PODCAST · arts
Literaticast
by Jennifer Laughran
A literary agent and her friends dish about writing and publishing books for children and young adults.
Episodes
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68: The Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2024 Edition
It's the best time of year - HOLIDAY BOOK SHOPPING TIME! I'm joined by author and newly minted bookstore owner Lindsey Leavitt, whose gorgeous store Folklore Bookshop opened just this September. We talk a bit about what it is like to open a bookstore and the special things she and her co-owners…
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67: Authors Against Book Bans with guests David Levithan and Maggie Tokuda-Hall
The number of books being banned and challenged in schools and libraries has increased exponentially in the USA in recent years. These attacks on our freedom to read are not coming just from fringe zealots -- they are being embedded into legislation across the country, and that's a BIG problem…
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66: Hallucinating AI Spider Robots with Martha Brockenbrough
Author Martha Brockenbrough joins me to discuss her new book FUTURE TENSE: HOW WE MADE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE -- AND HOW IT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING. We're tackling your burning AI-related questions, such as: Should authors and illustrators be worried about AI? HOW worried? Are there ethical ways…
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65: Inside the Art Department, with Art Director Brian LaRossa
We're back from hiatus with special guest Brian LaRossa, who in addition to being an Executive Art Director at Scholastic, is an educator, pizza-maker, and all-around mensch. We tackle a variety of topics, like what IS an Art Director, how does the Art Department work with illustrators, what role...
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64: Getting Inspired with Jami Attenberg
Is this the year you've promised yourself you'd finally finish that manuscript, or stop playing on your dang phone so much and get into a healthier writing routine? Author Jami Attenberg joins me to talk about her new book 1000 WORDS: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused and Productive…
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63: End-of-the-Year and Mid-Career, with Alex Gino
Happy Holidays! In this episode, I give a bit of an End-of-the-Year rundown -- what sold this year, what good stuff happened, and what's the mood? Then Middle Grade author Alex Gino joins me to chat about their new book, GREEN, out now from Scholastic, and what it is like being a "mid-career"...
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62: The Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2023 Edition
It's the most wonderful time of the year -- BOOK GIFTING TIME! I'm joined by booksellers Nicole Brinkley from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY, and Cathy Berner from Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, TX, and we give you 50+ great recommendations for all the readers in your life, or for your own To Be...
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61: The Dynamic Duo: Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay
Kid-lit power couple Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay are collaborators in both life and in books. They met in high school, grew into underground artists and zinesters, and in recent years, have become an award-winning and New York Times Bestselling creative powerhouse team. We talk about how they…
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60: From Picture Books to YA, with Phoebe Wahl
The multi-talented Phoebe Wahl joins me to talk about how she got her start in publishing, as well as how she manages to run the cutest online shop in history, do brand collaborations, make films, thrive on social media, raise a toddler and more in addition to her busy career as an...
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59: Predictions and prognostication with guest librarian Betsy Bird
Librarian, author, blogger, podcaster -- our guest Betsy Bird wears a lot of hats. She is not only a bona fide children's book expert but also has a great knack for predicting ALA Awards! As the awards are being given out at the end of this month, Betsy's going to take us behind the scenes and…
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58: The Art of Being Present, with author-illustrator Cindy Derby
Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator and author Cindy Derby joins me to discuss her unusual path to an illustration career, getting inspired, dealing with burnout, navigating social media, what she learned from dog finishing school, and so much more. We also celebrate Cindy's latest picture book,...
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57: The Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2022
The annual Great Big Holiday Gift Guide is BACK, baby! Booksellers Nicole Brinkley from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY and Kassie King from the Novel Neighbor in St Louis, MO are joining to give their recommendations. If you're looking for holiday gifts for the kids in your life (or, for your own...
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56: Meet the Agent, with Jemiscoe Chambers-Black
We're back from hiatus, and excited to chat with Jemiscoe Chambers-Black. Jem is one of the newer agents at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and a rising star who has had many awesome deals (and even a NYT Bestseller) in her two years at the agency -- especially amazing considering the fact that she...
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55: Into the Creative Labyrinth with Sara Zarr
Award-winning YA author (and podcast host!) Sara Zarr joins me to talk about the joys and challenges of crafting a sustainable writerly life. She has practical and inspirational insights for newbies and mid-career authors alike in her new book, This Creative Life: A Handbook for Writers, from the...
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54: Meet the Agent! With Associate Agent Paige Terlip
New agents can be great to query, as they have a lot of energy and are actively building their lists! Paige Terlip is an Associate Agent at ABLA. She's been an agent for just over a year and she's already making a splash with great clients and sales. Paige and I talk about her philosophy of...
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53: Keeping it Honest, with guest author Maggie Tokuda-Hall
My guest today is author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, who writes picture books, graphic novels, YA, fiction, non-fiction... basically a little bit of everything! She talks about her experiences with an MFA program (and questions you might ask yourself if you are thinking of going to such a program). She...
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52: So... What'd We Miss? With Book Expert Alison Morris
My guest for this end-of-year show is Alison Morris. She's a book expert, and the Senior Director of Title Selection at FirstBook, a non-profit that provides literally millions of books to underserved kids (and so much more) -- we'll talk about it, and how YOU can support their vital mission.…
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51: The Art of Graphic Novel Adaptation, with guest Gareth Hinds
My guest this month is graphic novelist Gareth Hinds. He's famous for doing amazing Graphic Novel reinterpretations of classics like the Odyssey, the Iliad, Shakespeare, Poe and more... and we'll talk about how he chooses projects, and how he adapts them for modern readers and a graphic format,...
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50: The Holiday Gift Guide, 2021 Edition, with guest bookseller Melissa Posten
It's almost Holiday Time already (yeah, I know, yikes!) - and I want to encourage people to get their bookish gift shopping done early this year, and to pre-order books if you want them before Hanukkah or Christmas. To that end, it's time for the annual Holiday Gift Guide! Bookseller Melissa…
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49: World Kid Lit Month with Translator and Author Lawrence Schimel
Welcome back to the Literaticast! I'm back from hiatus with lots to say - first, about some of the newsworthy books of mine that came out during my absence. Then I'm joined by my friend, the prolific translator and author Lawrence Schimel, coming to us all the way from Madrid. We chat about World...
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48: Two Times the Charm, with guest author-illustrator Grace Lin and guest editor Alvina Ling
My guests are award-winning author-illustrator Grace Lin and editor-in-chief of Little Brown Books for Young Readers Alvina Ling. Both are accomplished children's book pros, lifelong besties, AND hosts of the popular podcast Book Friends Forever. They both have a LOT to say about all things Kids...
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47: Feeling Grateful (that 2020 is almost over), with guest agent Molly O'Neill
Guest agent Molly O'Neill from Root Literary joins me and we take it back to basics, talking about query letters and debunking some myths. We also dig into what the pandemic has been like for the publishing industry from our points of view. And Molly recommends some awesome books for your holiday...
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46: October is the New December, with Guest Bookseller Suzanna Hermans
I check in with my friend Suzanna, the co-owner and buyer for Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck and Millerton, NY. She talks about how the bookstore has weathered these wild times, what has changed, and what booksellers have learned -- and together, we give AWESOME BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS! Get…
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45: Heroes, Villains, Sidekicks and Kryptonite with guest author Lamar Giles
Today we're talking pop culture! If you insert specific pop culture references in your work, how do you walk the line between seeming current now, and possibly making your book seem dated a couple years from now... and how DOES a grownup stay current, anyway? How can 1980's TV inform the way you...
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44: Literaticast Live! Celebrating the Hudson Valley YA Society's 10th Birthday
It's a very special episode: Four amazing authors helped me celebrate the Hudson Valley YA Society's 10th Anniversary and launch Christine Heppermann's new novel in verse WHAT GOES UP, in conjunction with Oblong Books & Music's "Oblong Online" event series. Listen in on this great event with...
