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Now in Paperback: Jackie MacMullan on the Fear of Failure, Writing that Teaches You, and the Final Chapter of ‘Best American Sports Writing’

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Nice to re-up Jackie MacMullan, the legendary sports writer for The Boston Globe, ESPN.com, The Ringer, and several books she co-authored.

Over the course of her career, she has co-written books, collaborated on books, and now she can add guest editor to 30th and final volume of The Best American Sports Writing.

In this conversation, we talk about:

The rigor of reporting
Making the extra ten calls
Fear
And how writing should teach you something

Among other things, of course.

I hope you dig it and consider emailing this to a friend and let them know what we’re up to here at CNF Pod HQ.

Episode 395: “The Six,” Mini-Deadlines and the Twang with Loren Grush

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By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, look! It’s Loren Grush (@grushcrush)! She’s a space journalist and author of The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts (Scribner Book Company).

This was a fun chat about:

Centering women in space
Setting mini-deadlines
The Vomit Comet
And what the hell is the “twang”?

Episode 394: Athena Dixon is OK with the Plateau

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By Brendan O’Meara

Look who’s back! It’s Athena Dixon! Her latest book (as of 2023) is The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays. It’s published by Tin House and edited by Hanif Abdurraqib.

It’s a quiet book, but don’t mistake that for meek. And we talk about the quiet authority of her book as well as:

Athena being OK with the plateau
Setting a concrete vision for your goals as a writer
How Hanif helped her with throat clearing
And how she edits clients without losing their voices

Episode 393: Katya Cengel and Finding Enough ‘There’ There for The Atavist

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By Brendan O’Meara

Katya Cengel (@kcengel) is a journalist and author, and she’s the journalist behind “The Truth is Out There” for The Atavist Magazine. A father’s disappearance, dark family secrets, and the hunt for Bigfoot.

It’s a touching story on “searching for elusive truths,” that weaves together cryptozoology and a family in search of their father.

So in this episode we unpack who Katya dug up this story, earning trust, and getting comfortable with untidy endings.

We also speak with editor Jonah Ogles about getting pitches over the hump and the value in pitching again and again.

Lots of great stuff for you to chew on.

Now in Paperback: Susan Orlean on Writing for an Audience and the Entrepreneurial Nature of a Writing Career

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This episode originally aired on August 11, 2017 as Episode 61

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These “now in paperbacks” are a nice reprieve for me work-wise and time-wise, and it’s nice to scroll through my Pocket Casts apps and go, “Oh, that’d be a snazzy one!”

And so we’re here with Susan Orlean’s first rodeo at CNF Pod HQ. Great stuff, like:

always having an audience in mind
having supreme focus
and needing to see yourself as a business person if you plan on doing this type of work

Naturally, a lot more stuff to gnaw on. There was no book to promote, so this is really a writing and craft-centered pod. Future pods dig into her recent work, being The Library Book and On Animals as of this date, Nov. 24, 2023.

The show’s Instagram handle, @creativenonfictionpodcast, and you can always keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod. Or not … you know what’s better? Keep reading …

And you know I’d rather you sign up for my Up-to-11 Newsletter. Here’s the latest. Signup form is below you and to your right. Book recs, book raffles, cool stuff curated by me for you, CNFin’ happy hour or writing group, writing prompts, fun and entertaining. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

Consider supporting the show via Patreon patreon.com/cnfpod. Shop around if you want to support the community. You make that possible. The show is free but it ain’t cheap.

Free ways to support the show?

Subscribe and download and share across your socials. And don’t forget to consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Those go a LONG way.

Episode 392: Damon Brown Goes from Zero to 18,000

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By Brendan O’Meara

Damon Brown is an author, entrepreneur, and coach and his latest book is The Complete Bring Your Worth Collection. It is definitive. It is his capstone.

Much of Damon’s work has been centered on writing, but the past few years he’s started a fine YouTube show that showcases his particular expertise and how he can get you where you want to go.

In this episode, we talk about:

How he grew is YouTube channel from 0 to 18K
The BYW Collection as capstone
And how obscurity is your friend … to a point

There’s lots of other stuff to chew on as well, naturally. I also share a parting shot about the needless and senseless worry over platform building and where we really need to put our focus. It’s kinda like this blog I wrote … but with more swears.

Now in Paperback: Glenn Stout on Combining the Things You Love, Effort, and the Poem That ‘Knocked Him on his Ass’

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By Brendan O’Meara

This was originally published as Episode 14 on Dec. 6, 2015.

Always nice blow the dust off an older podcast. By virtue of the being older, the snap judgement is that they’re dated. I do go back through and re-edit the paperback podcasts to scrub out what feels dated and keep what’s evergreen.

It helps that, by and large, I try and produce evergreen interviews from the start, but this one had some references to a old job of Glenn’s, which didn’t really fit for 2023.

But what’s left is sure to give you a run for your money, man.

Episode 391: For the Atavist Magazine, Lily Hyde Takes Us to Ukraine

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By Brendan O’Meara

For this month’s Atavist, Lily Hyde wrote “Two Thousand Miles from Home,” as Russia invaded Ukraine, theree women from the same family became pregnant at the same time. Then the war tore them apart.

Pretty bonkers, right?

Just wait till you read it.

Lily riffs on how she arrived at this story, how she came to live in Ukraine, the novel that’s helping her narrative nonfiction, and how she earns trust.

We start off by speaking with lead editor Jonah Ogles so, you know, you’re gonna get some inside baseball from the other side of the table.

The Simple (But Not Easy) 3-Step Way to Build a Platform without Social Media

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By Brendan O’Meara

So often I see people on social media doing all they can to get attention in some capacity. A lot of time is wasted on what the person says they want to do: write.

They might be begging for advice, or complaining about what to put on their website, or otherwise shouting frustratingly into the void hoping the algorithm will place them in front of readers and suddenly they will be famous and make a living from writing … books? Blog posts? Who the hell knows?! (I’m particularly sensitive to this because I was very much like this in the 2012-era.)

Here’s the TLDR version of this blog (!) post:

1. Start a permission-based newsletter available from your website

2. Write for as many publications as possible with your signature pointing people back to your website/newsletter

3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2

But you want more detail, right? Read on, friend.

Episode 390: How Did the Pitcher Pedro Martinez Help Will Harrison’s Writing?Episode 390:

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Sponsor love: Liquid IV, promo code cnf

Want some suds? Visit athleticbrewing.com and use promo code BRENDANO20 at checkout. I don’t get money, just points toward swag and beer.

By Brendan O’Meara

Will Harrison (@thechillestwill) came on the show to talk about his essay My Unlikely Writing Teacher: Pedro Martinez for the New York Times Magazine.

Loved. This. Essay.

And it’s short, which is always kind of a bonus.

Will is an instructor at the School for Visual Arts in New York City. He has written for The Cleveland Review of Books and The Baffler, among others. You can learn more about him at his website, willharrisonwriter.com.