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Ep. 204 - Crime author Harry Fisher on buying your rights back from a publisher
Harry Fisher is a native of Leith (the port for Edinburgh) so that’s where his crime thrillers are set. Prior to his debut, Harry had never written a word of fiction, so he just launched in – cold turkey for authors. Now he has three books published, with his fourth, "48 Hours and Then She Dies" out now.
We had a good chat with Harry, hearing how he only ever intended to write one novel, why he chose to self-publish, then go trad, and then back to self-pub again. We get into how tricky it can be to buy back the rights to your books and whether he prefers trad or self-pub.
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4. Ep. 203 - John Connolly on selling cross-genre stories
01:03:50||Season 22, Ep. 4John Connolly is a bestselling author of mystery and supernatural fiction. With over 30 published works, including the popular Charlie Parker series, his books have captivated readers around the world. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards in the US, a CWA Dagger in the UK, and an Irish Book Award, as well as numerous international accolades, and has published more UK Sunday Times Top 10 Hardback Bestsellers than any other Irish writer. His collection of short stories, Night & Day, is out at the end of October.We loved speaking with John and hearing how he began to write his supernatural crime novels featuring Charlie Parker, and discussing what authors who write cross-genre should (and shouldn't) tell agents and editors when pitching such stories. We also loved getting into a proper craft discussion about writing in general, and how to write in a way that is sustainable for a whole career.Links:Buy Night & Day and John's other books nowFollow John on InstagramVisit John's websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads3. Ep. 202 - Labyrinth author Kate Mosse on writing historical fiction and not worrying what publishers want
50:22||Season 22, Ep. 3Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channel!Kate Mosse is the award-winning author of novels, short story collections, essays, non-fiction, and a much-loved playwright. Her books include the multimillion-selling Languedoc trilogy which begins with the unmissable Labyrinth, and the bestselling more recent series, The Joubert Family Chronicles. The final book in that series, The Map of Bones, was published on 10 Oct by Mantle (Pan Macmillan) and is available as a hardback, ebook and audio recording. Kate’s live one-woman stage show, Labyrinth, will be on tour in 2025. Dates and info can be found here: www.labyrinthlive2025.comWe loved having the chance to speak with Kate and hearing how she had never originally planned to become a novelist until a suggestion from a friend. She tells us how it felt when Labyrinth became such a smash hit, and how she never plans her novels, but instead spends years researching the history of the stories she wants to tell.Links:Buy The Map of Bones nowFollow Kate on InstagramVisit Kate's websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads2. Ep. 201- David Goodman shares how perseverance led to a publishing deal for his debut, A Reluctant Spy
01:04:25||Season 22, Ep. 2Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channelDavid Goodman is a novelist and short fiction writer of thrillers and science fiction. His debut novel, A Reluctant Spy, is out now from Headline Books in hardback, eBook and audiobook.We've known Dave for a while outside the podcast, and so it was brilliant having a chance to sit down with him and hear him tell us all about his his brilliant debut got published. It's a story that includes tales of rejection, perseverance and why building up a body of work is so important for authors, because you never know when that opportunity will come along.Links:Buy A Reluctant Spy nowFollow Dave on Twitter/XVisit Dave's websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads1. Ep. 200 - Lee Child and Andrew Child on creating and writing Jack Reacher and handing over the legacy
01:33:41||Season 22, Ep. 1Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channel!Lee Child is the author of more than two dozen New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, with most having reached the #1 position, and the #1 bestselling complete Jack Reacher story collection, No Middle Name. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. Andrew Child (as Andrew Grant) is the author of the critically-acclaimed novels Even, Die Twice, More Harm Than Good, RUN, False Positive, False Friend, False Witness, Invisible, and Too Close To Home. He began to take over the mantle of writing Jack Reacher from Lee starting with The Sentinel, and his most recent Reacher novel is In Too Deep.We loved having the opportunity to chat with Lee and Andrew, and hearing about how Jack Reacher was born out of necessity after Lee lost his job in TV. Both of them explain their writing processes, and Lee tells us how rather than a list of ideas about Reacher, he began with a list of the things he didn't want from the character. We also talked about them writing the last few Reacher novels together, and how Andrew feels about taking the series forward.Links:Follow Lee Child on Twitter/XFollow Andrew Child on Twitter/XVisit the Jack Reacher websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on ThreadsThank You - and the Next Chapter of Page One!
04:08|Watch the full video on our YouTube channel!As we get ready to launch Episode 200, we wanted to do a short thank you video for sticking with us over the past five years - and to let you know of our exciting plans to come!Please check out our newly launched Patreon (you can join for free to get access to our Discord, plus great benefits for higher tiers!): https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone5. Ep. 199 - Deborah Harkness on accidentally becoming a best-selling author
01:20:06||Season 21, Ep. 5Deborah Harkness is the best-selling author of numerous novels. Her debut, A Discovery of Witches, was an immediate best-seller, hitting #2 on the New York Times list, and was also a bestseller in the UK, France and Germany. The initial trilogy in the All Souls series has been translated into 37 languages. Her latest book in the series, The Black Bird Oracle, is just out.We loved chatting with Deb and hearing how she became an author almost by accident thanks to a rainy holiday and a visit to a bookshop. What started as an academic thought experiment about what would happen if witches and vampires are real soon ballooned into a 1100 page draft, leading to her debut novel. We discussed her process, research, and also why you shouldn't chase trends as an author.Links:Buy Deb's books nowFollow Deb on Twitter/XVisit Deb's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads4. Ep. 198 - Mark Lawrence on writing fantasy epics without any planning
58:45||Season 21, Ep. 4Mark Lawrence is a best-selling fantasy author. His first trilogy, THE BROKEN EMPIRE, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy. Following The Broken Empire is the related RED QUEEN’S WAR trilogy. THE BOOK OF THE ANCESTOR trilogy is set on a different world and is followed by the related BOOK OF THE ICE trilogy. There is also THE IMPOSSIBLE TIMES trilogy, a D&D/sci-fi work set in London in the 80s. All of these trilogies can be read in any order. His latest series is THE LIBRARY trilogy, with the second book, THE BOOK THAT BROKE THE WORLD, out now.It was great having the chance to interview Mark live before an audience at this year's Cymera Festival in Edinburgh. We chatted about his journey to becoming published, and he told us how he hates planning and never does for his books. He also talked about how success in publishing is such a lottery, and why he created the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) to try and help authors with that lottery.Links:Buy Mark's books nowFollow Mark on Twitter/XVisit Mark's websiteThe SPFBO websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads3. Ep. 197 - Dan Malakin on honing his craft on short stories and how he constantly changes his writing process
01:07:40||Season 21, Ep. 3Dan Malakin is a crime/thriller writer and data security consultant. His short stories have been widely published both in print and online, and he has twice been shortlisted for the Bridport prize. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Brunel University, and his debut novel, THE REGRET, was published by Bloodhound Books in Summer 2019. His next thriller, THE BOX, was published by Viper Books in 2022, and his latest, THE WRECKAGE OF US, is just out.We loved chatting with Dan and hearing how he honed his craft over the years before publishing his first novel (400 short stories!) We also hear how is is constantly revising his writing process to get the most out of his writing time, and why an early start is essential for his writing habits...Links:Buy Dan's books nowFollow Dan on Twitter/XVisit Dan's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads