Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Camilla Bolton is a literary agent at Darley Anderson, having joined the Agency in 2007 and was named as a publishing Rising Star by The Bookseller in 2013 and shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year in 2022. She has built the fastest growing new commercial brands in the thriller market with five of her authors having sold over a million copies in the UK alone. Her list includes many Sunday Times, New York Times and No.1 ebook global bestsellers. Her authors have been picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Book Club, BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club and she’s had five Richard & Judy Book Club Picks. Multiple of her books have been adapted for the screen and shown on BBC 1, Channel 5 and Netflix.

We loved having the chance to speak with Camilla about her career as an agent, hearing about how she deals with so many queries (over 200 a week), what matters and doesn't matter to her in a query package, and whether authors should write to market when trying to find an agent.

Links:
Query Camilla now
Follow Camilla on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page 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-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube

Rhiannon Grist is an award-winning Welsh author of Weird, Speculative and Dark fiction, living and writing in beautiful Scotland. Her novella, The Queen of the High Fields (Luna Press), won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella 2023. Her debut novel, Home Sick, is out now.

We had great fun chatting with Rhiannon about her writing journey, starting with handwritten stories in A4 ring binders, all the way through short stories, prize-winning novellas and now her debut novel, Home Sick. We also talk about how prizes can (and can't) help grow your reputation as a writer, and talk about why marginal gains are important on the long writer's journey. Plus, we chat about horror's recent resurgence and the possible reasons behind that. (There is also a very, very minor spoiler about the movie Obsession near the end, but we give full spoiler warnings before discussing it!)

Links:
Buy Home Sick now
Follow Rhiannon on Instagram
Visit Rhiannon's website

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page 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-one

Follow us on Facebook
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Follow us on Bluesky
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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Aki Schilz is the Director at The Literary Consultancy (TLC), where she co-ordinates partnerships and programmes. She launched the Editing Skills Training Scheme in partnership with the Publishing Training Centre, which trained over 100 aspiring editors from under-represented communities. She has been named as one of the FutureBook 40, a list of people innovating the publishing industry, and was also nominated for an h100 Award for her #BookJobTransparency campaign, as well as being shortlisted for the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize for women in publishing, and has featured in the Bookseller 150 list of the most influential figures in publishing twice. In 2020, Aki launched the Being A Writer programme at TLC, a membership platform she co-devised with novelist and coach Julia Forster, which focuses on providing a space for writers to cultivate their creativity, and build emotional resilience. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

We had a great time chatting with Aki and hearing about her work with TLC, discussing what they can offer, as well as talking about whether such consultancies are right for everyone. We also talk about her support of writers away from the page, and chat about how to take the pressure off querying.

Links:
Follow Aki on Bluesky
Visit The Literacy Consultancy
Our Drafting Notes episode discussing editoral consultancies

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page 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-one

Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on Threads

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube

Marco is in a bad mood this week, and doesn’t hold back when discussing the march of AI into audiobooks…! Plus, we chat about the depressing reaction to a book piracy site being taken down, and wonder if Canongate’s new approach to paying authors more regularly will catch on (we aren’t optimistic…)

00:00 Intro
00:54 Here Come The Robots - AI voices taking over?
20:21 A Pirate’s Life For You? How Piracy Hurts Authors
29:38 Opening the (Canon)Gates - Will The Big 5 Follow?
35:50 Stranger Than Fiction - Nadine's Idea Factory

Links:
Bolinda creates AI cloned voice of Barbara Cartland
[Not linking to the Piracy story as it names the site]
Canongate moves to quarterly royalty payments

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more! Find all our shows here!

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Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Chiara Bullen is a Scottish writer and academic living in Glasgow. She spends most of her days researching literature and her evenings writing novels. When she isn’t exploring hills across Scotland, she can be found wandering the fictional mountains of D&D with her party. The Inn At The Foot Of Mount Vengeance is her debut novel.

We had a great time chatting with Chiara, hearing about how she started out writing more grimdark fantasy, before switching to literary fiction while on the Faber Academy course - and how the idea for the cosy fantasy of The Inn At The Foot of Mount Vengeance grabbed her and wouldn't let go until she had finished it. We also talk about what the term 'cosy' means in terms of fiction, and chat about what other types of stories she would like to write.

Links:
Buy The Inn At The Foot Of Mount Vengeance now
Follow Chiara on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page 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-one

Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Bluesky
Follow us on Threads

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.