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“That is the main difference between storytelling for the ear and writing, is that the cost of revisions is so much higher.” — Julia Barton, audio story editor, founder of RadioWright, former executive editor of Pushkin Industries
Continue reading “Episode 483: Off the Page and Into the Ears with Julia Barton”Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever!
Hey CNFers, The Front Runner is officially out. I like to think I don’t ask for much, but now is the time buy a copy or three and, if you read it, you know the drill, need ratings and reviews. I won’t read them because I don’t want to be driven insane, but that’s the world we live in: ratings and reviews. Your call to action to support the book, me, and ye ol’ CNF Pod. If you’re still on the fence, and why would you be, there’s an excerpt of the book over at Lit Hub. Dig it.
I also started what’s proving to be a pretty popular venture called Pitch Club. It’s at welcometopitchclub.substack.com and I have a writer audio annotate a pitch. It’s tactical and it’s practical. It’s going to help you get where you want to go.
“I always say, with pitches, make it as easy for an editor to say yes as possible.” — Amanda Heckert, executive editor of Garden & Gun Magazine
Continue reading “Episde 476: Amanda Heckert Helps the Rider Stay on the Horse”
Photo credit: Scott Streble
Become a Patron!It’s that Atavistian time of the month and, boy, is “Anatomy of a Murder” a dark one. Brilliant, but bleak.
John Rosengren is the reporter behind this gripping story of how a vigilante murder divided a town. The story couldn’t be in better hands than John’s.
He is the author of twelve books including The Greatest Summer in Baseball History, Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid, as well as the novel A Clean Heart.
Continue reading “Episode 414: John Rosengren on Cuts, Note Taking, and Darkness for The Atavist”
Are you holding onto a railing? OK, good, Isaac Fitzgerald (@IsaacFitzgerald) is here, CNFers! He’s the author of the incredible memoir-in-essays Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional (Bloomsbury).
Isaac is a frequent contributor on The Today Show, offering book recommendations to the masses. His CV has The Rumpus, McSweeney’s, BuzzFeed Books, among others. He’s also the author of How to be a Pirate, Pen and Ink, and Knives and Ink.
Continue reading “Episode 353: Isaac Fitzgerald”
It’s not often this show features stone-cold, bad ass editors. But that’s what we bring you today. I’m sure Leah Flickinger (@LeahFlickinger) will recoil at the remark, but it’s true.
She has edited pieces that made their way to Best American Sports Writing, won the National Magazine Award, and, oh, by the way, the Pulitzer Prize.
Yeah, that thing.
That was “Twelve Minutes and a Life” by Mitchell S. Jackson about the life and murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Leah edited Kim H. Cross’s incredible story “Leon + Noel” with the now-famous palindrome structure. (Don’t try this at home, kids).
So Leah is here to talk about how she developed these pieces and how she frames conversations with writers to get the most out of them and the pieces they’re working on.
Continue reading “Episode 310: Leah Flickinger”
Sponsor love: West Virginia Wesleyan College’s MFA in Creative Writing
Look who’s back? It’s Sonya Huber!
What a treat!
She the author of the memoir Supremely Tiny Acts: A Memoir of a Day (Mad Creek Books) and it’s one of the best experiences I had reading a book in 2021.
In this episode we talk about:
Continue reading “Episode 293: The ‘Supremely Tiny Acts’ of Sonya Huber”
Michelle Weber and Catherine Cusick are the editor-in-chief and publisher of Pipe Wrench Magazine, a new venture that aims to fix what’s broken in journalism and publishing.
This is a fun conversation about the founding of the magazine and Michelle and Catherine are doing to help change the culture. You can find Issue 1 here, and they just went live with Issue 2 this week.
The pair overlapped at Longreads and parlayed much of that experience into Pipe Wrench, so we talk about that, among other things.
At one point Cartherine brings up this notion of “ramen startups,” and she’s referring to a blog post from Paul Graham. This means keeping things lean and nimble and not overextending and growing too fast.
Great talk!
OK, so keep the conversation alive @CNFPod and consider becoming a CNFin’ member at Patreon. There’s where you get exclusive access to the audio magazine, get asked to ask questions of guests, transcripts, coaching, and more. For just $2 a month, you get access to a killer audio product, and we’re going live with Issue 2 in mere days! Patreon.com/cnfpod
Every now and again you read a book that blows your brains out. Brian Broome‘s (@bbromb) Punch Me Up to the Gods is one of those books.
It deals with identity, Black masculinity, shame, family, oppression, racism, and community. What a book, man, what a book.
We also dig into Brian’s writing process and how he goes about the work.
“I’m the queen of the run-on sentence,” he says.
And the grind of it all.
“I’m the queen of quitting,” he says.
Consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/cnfpod for transcripts and for exclusive access to the audio magazine. Your dollars go into making the production possible and put money in the pockets of writers. Patrons also get a chance to submit questions that I ask of guests and coaching.
Sponsorship for this episode is brought to you by West Virginia Wesleyan College’s MFA in Creative Writing.
Promotional partner is HippoCamp 2021! Go register!
By Brendan O’Meara (@CNFPod)
V.V. Ganeshananthan is the author of Love Marriage, an essayist, and a journalist. She also teaches at the MFA program at the University of Minnesota. She’s on Instagram and Twitter.
Whitney Terrell is the author of The Good Lieutenant. He also is a journalist who covered the Iraq War. He teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He’s on Instagram and Twitter.
They co-host the Fiction/Non/Fiction Podcast as part of the Lithub network of podcasts. It’s on Instagram and Twitter.
Continue reading “Episode 237: A Fiction/Non/Fiction Festival with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell”
By Brendan O’Meara
Jake Gronsky joins me this fine CNFriday to talk about his transition from playing professional baseball in the Minor Leagues to becoming a writer.
It’s good stuff.
He’s the co-author of A Short Season: Faith, Family, and a Boy’s Love of Baseball.
Jake made the notable selections for Best American Sports Writing 2019 with his two-part feature titled Nine Days in Cape Cod.
We dig into lots of good stuff and the craft of writing, about getting out of the way of the story and always having that apprentice mindset.
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If you have questions you want answered, shoot me an email, CNFer.