What does publishing a novel look like behind the scenes? This month we're following the trajectory of THE TREASURE HOUSE by Amy Matthews, from idea to publication, and asking the agent, editors and publishers our burning questions about the publishing industry.

This week, we interview the lovely Melanie Hayes, Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster UK, to ask what does a commissioning editor do? What does Melanie's journey into the publishing industry look like? What do publishers look for when acquiring new titles? Which genre is the best, and why is it romance?

📚 Our BOTM is The Treasure House by Amy Matthews. Get your copy here: The Treasure House | Book by Amy Matthews | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster AU

MENTIONS

📖 BOOKS: The Treasure House by Amy Matthews; Return to Sender by Stephanie Parente; Rumours & Whiskey by Victoria Wilder

📺 TV: Schitt's Creek (2015); The Pitt (2025 - present); House of the Dragon (2022 - present)

🎬 ACTORS: Connor Storrie & Hudson Williams

📰 AUTHORS: Amy Matthews; Elsie Silver

LINKS:

• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndBookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandbookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on TikTok: @amyandbookclub
• Join the Amy & Bookclub: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is “Same Old” by Mass Wisteria. Listen to their music on Bandcamp.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're so sad to say goodbye to Smut month, but we're sending it off with a truly fantastic book and a thinker of a book club. In C.M. Nascosta's MORNING GLORY MILKING FARM, our heroine Violet finds herself working an unconventional job 'milking' minotaurs in Cambric Creek. Violet is making the best out of her new career when a stern, deep-voiced client beings to request her specifically for his milking sessions, throwing a spanner in the works. Can love really bloom at the milking farm?

Join us as we answer that question and more: how do you kiss a minotaur? Just how much is 24 ounces of minotaur fluid? Why is romance so obsessed with large members? And who would win in a bracket competition of common monster smut creatures?

Be warned: it's smut month, so the episode may be especially NSFW.

LINKS

🎵 Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single SAME OLD here: https://linktr.ee/masswisteria#465207993

🌸 Our Socials:

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/amyandbookclub
• TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@amyandbookclub
• YT: https://www.youtube.com/@AmyandBookClub

💛 Where to find Amy:

• Amy Matthews on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amymatthewsauthor/
• Amy Barry on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amybarryauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAmyTMatthewsauthor
• Website: https://amymatthewsauthor.com/

Thank you so much for listening!💞

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Amy& tackle a complicated discussion about sex in romance with the one and only Amy Andrews! Brace yourselves for an incredible chat about how sex can be written, what makes a good sex scene, and how maybe calling a penis a member might REALLY be a reference to parliament. As far as NSFW goes, this week we might have made Amy& history, with a romping number of descriptions that might make you feel like you are back in a Sex Ed class...with the joy of having Amy Andrews with us, we tackle the question: ‘How do you write a sex scene?’

• LINKS • 🎵

Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria.

Stream their single SAME OLD here: https://linktr.ee/masswisteria#465207993

🌸 Our Socials:

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/amyandbookclub

• TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@amyandbookclub

• YT: https://www.youtube.com/@AmyandBookClub

🌸 Where to find Amy Andrews:

• Website: https://www.amyandrews.com.au/

• Amy Andrews on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amyandrewsbooks/?hl=en

• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/AmyAndrewsAuthor/

Upcoming Releases:

• Tough and Tamed (Redemption Valley Ranch #2)

💛 Where to find Amy:

• Amy Matthews on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amymatthews

• Amy Barry on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amybarryauthor

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAmyTMatthews

• Website: https://amymatthewsauthor.com/

Thank you so much for listening!💞 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Amy, Payton, Abby & Justina discuss Katherine Angel’s book, Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again, and deep dive into the nuances of sex, consent and desire. What kinds of social scripts have we been taught about sex and consent and why are they so dang gendered? Why is the patriarchy always at the scene of the crime? And how does this all shake out when romance and smut books enter the chat?

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

📚 Our BOTM is Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta

MENTIONS

📖 BOOKS: Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta; Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel; Unmastered by Katherine Angel; Daddy Issues by Katherine Angel; The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: The Will to Knowledge by Michel Foucault; The Will to Change by bell hooks; DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association; In the Cut by Susanna Moore; Down Girl by Kate Manne; Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James; Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

📺 TV: Bridgerton (2020 – present)

🎬 FILMS: High School Musical (2006); Bottoms (2023); Twilight (2008); May December (2023)

📰 MAGAZINES: Dolly

🎙️ PODCASTS: Winey Writers

LINKS:

• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndBookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandbookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on TikTok: @amyandbookclub
• Join the Amy & Bookclub: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is “Same Old” by Mass Wisteria. Listen to their music on Bandcamp.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another Amy & Smut Month, the month where we talk about books with smut! This time we're getting to know the monstrous, the beastly, and the surprisingly sweet. We tackle what kind of monsters belong in 'monster smut', our Wills and Won'ts of monsterkind, Romantasy vs Monster Romances, and just why these beastly men appeal to readers. Fun moments include a monster dating show (Married at First Bite anyone?), an inappropriate discussion of manatees, and Amy Learns About The Omegaverse.

