Write the Damn Book Already

Hosted by Elizabeth Lyons

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182

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Want to write, publish, and market your book, but feel overwhelmed by where to start? Write the Damn Book Already breaks down the writing process, self-publishing, and traditional publishing so you can move from idea to finished book with clarity and confidence. Hosted by Elizabeth Lyons—author, book writing coach, book editor, and self-publishing expert—this show untangles the often-confusing world of writing and publishing. From first draft to finished manuscript, indie publishing to traditional publishing, Amazon strategy to long-term book visibility, you’ll get practical guidance and honest conversations about what it really takes to get a book into the world. Through solo episodes and interviews with both traditionally published and indie authors—across fiction and nonfiction—Elizabeth brings a well-rounded, no-hype perspective to the publishing industry. Whether you’re working on memoir, nonfiction, or a novel, you’ll walk away with clearer next steps and fewer mental roadblocks.

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60 recent

August 12, 202654 min

Ep 181: Joyce Maynard on Storytelling, Permission, and Who Gets to Tell the Truth

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!Joyce Maynard has been publishing books for fifty-three years. In Wonderland is her fourteenth novel, and it came out eight days before we recorded this. She still does not outline. She sits down knowing exactly who her characters are, what they want, what they're afraid of, what they can't stop thinking about, and then she lets them take her somewhere she didn't plan on going.We talked about the year she rented a little house on the shores of Lake Atitlán, and then bought a piece of land, which now serves as a retreat center where she's hosted well over a thousand women for memoir workshops. The question she gets there, every single time, from women only: How do I tell an honest story about my life without hurting the people in it? Other things we covered:Why she doesn't consider writing to be therapy, and what she thinks needs to happen before your story is ready for the pageThe difference between resilience and reinvention (she has a great analogy involving an inflatable clown)Going back to Yale at sixty-five, and the D- on a French exam that led to a diagnosis at an age when nobody in her generation got oneHer approach to writing as making a movie that plays inside the reader's head, and why she refuses to over-explainWrite what you know, and also the case for writing what you don't know🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/visibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

August 5, 202650 min

Ep 180: What First-Time Authors Need to Hear Before Querying an Agent (with Eli McCann)

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!Eli McCann never planned to write a novel. He wrote one chapter kind of, maybe, to prove to himself he couldn't. But when he handed it to his husband, who both laughed and cried reading it, his curiosity and determination grew.That chapter became Stitched, his debut novel about competitive quilting, unlikely friendships, and found family. The story of how it got published is required listening for any first-time author who's ever been told to change their book to make it more marketable.We talk about the year Eli spent building a storytelling following before he had a book to sell, the agent who warned him publishing has a bias problem against older women (and how unfortunately correct she turned out to be), why he refused to rewrite his book into something it wasn't just to land a deal, and what it was actually like to narrate his own audiobook, complete with dialogue-heavy scenes from multiple distinct voices.🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

July 29, 202644 min

Ep 179: Meg Mitchell Moore on Messy First Drafts and Why Nobody Has Publishing Figured Out

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!Ten books in, Meg Mitchell Moore still doesn't know what her plot is going to be when she starts writing. Meg Mitchell Moore has published ten novels. And she still starts most of them with no idea what's going to happen. No outline, no plot, sometimes not even a reason her characters are in the room together. She figures it out as she goes, often with her agent's or editor's help.If that sounds like it shouldn't work, that's kind of the point of this conversation. It does work. It's worked ten times! And I love how honest Meg is about the fact that her first drafts are a mess and revisions are where it all comes together. We also get into the parts of book publishing that show up in very few highlight reels. Meg talks about learning, book by book, how much of a "big author moment" (the 10-city tour, the massive publisher push) is actually the author funding it themselves. She talks about the fear of writing a book with no contract attached to it, and how that fear doesn't necessarily go away with experience.We talk about the business-versus-art tension every working writer eventually has to make peace with, and why the current pace of the industry has authors feeling more frantic than they perhaps did fifteen years ago, even as the community itself has gotten more supportive.🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

July 22, 202659 min

Ep 178: What If You Already Found Yourself? Angela Brown on Fiction, Fear, and Saying No

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!This episode quickly got personal because I'm elbow-deep in my first novel after six nonfiction books, and Angela Brown writes the kind of fiction that makes one feel quite seen. Angela is the author of Olivia Strauss Is Running Out of Time, Some Other Time, and her newest, Ways to Find Yourself. And I will fully admit I read the prologue the night before we recorded and had a moment. Not a cute moment. A "why am I like this" moment. So we start there, obviously. But this conversation goes way past my feelings about her book (though we do talk about her characters, her sneaky habit of naming them after real people in her life, and the "what if" questions that kick off each of her novels). We get into the actual mess of writing fiction: how she doesn't always know where a story is headed when she starts it, the time an entire book arrived in the shower (why does all our best thinking happen there?) and she wouldn't leave her desk for two hours because she was afraid it would vanish, and the moment (mid-draft) when she realized the book wasn't broken—she was just writing from the wrong point of view.We also talk about her MFA (Was it worth it?), the myth that there's one right way to write a book, and how she's getting much better at saying one simple word: no.Oh, and stick around for the end. You'll walk away saying "no ploblem" for the rest of your week. You're welcome.🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

July 15, 202651 min

Ep 177: There Are No Rules (Except the Oxford Comma) -- with Eric Garcia

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!TV writer, screenwriter, and author Eric Garcia has published six books (so far). He sold three of them to Hollywood and somehow still managed to write his latest novel entirely by accident. He set out to write a short story. Then it got longer. Then it was a novella. Then it was 80,000 words and he had to admit he'd written a whole book, mostly at night, while still juggling film and TV work. We also talk about what's changed in publishing since his Random House days (Hint: mid-list used to mean stable; now everyone's terrified of it), why chasing trends is a losing game when a book takes years to reach shelves, and why there are no rules for how long a chapter should be, except the one that matters: Don't make me want to stop reading.We also bond hard over the Oxford comma as well as the correct use of "less" and "fewer." I nearly combust with joy over our shared grammar rage. 🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

July 7, 202646 min

Ep 176: How to Publish A Children's Book with Erin Thorburn

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this episode, I chat with children's book author and illustrator Erin Thorburn. (She also happens to be my best friend.) We wax not so poetic on book writing, publishing, marketing children's books (her lane, not mine), and navigating the creative industry with humor and properly set expectations. CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS:Challenges of publishing (and marketing) children's booksMarketing strategies for authorsThe myths (and, of course, truths) of our experiences building both confidence and communityHow to navigate industry egos and rejection without making it mean you should quit (or just plain quitting) 🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

July 1, 202639 min

Ep 175: How Consistency Fuels Creativity (with Nadia Hashimi)

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!Nadia Hashimi's newest novel (her seventh published book), City of Widows (William Morrow), releases in July 2026. She's already published four books for adults: The Pearl that Broke Its Shell (which is an international bestseller), When the Moon in Low, A House Without Windows, and Sparks Like Stars, as well as two middle grade novels, One Half from the East and The Sky at Our Feet. Our conversation was both fascinating and enlightening as we talked about Afghan culture, the importance of discipline in creative work, and Nadia's writing process. As a mom of four and pediatrician, her schedule most certainly doesn't allow for "easy" writing blocks, and her encouraging, honest words will no doubt reassure new and seasoned authors alike.🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

June 24, 202659 min

Ep 174: Writing Compelling Stories with Ann Garvin

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this episode, Ann Garvin (who will release her 7th novel, Tell Two Friends, in September 2026 with Lake Union) discloses the often messy, unglamorous truth of how a story actually starts. For her, that's usually as some tiny thing Ann can't stop thinking about, long before it has a plot or even characters attached to it. We talk about how to take that one nagging "kernel" of fascination and slowly build a book around it, and why your characters' flaws are usually what make readers care. Ann also walks through a deceptively useful trick for getting unstuck: asking, "What's the worst possible thing that could happen to this character right now?" (and then doing that to them).Whether you write memoir, self-help, or fiction, this conversation is really about the same question every writer eventually has to answer: What am I actually fascinated by, and am I brave enough to explore it further? No matter how you're published or what genre you're writing, the part about having to sit down and write the damn book is the same for everyone!🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

June 17, 20261 hr 11 min

Ep 173: Publishing Hot Takes with Jordan Roter

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!The woman. The myth. The legend: Jordan Roter. She's a TV writer, screenwriter, author, and one of the funniest and most genuine people I know. I truly could talk to her for days (and I'd like to, as it would preclude the need any sort of formal abdominal workout). Her novel, Moms Like Us (2025, Little A), was recently optioned for the screen, and she's back to give her hot takes on:Midlife transitions (welcome, all my fellow perimenopause travelers!)Self-publishing versus traditional publishingThe currently hot TV shows I was previously afraid to watch (Heated Rivalry, Off Campus, and Euphoria)Navigating publicity and marketing as an author The importance of remembering that you only need 1 "yes"🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth

June 10, 202658 min

Ep 172: Writing Memoir When Your Memories Have Disappeared (with Cinelle Barnes)

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this heartfelt interview, author Cinelle Barnes shares her journey through writing A Way Home (Little A, June 9, 2026), a heart-wrenching memoir about remembering and rebuilding a life after everything known disappears in a flash. Her latest memoir takes us alone with her as she recovers from a sudden ruptured brain aneurysm. But her journey was far more than physical. It's the healing of soul, of body, of identity. It's a woman/mother/daughter/immigrant/writer redrawing the map of herself. The mere existence of this book is a triumph, and the beautiful magic of it is a feat of awe. Cinelle is also the author of Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir and Malaya: Essays on Freedom. 🧭 BACK COVER BLUEPRINTGet back cover templates for nonfiction, memoir, and fiction; real-world examples; a polishing checklist; and a guide for turning it into an optimized online description that attracts the right readers. 🔗 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/blueprint Looking for hidden gems, date night spots, and staycations you didn't know you needed? Find your next adventure at TheBestoftheSouthwest.com and follow along on Instagram at @thebestofthesouthwest.*episode sponsor WANT TO SELL MORE BOOKS (WITHOUT THE SELF-PROMO CRINGE)?The Author Visibility Bundle gives you 200+ done-for-you email templates, social media graphics, and other book promo tools designed to help authors build buzz and drive sales, without feeling pushy. 👉 PublishAProfitableBook.com/bookvisibility ✍️ 33-DAY BOOK WRITING BOOTCAMPYou've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's get it written (for real this time). 👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebookSupport the show******Write the Damn Book Already is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with authors as well as updates and insights on writing craft and the publishing industry. Available wherever podcasts are available: Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTube Let's Connect! InstagramWebsite Email the show: elizabeth [at] elizabethlyons [dot] comThe podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores.To see all the ways we can work together to get your book written and published, visit publishaprofitablebook.com/work-with-elizabeth