Lit Service

3.14 The Jack Skellington Effect

Our guest, Stacy Whitman, is the founder and publisher of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee and Low that focuses on diverse middle grade and YA books. Stacy was a founding member of the CBC Diversity Committee. She is also currently looking for submissions for their #NewVisionsAward, but submissions close on August 31st, so act fast.

Some media we talk about: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

If you'd like to submit your work for us to critique, you can find our submission guidelines here: https://litservicepodcast.wixsite.com/litnation/submissions

3.13 The Weeds in Frodo's Garden

This is our fiftieth episode!!! The Lit Service crew discusses when to go "into the weeds" with your writing and when to stay out and summarize

Bonus Episode: Query Examples with Nicki Pau Preto

Nicki Pau Preto, author of Crown of Feathers shares the query that got her an agent along with thoughts from her agent about why it worked.

Nicki Pau Preto lives just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicki discovered two things: she loves to escape the real world, and she isn’t interested in a regular 9-5 life. Luckily, her chosen career covers both. She is represented by Penny Moore at Aevitis Creative Managment.

3.12 Beta Readers (and how to get them to email you back)

Livia Blackburne joins the Lit Service crew to discuss beta readers, who you should ask, and, most importantly, how to politely follow up with them. They also critique a bit of fantasy involving elven warriors, magic, and myths. 

3.11 Contemporary Worldbuilding

As it turns out, writing contemporary novels requires just as much worldbuilding as writing fantasy! Kate Watson and the Lit Service crew discuss the process of researching the real world for your writing.

3.10 The Horcrux Principle

Caitlin, Cameron, and Kristen discuss the Horcrux Principle (closely related to the objective correlative) with Lisa Mangum. Enjoy fun jokes, references, and a little Regency romance!

3.9 Protagging 101

People like characters who move, who make decisions, who want things. Caitlin, Cameron, and Kristen discuss how to make this happen on the page.

Books and media we talk about:

Harry Potter

The Hunger Games​

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Great Gatsby

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

If you'd like a first chapter critique from the podcast, please check out our submission guidelines here: https://litservicepodcast.wixsite.com/litnation/submissions

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Bonus Episode: Query Examples with Charlie Holmberg

Charlie Holmberg reads the query that got her an agent (and some feedback from her agent about why it worked!)

Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. Her fantasy Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance, and her novel The Fifth Doll won the 2018 Whitney for Speculative Fiction. She is a board member for Deep Magic Ezine and lives with her family in Utah.

Charlie is represented by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency.

3.8 Brick by Brick (but only the bricks that matter) with Nicki Pau Preto

 This week we talk to Nicki Pau Preto about how she approaches world building and how to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed and also how to create a lush secondary world.

Nicki Pau Preto is the author of Crown of Feathers. She lives just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicki discovered two things: she loves to escape the real world, and she isn’t interested in a regular 9-5 life. Luckily, her chosen career covers both.

Some books and media we talk about in this episode:

Books and Media:

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto 

Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

If you'd like a first chapter critique from the team, follow our social media or check our website to see who will be coming on the show to critique with us and when we're open for submissions.

3.7 The Query Monster

Caitlin and Cameron chat with Ben Grange from the L. Perkins agency and Amy Jameson from A+B Works about how to craft the perfect query.