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43: Shaking Up the "Supposed-To-Bes" with author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
As you may have noticed, the podcast took a little hiatus - but we're back, baby! This episode, I give a little "state of the publishing industry" address, where I answer some burning listener questions about how the pandemic is affecting publishing. My special guest is picture book author…
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42: Creativity in Crisis with guest author Rebecca Stead
Author Rebecca Stead (WHEN YOU REACH ME, LIAR AND SPY, among others) joins me to talk about her creative process -- as well as such important topics as revision with book maps, finding an authentic voice, giving yourself permission to suck, shutting down your inner critic, the annoyingness of the...
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41: Marketing Mayhem with Hannah Moushabeck
My guest this week is Hannah Moushabeck, a book marketing wizard from Quarto Books with a life-long history in the book industry. Hannah and I chat about ways for you to get the word out about your book, and what your publisher is doing, as well as social media 101, and so much more. PLEASE…
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40: A Publicist Explains It All For You, with guest Tracy van Straaten
My guest is publicist Tracy van Straaten, who will pull the curtain back and reveal everything you've always wanted to know about Book Publicity but were afraid to ask! (Well, maybe not everything. But a LOT OF STUFF!) Including how to best work with your in-house publicist, when hiring an…
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39: Career Building with guest author Kate Messner
My guest this week is Kate Messner -- the perfect person to discuss Career Building! Over the past decade she's published over 30 children's books, and has 12 more coming out in 2020 alone. Wowza! We'll talk about how she does it. We also talk about things she WISHES she had known when she was a...
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38: The Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2019
We welcome the return of the Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2019 edition! I interview three independent booksellers from various parts of the country, and we give you our best recommendations for ALL the young folks on your shopping list – and some of the grownups, too. Joining me are Abby…
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37: Nonfic November with guest editor Kandace Coston
My guest Kandace Coston is an editor at Lee & Low, the largest multicultural publisher in the U.S. She is a nonfiction picture book expert, and we'll discuss how to choose a topic, what to include in the backmatter, and how to tackle potentially problematic content in a nonfiction book for young...
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36: Behind the Book: ROAR LIKE A DANDELION
Welcome to an all-new feature on the Literaticast: BEHIND THE BOOK, in which we take a deep dive into the backstory behind the making of one fascinating book. Up for discussion today is ROAR LIKE A DANDELION by Ruth Krauss, Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier, published by HarperCollins. Ruth Krauss…
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35: Navigating the Pre-Debut Wilderness, with guest author Stephanie Lucianovic
I'm joined by author Stephanie Lucianovic, whose debut picture book THE END OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL drops on September 10. She's dropping some hot knowledge on us about what it is like to navigate the pre-debut time, how to find and utilize mentor texts, winning social media strategies, how to…
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34: For the Littlest Littles, with guest editor Meredith Mundy
My guest is Executive Editor of the Abrams Appleseed imprint, Meredith Mundy. We chat about all things "little-kid" book related -- including the different types of board and novelty books, and the joys and challenges of writing and publishing them. This is a public episode. If you would like to...
