Last week, I spoke to the absolutely lovely Sarah Painter, who runs a brilliant podcast called The Worried Writer. I’ve listened to her podcast for the last couple of years – I used to listen on my walk to work before I got lazy and started taking the bus) and it’s honestly such a great resource for all writers, no matter what stage of the process you are at. She interviews a really wide range of authors and I was so happy to get involved.
My podcast is now live here: http://www.worriedwriter.com/2017/09/01/the-worried-writer-episode-31-phoebe-morgan-getting-a-deal-is-often-about-timing/ and if you subscribe to her podcast on iTunes (for free) you can download all her other episodes too. In my episode, we talked about writing, editing, and the publishing process in general. I think I’m probably a strange interviewee because I’m able to see it from both sides, so we discussed my book but we also talked about what I look for as a commissioning editor, and the mistakes some people can make when pitching to publishers (although I actually don’t like the word mistake – we’re all learning at the same time!)
It was a really funny feeling being interviewed by a podcast I’ve listened to for a while, as I always really valued the advice of the other writers on the show and it’s strange to be giving advice myself now. I don’t know how helpful it will be but Sarah has done a great job, so if you think you’d find it helpful, do have a listen. I talk as well about balancing a full-time job with a writing career, and about being kind to yourself on days when you don’t feel able to do everything all at once. For me I think this is really important – sometimes I get home and feel so stressed by the thought of having to sit back down at a computer, and I think that’s okay – everyone who is working even one job deserves a break every now and then, and when you are trying to do two you need to recognise that sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and that’s fine.
I hope if you listen you find it useful, I’d love to hear from you if you do.
Phoebe Morgan 