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Write the Damn Book Already
Elizabeth Lyons
147 episodes
20 hours ago
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Wanting life to be wonderful and wanting to be wonderful aren’t the same thing, and that gap is where today’s conversation lives. Israeli journalist and author Lihi Lapid joins me to talk about motherhood’s messy truths, the pressure to be “more” than "good enough," and the writing choices that make a story feel honest. From bestselling novels to a children’s book that calms homes during chaotic times, Lihi's path as an author refr...
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All content for Write the Damn Book Already is the property of Elizabeth Lyons and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Wanting life to be wonderful and wanting to be wonderful aren’t the same thing, and that gap is where today’s conversation lives. Israeli journalist and author Lihi Lapid joins me to talk about motherhood’s messy truths, the pressure to be “more” than "good enough," and the writing choices that make a story feel honest. From bestselling novels to a children’s book that calms homes during chaotic times, Lihi's path as an author refr...
Show more...
Books
Arts,
Business,
Careers,
Entrepreneurship
Episodes (20/147)
Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 146: I Wanted To Be Wonderful with Lihi Lapid
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Wanting life to be wonderful and wanting to be wonderful aren’t the same thing, and that gap is where today’s conversation lives. Israeli journalist and author Lihi Lapid joins me to talk about motherhood’s messy truths, the pressure to be “more” than "good enough," and the writing choices that make a story feel honest. From bestselling novels to a children’s book that calms homes during chaotic times, Lihi's path as an author refr...
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20 hours ago
31 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 145: Quick Wins For Self-Publishing Authors
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Today I'm sharing 5 quick wins that make self-publishing feel simple, not scary, and show how small moves can build sustainable momentum. By the end of these 5 steps, you will have: • locked in a clear (and easy to pronounce over and over again) working title • chosen a credible publishing company name • and understanding of ISBNs and taken the first step toward purchasing yours • selected a trim size that best fits your word coun...
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1 week ago
30 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 144: What I'd Tell You About Book Writing (If I Wasn't Afraid You'd Block Me)
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Ever felt like everyone else has the secret playbook for publishing while you’re just winging it? Same. In this episode, I spill everything I'd tell you as the author of six books (and having published 50+ for others) if I wasn't afraid you'd unfollow or outright block me. I'll get real about the financial side of authorship—the thin margins, the myth of “making it” with one viral post, and the practical ways nonfiction auth...
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2 weeks ago
29 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 143: From Starbucks Barista to Thriller Novelist with Julie Doar
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! A single question on a cold Hudson Valley walk: What if there’s a body in that hunter’s tent? sparked the debut thriller The Gallagher Place by Julie Doar. In this episode, we chat about how she wrote the first draft by instinct, then shifted gears into precision: charting dates, timelines, and cause-and-effect until every twist landed in a way that made sense. When the manuscript worked its way to 100K+ words, cutting ...
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4 weeks ago
36 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 142: Writing, Endings & Publishing Myths with Novelist Turner Gable Kahn
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! What happens when a traditionally published debut novel suddenly appears on Kindle Unlimited while still showing wide? That unexpected twist opens into a bigger conversation about publishing decisions (and what’s actually within an author’s control). In this episode, Turner Gable Kahn, author of The Dirty Version (Harper Perennial), shares how she honored her grandmothers with a pen name, threaded #MeToo-era questions into a contem...
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1 month ago
39 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 141: From Fantasy to Memoir with Betsy Cornwell
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Maid meets Under the Tuscan Sun! Betsy Cornwell built her career writing young adult fantasy, but her newest book tells an entirely different story. In this episode, Betsy opens up about her memoir, Ring of Salt, which chronicles her escape from an abusive marriage and her creation of a sanctuary for single-parent artists. At the center is the Old Knitting Factory in western Ireland, a historic building she transformed into a child...
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1 month ago
40 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 140: Writing Tips from Bestselling Author Jane Hamilton
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Most authors have as big a stack (if not bigger) of abandoned drafts as they do books that actually make it into the world. Jane Hamilton—bestselling author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World and two-time Oprah Book Club pick—is refreshingly open about that reality. Her newest novel, The Phoebe Variations, took nearly a decade to finish. Not because she was “blocked,” but because finding the center of a story often means wr...
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1 month ago
43 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 139: How Indie Authors Can Shield Their Book from Copyright Infringement
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Copyright. Piracy. LibGen. AI scraping. If just reading that list makes you want to hide under your desk with a bottle of...something...you’re not alone. Indie authors are being forced to navigate a landscape that feels murkier by the day, and most of us didn’t exactly sign up to become copyright attorneys. Unfortunately, the “poor man’s copyright” trick (mailing yourself a sealed copy of your manuscript) I used to suggest won’t do...
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2 months ago
27 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 138: How to Choose Best Kindle Keywords for Your Book (Guide for Indie Authors) (2025)
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! There are more than 42 million books on Amazon right now. So how in the world do you help your book stand out? One word: keywords. Think of keywords as Amazon’s GPS. They tell the algorithm exactly where your book belongs and who should see it. However, Amazon only gives you seven keyword boxes to work with. Seven! Which means every slot has to pull its weight. In this episode, I walk you through how to make those keywords work har...