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33. Ask the Agent Live! (kinda) with guest agent Jen Rofé
It's a Summertime Bonus Episode! ABLA Senior Agent Jen Rofé joins me to answer burning listener questions about queries, submission strategies, working with your agent, and so much more. Plus we talk about glass-blowing and Russian spies. (Obviously!) This is a public episode. If you would like…
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32: Pride is NOT just for June, with guest Author and Blogger, Dahlia Adler
First I talk a bit about the etiquette of leaving your agent and getting a new one -- it's not as scary or weird as you might worry it will be! Then, the fabulous Dahlia Adler joins me to talk about her books, blogging, promoting authors, self-promoting, cutting through the internet noise…
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31: Launching a Fledgling Imprint with Guest Editor Namrata Tripathi
I sit down with powerhouse editor Namrata Tripathi, the founder and publisher of Kokila Books, a new imprint of Penguin Random House. The first books from Kokila are coming this week, so we have a great discussion about what it is like to start an imprint from scratch, from deciding on the name…
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30: Drawing the Lines with guest Art Director Laurent Linn
My guest is Laurent Linn, an Art Director from Simon and Schuster. He'll give us the inside scoop on such hot topics as: What the heck does an Art Director do?! How are book jackets made? What should an illustrator have in their portfolio? What is the "life cycle" of a picture book and why do…
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29: Meg Medina Changes Gears
This episode, I'm pleased to welcome newly minted Newbery Medalist Meg Medina. We chat about world building in realistic fiction, writing large casts of characters, balancing business vs art, tips for debut authors as well as those suffering from "sophomore slump." Oh... and though I promised her…
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28: Story Genius with guest author and writing coach Lisa Cron
I sit down with Lisa Cron, the author of STORY GENIUS and WIRED FOR STORY - she is chock full of advice to make your next novel truly unputdownable. Also, I get a couple of words in edgewise, and talk about my obsession: RUSSIAN DOLL! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this…
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27: Midwinter Fever, with guest School-Library Marketing guru Jenny Choy
I'm getting ready to head to Seattle for ALA Midwinter. So what even IS that? In this episode, I speak to Jenny Choy, the Associate Director for School-Library Marketing for Abrams Books for Young Readers. Jenny tells us the difference between publicity, marketing, and school-library marketing…
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26: The Great Big Holiday Gift Guide, 2018
I chat with four awesome booksellers about their top children's and YA book picks for holiday gift giving (and my own picks, too!) -- some you've probably heard of, but others likely be new to you, and all are well worth checking out. Of course, there's no way that we could get ALL our faves in…
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25: Ms Martha goes to Washington, with guest author Martha Brockenbrough
Martha Brockenbrough returns to discuss her latest book of YA Nonfiction, UNPRESIDENTED, a biography/documentary about the life and times of Donald Trump. We also talk about how you can decide when a story is YOURS to tell, how to deal with bad reviews, how teen readers are the BEST readers, and...
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24: Ask an Editor, with Emma Dryden
Editorial consultant Emma D. Dryden has a storied career in children's publishing. She sat down with me to talk about revision, as well as the difference between working for a publisher and editing under her own shingle. I asked her a LOT of questions, including, what should an author expect from…
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23: Schmagents get a Schmackdown with guest agent Kelly Sonnack
Guest agent Kelly Sonnack joins me to talk about best practices, agent-wise... and WTH are some bad agents even DOING? Also we answer listener questions, talk about query management, vent on the topic of submission do's and don'ts, and we go in deep about our favorite yearly event, the Big Sur...
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22: Getting Biographical with Lesa Cline-Ransome
Guest author Lesa Cline-Ransome gets into it about writing nonfiction (particularly biographical) picture books. Like, how does she choose subjects? How does she decide HOW to tell the story, do research, and get a new angle on a topic we might think we already know? Plus, what is it like to have…
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21: Mochi Pounding Madness with Guest Author Debbi Michiko Florence
Author Debbi Michiko Florence joins us to chat about her winding path to publication, and her awesome chapter book series, JASMINE TOGUCHI, the fourth book of which has just been released. I talk about how to query chapter books, Debbi gives insight into the writing of them, and we both dole out...
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20: Burning the Candle at Both Ends, with Dan Santat
Award-winning author-illustrator Dan Santat joins me to discuss time management, illustrating vs authoring, portfolio-making, the World Cup, killers for hire (again! it's a theme!), and so much more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access…
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19: The 30,000 Foot View, with guest author Erin Dionne
I give some recommendations for my favorite books for writers. Then my guest, middle grade novelist and English professor Erin Dionne, chats with me about revision tips and tricks, plotting vs pantsing, story structure, and more. Spoiler alert: There is no one way to be a writer! Oh also we talk…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Literaticast have?
Literaticast currently has 67 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Literaticast about?
A literary agent and her friends dish about writing and publishing books for children and young adults.
How often does Literaticast release new episodes?
Literaticast has 67 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Literaticast?
You can listen to Literaticast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Literaticast?
Literaticast is created and hosted by Jennifer Laughran.
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