Lit Service

5.09 Orphaned Manuscripts (and what happens if your imprint closes!) with Erin Beaty

We chatted with Erin Beaty about the closing of Imprint/Macmillan and Simon Pulse and what happens to books that are orphaned because the imprint that acquires your book closed or your editor moves, leaves the business.

To find out more about Erin and her books, check out her website.

Here's the first chapter we critiqued!

To find out how to support the podcast, check out our Patreon.

5.08 Anagnorisis: Characters Discovering Their True Circumstances with Erin Beaty.

Erin Beaty joins the Lit Service crew to teach them a new word (it's pronounced AnagNORisis, if you were wondering.) which is the moment when a character realizes the truth of the situation they're in or who they are or that another character is not who they thought they were. 

 

Erin Beaty is the author of The Traitor's Circle Trilogy (and provides many lovely moments of anagnorisis for readers to chew on). To find out more about her and her books, check out her website.

 

For the first chapter we critique, go here:

To learn how to support the podcast, check out our Patreon.

Want a first chapter critique from us? Our list of upcoming guests is on our website, as are our submission guidelines.

5.07 Setting as Character with Lisa Maxwell

Lisa Maxwell joins the Lit Service cast to talk about injecting your setting with that special something that makes it interactive and immersive, almost like an additional character in the story.

Lisa is the NYT bestselling author of The Last Magician, The Devil’s Thief, The Serpent's Curse, and Unhooked. She grew up in Akron, Ohio, and has a PhD in English. She’s worked as a teacher, scholar, bookseller, editor, and writer. When she’s not writing books, she’s a professor at a local college. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two sons. Check out Lisa's books here or follow her Instagram.

To see the chapter we critiqued with our notes, go here.

To find out how to help support this podcast, visit our Patreon.

We'd love to see your first chapter! To see who will be coming on the show next and how to submit your work, visit our website.

Bonus Episode: Hot Seat Query Critique with Tricia Levenseller

Tricia Levenseller joins Caitlin Sangster and Kristen Evans to live critique a few queries.

 

Tricia Levenseller is the author of the Daughter of the Pirate King duology, Warrior of the Wild, The Shadows Between Us, and forthcoming Blade of Secrets. She writes young adult high fantasies with heavy romantic subplots. You can find more about Tricia and her books here, or preorder her new book (do it!) here.

 

If you'd like us to do more episodes like this or have suggestions about what would help you the most, let us know! You can email us at litservicepodcast@gmail.com or can talk to us on facebook, instagram, or twitter.

 

If you'd like to know more about how to support our podcast, you can find out more here.

To find out who will be coming on the show to critique first chapters next, check out our website.

5.06 The Mentor Always Dies: How to Write Mentor Figures

Caitlin, Kristen, and Aliah chat about the roles mentors take in (mostly!) fantasy and sci-fi narratives, their purpose and the shape of their place in a story.

For the chapter we critique with all our notes go here!

To find out how to support the podcast, go here! (We're about to do a live q&a, so if you want to come as us questions in person, now's the time to join our Patreon!)

For more about the podcast and how you can submit your work for a critique (and our next upcoming guests!) visit our website.

5.05 Satisfying Relationship Arcs with Eric Smith

Eric Smith joins the Lit Service crew to talk about what it is (and what authors can do!) that makes relationships arcs in stories satisfying.

Eric Smith is a literary agent and author living in Philadelphia. An agent with P.S. Literary, he's worked on New York Times bestselling and award-winning books. As an author, his books include Don't Read the Comments (Inkyard Press) and the forthcoming You Can Go Your Own Way (Inkyard Press) and the co-edited anthology Battle of the Bands (Candlewick) with Lauren Gibaldi. Find out out more about him and his books here.

 

The chapter we critique with all our notes is here.

If you'd like to find out more about how to support this podcast (we'd really appreciate it!), you can visit our Patreon.

 

For more about the podcast, how you can submit your work for a critique, and an upcoming guest list, visit our website.

5.04 Author - Editor Relationships with Sarah McCabe

Sarah McCabe joins the Lit Service crew to talk about the publication process once a book has been acquired and what to expect from editing and collaborating with an editor.

Sarah is an editor with Simon & Schuster/McElderry (which is pronounced "mackle-derry", who knew).

For a look at the chapter we critique (with our notes!) go here.

Don't forget to check out our Patreon for extra content (want to hear Caitlin's story about the haunted house she came very close to renting? It's up now!) here.

If you'd like a first chapter critique from us or an upcoming guest, check out our submission guidelines here.

5.03 Author - Agent Relationships with Ben Grange

Ever wondered what happens after you start working with an agent? Listen in while Ben and Caitlin discuss what happens behind the scenes, using one of her projects as a frame of reference from when she finished it to when it was sold. 

 

The chapter we critique can be found here.

Submission guidelines if you'd like a first chapter critique from us are here.

If you like the show, please remember to check out our Patreon

5.02 Prewriting 101 with Namina Forna

Do you ever stumble when you begin a new story? Maybe you're not sure where it should start, or you have a great opening, but stall out once you get to the middle?

Namina Forna's got some advice for you :)

 

Namina Forna is a young adult novelist based in Los Angeles, and the author of the upcoming epic fantasy YA novel The Gilded Ones. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, she moved to the US when she was nine and has been traveling back and forth ever since. Namina loves telling stories with fierce female leads and works as a screenwriter in LA.

 

The chapter we critique can be found here.

Patreon (if you like our show and want us to keep going, please consider becoming a patron!)

Future guests/submission guidelines if you'd like a critique from us are here.

5.01 How to Train Your Heroes

Ever think training montages are boring? We chat about how to show your character training (both in magic or in fighting or in...schoolwork? Anything) without it feeling boring. Or like a sports movie.

Check out the first chapter we critique with all our notes here 

If you'd like first chapter critique, visit our website to see upcoming guests and our submission guidelines.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider checking out our Patreon. It's patrons that keep us going, and you can get access to extra content and even a writing group hosted by Lit Service Crew members.