Amy & episodes are usually NSFW: this episode is particularly NSFW.

This month we're reading Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta. If you haven't read this delightful book yet, grab your copp so there's no spoilers when you listen to our book club on 27th August!

MENTIONS

BOOKS

Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Pinned by Love by Elaine J. Daniels

FILMS/TV/VIDEO GAMES

Beauty and the Beast
Shrek
Futurama
Shape of Water
Supernatural
Baldur's Gate 3

LINKS

• 🎵 Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single SAME OLD here: https://linktr.ee/masswisteria#465207993

🌸 Our Socials:

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/amyandbookclub
• TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@amyandbookclub
• YT: https://www.youtube.com/@AmyandBookClub

💛 Where to find Amy:

• Amy Matthews on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amymatthewsauthor/
• Amy Barry on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amybarryauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAmyTMatthewsauthor
• Website: https://amymatthewsauthor.com/

Thank you so much for listening!💞

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're trying something a little different for this After Dark: a get-to-know-us episode. We've been talking zines all month, so it felt right that we get together and talk about our lives as writers. We answer the age old questions like Pantser or Plotter, do you worldbuild extensively or wing it, and why is writing so hard? We get into some less traditional topics as well, like whether we'd prefer to be a Nobel winner or a New York Times' bestselling author, and can you want people to like your writing without being a narcissist? All this and more on our After Dark deep dive.

MENTIONS

Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
The Faithful Executioner by Joel F. Harrington
The Writer's Guide to Every Day Life in the Wild West by Candy Moulton
Everyday Life During the Civil War by Michael J. Varhola
The Writer's Guide to Every Day Life in Regency and Victorian England by Kristine Hughes
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel
Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta

LINKS

🎵 Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single SAME OLD here: https://tr.ee/Mn6oTQ2AOW

🌸 Our Socials:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/amyandbookclub

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@amyandbookclub

💛 Where to find Amy:

Amy Matthews on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amymatthewsauthor/

Amy Barry on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amybarryauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAmyTMatthewsauthor

Website: https://amymatthewsauthor.com/

Thank you so much for listening! 💞

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It's nice to be known, I guess?"

This book club episode is a liiittle bit different because it is zine month, and in lieu of a book club pick, we tasked ourselves with making our own zines. Today is the day we share them with each other and, of course, with you! From Amy & warfare to imaginary band discographies, this episode is a wild ride and the perfect culmination of everything we've explored this month - it's just unfortunate that the Zoom audio can't pick up all the laughter, but rest assured, it was constant. I don't think any of us expected to be perceived and read quite this intensely or filthily . . .

LINKS:

• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndBookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandbookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on TikTok: @amyandbookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single "Same Old" here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Amy, Millie and Justina are joined by local Adelaide artist, zine-maker, community organiser and author of the graphic memoir Oh Brother, Georgina Chadderton – aka George Rex Comics. Join us as we chat all about making comics, shifting between zine-making and traditional publishing, interdisciplinary creativity, building grassroots arts community, revelling in niche Australian comedy and how to explain Vegemite to Canadians.

🫵 Our BOTM is ZINES by YOU! We'll all be making our own zines this month – join us and craft along at home!

MENTIONS

💥 COMICS: Oh Brother by Georgina Chadderton; The Adventures of Tin Tin by Hergé; Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo; Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson; Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez; Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler; Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin; Pat Grant (Blue, The Grot); Mandy Ord (When One Person Dies the Whole World is Over, Bulk Nuts); Alison Bechdel (Fun Home; Are You My Mother?); Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley; The Adventure Zone by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy and Carey Pietsch; Aśka (The Friendship Paradox)

📖 BOOKS: 45 and 47 Stella Street by Elizabeth Honey

🎬 FILMS: The Muppets (2011); The Rage in Placid Lake (2003); Strictly Ballroom (1992)

📺 TV: Invader Zim (2001–2006); Flight of the Conchords (2007–2009); The Mighty Boosh (2004–2007); Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (2020)

🦦 OTHER: Zina Warrior Print Fest; Papercuts Comics Festival; Greenlight Comics; Emerging Writers Festival; Format Festival; Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival; Adelaide Writers’ Week; Pull Pop Push: Revealing the Magic of Pop Up Books at State Library SA; Studio Ruby Chew; Perth Comic Arts Festival; Melbourne Rare Book Week

LINKS:

• Follow Georgina on IG: @georgerexcomics
• Visit Georgina’s website and check out their comics reading list
• Read Georgina’s graphic memoir Oh Brother
• Watch the full episode on YouTube: @AmyAndBookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on IG: @amyandbookclub
• Follow the Amy & Podcast on TikTok: @amyandbookclub
• Join the Amy & Book Club: Amy & Bookclub
• Follow Amy Matthews on IG: @amymatthewsauthor
• Follow Amy Barry on IG: @amybarryauthor
• Our theme music is by Mass Wisteria. Stream their single "Same Old" here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.