemony Snicket.

This week Kelly and JJ revisit an old topic: Querying & Representation! It's been over a year since we last discussed this topic, so we decided to give it another go. Plus, Kelly has news that is highly relevant to this week's episode. ;-)

Happy new year! Going a bit off schedule by just playing catch-up from the holidays and looking back on 2016, as well as a look forward into 2017. SPOILER: It was a rough year for us, and we don't think we were the only ones suffering from reading and writing slumps.

This week Kelly and JJ start a new series about TROPES IN FICTION. What makes a trope cliche? How do you subvert a trope? Also, HAMILTON MIXTAPE.

And we are back! After a bit of an unplanned hiatus, JJ and Kelly are back to regularly scheduled podcast episodes. Apologies for some of the audio quality—Kelly was apparently dying and we are out of practice with podcasting. But we wrap up our Writing Mechanics series this time around with SENTENCE CRAFT, or what makes good writing on a sentence level, not just macro level things like plot and pacing.

AND WE'RE BACK! This week Kelly and JJ continue their Writing Mechanics series with TONE & MOOD. As we recorded this before the US election, some of this is...quaint, in hindsight.

This week JJ and Kelly resurrect the Writing Mechanics series with PACING. Also Kelly does tone research and JJ recovers from an emotional book hangover.