This week, Writes4Women host Pamela Cook celebrates the release of her eighth women’s fiction novel, Because You’re Mine, and shares her reflections on both what she'd do differently if she had her time over, and the choices she's glad she made when it came to her writing career.

Pamela shares what she has learned in 12 years of publishing and 26 years of writing, outlining five things she would do differently, including handle rejection better, and write more instead of procrastinating, and she also highlights positives like joining writing groups and starting the podcast.

Join Pam as she spills the tea on her writing career, with lessons she hopes listeners can learn from

01:07 New Release Because You're Mine

04:57 Lesson One Handling Rejection

09:30 Lesson Two Write More

12:20 Lesson Three Promote Yourself

14:57 Lesson Four Treat It Like Work

17:43 Lesson Five Build Confidence

21:20 Wins Writing Groups and Community

24:34 Podcasting and Networking

26:14 Keep Learning the Craft

28:22 Teaching and Mentoring

29:25 Say Yes to New Opportunities

SHOWNOTES:

JOIN OUR LIVE ZOOM CHAT, 7PM ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 6 here

Writes4Women

www.writes4women.com

Facebook @writes4women

Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast

W4W Substack

Click here

Pamela Cook

www.pamelacook.com.au

Facebook @amelacookauthor

Twitter @PamelaCookAU

Join me for the launch of Because You're Mine, tickets here

This episode produced by Pamela Cook for Writes4Women and recorded on unceded Dharawal land.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/writes4women?fan_landing=true

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writes4Women host Pamela Cook chats to publishing industry professional Kelly Doust about her new business, Publishing Curious.

Kelly has worked across many facets of the industry including as an author, but also in marketing and as an acquiring editor and publisher. She's started a new business to assist authors in reaching their publishing goals, and to demystify the industry.

In this conversation Pam chats to Kelly about how acquisitions meeting work, what publishers are looking for in a manuscript, the realities of advances, and a whole lot more.

And if you enjoy this chat, join Pam and Kelly for a live zoom chat on Tuesday October 6 ay 7pm, and bring your questions with you.

SHOWNOTES:

JOIN OUR LIVE ZOOM CHAT, 7PM ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 6 here

Writes4Women

www.writes4women.com

Facebook @writes4women

Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast

W4W Substack

Click here

Kelly Doust

Website: click here

Instagram: click here

Substack: click here

Pamela Cook

www.pamelacook.com.au

Facebook @amelacookauthor

Twitter @PamelaCookAU

This episode produced by Pamela Cook for Writes4Women and recorded on unceded Dharawal land.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/writes4women?fan_landing=true

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shannon Kelly-White & Lisa Ireland on Mentoring and the Making of Billy King

Host Pamela Cook interviews debut historical fiction author Shannon Kelly-White and author/mentor Lisa Ireland about the mentoring partnership behind Shannon’s debut novel.

Billy King (“Wild girls don’t go quietly”), is a story set in the Australian high country 100 years ago and told through three women’s perspectives: bushranger Dulcie, missing mother Anna, and 12-year-old Billy.

Shannon discusses her path from nursing to an unorthodox food blog and cookbooks, learning through a “drawer” manuscript, and developing a modern-feeling historical voice. Lisa describes recognising Shannon’s talent early, providing confidence and structural guidance, and focusing on story momentum and “killing darlings,” including major deletions and restructuring.

They discuss knowing when to submit, securing an agent, editing, cover reveal, handling reviews, mentoring benefits, and more.

00:00 Welcome to Writes4Women

02:35 Shannon’s Pre-Book Journey

03:19 Inside Billy King

13:37 Starting Mentorship Together

19:28 Building Three POV Characters

23:46 Story Structure and Cutting

35:56 Knowing When Done

40:20 Stop Over Revising

45:39 Handling Reviews

49:13 Mentorship Matters

51:39 Mentoring For All

57:28 Final Writing Advice

59:42 Wrap And Resources

SHOWNOTES:

Writes4Women

www.writes4women.com

Facebook @writes4women

Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast

W4W Substack

Click here

Shannon Kelly-White

Website: click here

Instagram: click here

Lisa Ireland

Website: click here

Instagram: click here

Pamela Cook

www.pamelacook.com.au

Facebook @amelacookauthor

Twitter @PamelaCookAU

This episode produced by Pamela Cook for Writes4Women and recorded on unceded Dharawal land.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/writes4women?fan_landing=true

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.