From Self-Publishing to Traditional Publishing: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews Kern Carter , author of And Then There Was Us . They discuss the different routes to publication and the differences between traditional and self publishing; how Kern worked to improve his craft while trying to land an agent; the challenges of writing from a perspective that isn’t your own, and why you might choose to do so; how he approached characterization; the importance of nailing emotionality in YA novels; the supernatural elements of And Then There Was Us ; trusting your editor and agent; how Kern pitches new ideas to his agent; and all his upcoming projects. If you’re looking for our usual Q&A segment, that now gets published as part of our end of the month Substack newsletter. Subscribe to get access to that, and so much more, for free: https://theshitaboutwriting.substack.com/ Our Comps Segment with Emilie Sommer will return in September. Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com , www.biancamarais.com , www.carlywatters.com and w ww .cecilialyra.com Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting You can find out more information about Kern on his website at https://www.kerncarter.com/ He's also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kerncarter and Twitter at https://x.com/kerncarter Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook , is available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15 To sign up for the Beta Reader Match Up , go to https://www.biancamarais.com/beta-reader-match-up.html To sign up for CeCe’s Writing Emotion course on the 8 th of August, go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Aee9OAPbSNmQ8xOb52Yl4w#/registration Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/tsnotyaw * Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com * Check out Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands