Are you feeling overwhelmed with the thought of finding an agent or a publisher when you finally finish writing your book? Or maybe you’re looking for a new agent, or a new home for your work?
If you’re anything like me, you can get caught up sometimes in thinking one path is the right path, or the only path. Or that things happen in sequence, or that they take a long time, or multiple other stories we have that may or may not be true.
I talk a lot on this show about how there is more than one path to publication. Actually, today there are so many ways to get your work published that it’s incredible – and the industry is in a state of fluctuation right now. And while that may feel overwhelming, I believe it’s a good thing- because sometimes systems need to be shaken up to perform better.
My guest on the show today is someone who found her way to a book deal where she least expected it – through a tweet. (Or an X? What are we actually saying now??)
Anyway – Angela Crook is a thriller author who I met at Left Coast Crime, where she was celebrating her debut, Hurt Mountain. She has SUCH A GREAT STORY. I mean, it’s wild. So for those of you who are stuck in a story about how getting your first publishing deal has to go, this one is for you – because Angela is proof that whatever you’re thinking has to happen can go a completely different way.
This episode is about celebrating a new voice to watch, certainly – and a very cool person – but also it’s about the magic of opening yourself up to possibilities, to jump on opportunities if they present themselves, and to never assume that something wild can’t happen – and that this can’t be the day when your whole life changes.
We talk about:
- How responding to a tweet got her in front of a big name publisher
- How she worked backwards from a book deal to get an agent
- What the debut process is like
- The inspiration for her thriller
And so much more!
I can’t wait for you to meet her.
Quotable:
- “More so than any class I’ve ever taken, what you need is to find those people that you really can connect to. My writer’s group is that for me. I would have probably stopped writing a long time ago if not for my writers group.”`
- “You know how sometimes you sit down to write and you’re just putting words on the paper, you know, anybody could have said them. So When you can tell the difference between the character is what voice means to me.”
- “And you always meet great people when you go to these conferences. I walked away from Left Coast Crime feeling like, hey, I have made new friends and I’ve never gone to a conference and not felt that before.They say it’s not the same in all writing communities, but apparently the crime writers community, we got it down.”
You can find out more about Angela here: https://angelacrook.wordpress.com/
And make sure you’re following me on IG @lizmugavero for the latest episodes!