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2 months ago
31 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 137: Amazon Ads for Authors Made Simple - FAQs
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Amazon ads don’t have to be complicated (or eat up your entire marketing budget) to actually sell books. In this episode, I’m sharing my approach to making Amazon ads simple(r) without endless spreadsheets, confusing dashboards, or the kind of budget that makes you wonder if you should’ve stuck with free bookmarks. Common Questions Tackled: Do I really need to spend $50–$100 a day like people recommend for Meta ads? Or can I start ...
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2 months ago
36 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 136: Writing a Novel While Raising Kids with Jill Beissel
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Writers dream of the day they’ll hold their finished book, but few warn you about how intense the editing phase can be. In this episode, debut novelist Jill Beissel gets real about the messy, magical process of turning a rough draft into a polished novel readers will love. Jill’s upcoming book, Glitter and Gold (out October 7!), went through what she calls “color-coded chaos”—a DIY system using highlighters, sticky notes, and sheer...
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3 months ago
30 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 135: Q&A: Kirkus Reviews, Writing with AI, and Bestseller Status
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Ever feel like everyone has some secret book marketing hack? Most of those “shortcuts” are just expensive detours. In this episode, I’m calling out three distractions that keep indie authors spinning their wheels. First up: Kirkus Reviews. Are they legit? Yes. Are they worth the price for most self-published authors? Maybe. But if you're hoping a $400 review is going to move thousands of copies, well, it probably won't. Then ...
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3 months ago
22 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 134: Crafting Complex Narratives with Lauren Oliver
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! If you’re the kind of person who devours psychological thrillers but also wants to be emotionally sucker-punched (in the best way), Lauren Oliver’s What Happened to Lucy Vale needs to be on your radar. In this episode, Lauren takes us behind the scenes of what might be her most structurally daring novel to date. Set in a small Indiana town with a possibly-haunted house at its core, Lucy Vale unspools two eerie mysteries—one s...
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3 months ago
31 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 133: Living Proof with Tiffany Graham Charkosky
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! In this episode, I sit down with Tiffany Graham Charkosky to talk about her forthcoming memoir, Living Proof (October 21, Little A), a book written and shaped over years of writing and rewriting. At just 11 years old, Tiffany lost her mother. For decades, she believed it was an unexplainable tragedy, until a DNA test unearthed information that changed everything. That discovery didn’t just reshape her understanding of her mother’s ...
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3 months ago
37 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 132: What Nobody Tells You About Making Your Book "Take Off"
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! If you’ve been chasing the magical marketing strategy that will finally make your book “take off,” welcome to the club. In this episode, I’m addressing the question nearly every author eventually asks: What does it actually take to make a book successful? Spoiler: there’s no guaranteed formula. Even authors with six-figure advances, NYT bestsellers, or celebrity blurbs still worry their latest book won’t sell. So what are we ...
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3 months ago
24 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 131: The Paper Palace and Beyond with Miranda Cowley Heller
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Miranda Cowley Heller's father was a book editor; her grandfather edited Jack Kerouac and was friends with Hemingway. That legacy, while inspiring, left her frozen when it came to pursuing her own writing. Instead, she built a thriving career in publishing and TV, eventually heading up drama series at HBO. Then, in her 50s, she wrote the novel she’d been carrying around for years, The Paper Palace, which became a New York Tim...
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4 months ago
57 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 130: When Fiction Meets AI with Lori Gold
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Author Lori Gold is pulling back the curtain on publishing, in both this interview and her newest novel, Romantic Friction. INSIDE THE EPISODE • Yet another reason bestseller lists aren’t what you think (I didn't know this until I read her book!) • A great tip for handing reviews without spiraling (or swearing off Goodreads forever) • What AI is doing to authors' voices, and why it should concern all of us • How writing happe...
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4 months ago
47 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 129: From LinkedIn to Penguin Random House with Gigi Robinson
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! What started as sharing her story online about living with chronic illness turned into a book deal with Penguin Random House. In this episode, Gigi Robinson shares how she leveraged consistency, relationships, and a clear vision to go from content creator to published author. Here’s what we get into: Why she chose to write A Kid’s Book About Chronic Illness (and how it ended up getting picked up by Penguin/DK).The ridiculously simp...
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4 months ago
38 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 128: Book Publicity with Emily Florence
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! This week, I’m joined by publicist Emily Florence, and we’re talking about how to set publicity goals before you start chasing them, why a Today Show appearance might not sell nearly as many books as you think, and how to make your marketing feel less like shouting into the void and more like having conversations that matter. Here’s what we get into: Why knowing your goals (career author? credibility? visibility?) makes all the dif...
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4 months ago
1 hour 5 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Ep 127: On Writing...Everything, with Melissa de la Cruz
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz has published nearly 80 books (yes, 80), and in this episode, she shares what it really takes to build and sustain a long-term writing career. From surviving the shifting tides of publishing to protecting what gets you "in the mood" to write, she shares the kind of wisdom every author loves hearing. INSIDE THE EPISODE: • Melissa's advice: Don’t quit your day job until the math says you ca...
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5 months ago
43 minutes

Write the Damn Book Already
Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions! Wanting life to be wonderful and wanting to be wonderful aren’t the same thing, and that gap is where today’s conversation lives. Israeli journalist and author Lihi Lapid joins me to talk about motherhood’s messy truths, the pressure to be “more” than "good enough," and the writing choices that make a story feel honest. From bestselling novels to a children’s book that calms homes during chaotic times, Lihi's path as an author refr...