How A Near Fatal Crash Sparked A Fiction Podcast

A head-on crash took author Laura Van Wormer out of the writing life she knew and forced her to rebuild from scratch, including her voice. What she did, though, was that she didn’t just return to storytelling; she invented a new lane for herself through a serialized fiction podcast. Laura, a best-selling novelist and former Doubleday editor, joined me to explain how The Class of 74 became a narrative “soap opera” told week by week, complete with cliffhangers, research, and a listening experience that feels intensely personal. Laura broke down how she grew her audience through word of mouth, why she created a Patreon community (the Detention Club), and what actually makes membership feel worth it: behind-the-scenes notes, period research, bonus media, ad-free listening, and live Q&A. Laura went on to explain how consolidation changed traditional publishing, why backlist rights are so valuable, and what that means for authors weighing self-publishing vs getting an agent. If you’re an author looking for book marketing ideas, audience growth strategies, or a clearer view of modern publishing, this conversation will give you both perspective and next steps. Subscribe, share this with a writer friend, and leave a review so more book lovers can find the show.Send us Fan MailSupport the show📬 JOIN THE NEWSLETTERThe Storyteller Quest is  a weekly letter on writing,publishing, and the business of books.Subscribe, and I'll send you Traditional, Self, or Hybrid? —11 pages on what each publishing path really costs, plus a7-question worksheet that tells you which one is yours.Subscribe here.