Page One - The Writer's Podcast

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We're back! On this week's episode, we discuss the show everyone is talking about - The Traitors! With crime author Harriet Tyce's appearance, we chat about the impact it has had on her book sales, and also wonder which reality show we would choose to go on to boost our publicity (there is also some spoiler discussion about this season of the UK Traitors, so be careful if you are not up-to-date!)

Plus, we talk about big money's interest in Romantasy, and whether that will crowd out the market for other genres, and also discuss the rapid rise of scam marketing emails that are being sent to authors thanks to AI...

00:00 Intro
01:34 Dollars & Dragons - Is Big Money Skewing Fiction?
16:52 The Flattery Trap - Predatory Promo Offers
27:30 Killer Marketing? - The Traitors Effect
44:14 Off Script - Nadine finds another stranger than fiction story for inspiration
49:33 Off Script - Final Chapter: What we've been watching and reading

Links:
Chernin Group invests in Romantasy publisher Entangled
Authors hit with deluge of scam emails from fake marketers
Why crime writers make good Traitors contestants

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more!

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We are joined by three brilliant returning guests for our bumper-length festive special to mark the end of the year! Fiona Cummins, Cally (C.L.) Taylor and Ed James return to tell us all about their year in writing, what they are looking forward to writing-wise in 2026, and what their favourite reads and watches of the year have been. Plus - our Between The Lines game returns as they all try to guess the first and last lines of some Christmas classics (and some not so classics...!)

00:00 Intro
04:45 Writing over the holidays
25:28 Writing Christmas-themed stories/short stories
34:26 Writing Highlights of 2025
51:42 Writing Hopes for 2026
01:03:30 Book, TV & Film Highlights of 2025
01:18:24 Between the Lines - Our Christmas Game (NSFW!)

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Links:
Buy Fiona's books now
Buy Cally's books now
Buy Ed's books now

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Joe Hill is a Sunday Times bestseller and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box, The Fireman, and Full Throttle. He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long-running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with artist Gabriel Rodriguez. Much of his work has been adapted for movies and television. His second novel, Horns, was translated to film in 2014 and starred Daniel Radcliffe. His third novel, NOS4A2, is now a hit series on AMC, starring Zachary Quinto. The first season of Locke & Key was released on Netflix in early 2020 and became an overnight smash. His latest book, King Sorrow, is out now.

We had a great time speaking with Joe, learning why he wanted to keep his identity as Stephen King's son a secret when he first started out, how he nearly gave up on novel writing, and why he doesn't plan his novels. He tells us all about his latest, King Sorrow, and its epic structure and story that spans both fantasy and horror, and we talk about why horror is having a bit of a resurgence just now. Plus, we get into the whole AI debate, and Joe even takes time to ask us some either/or questions at the end!

Links:
Buy King Sorrow and Joe's other books now
Visit Joe's website
Follow Joe on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch this episode as a full video episode on YouTube

A good ending can stay with you long after you've finished a book or a film, but a bad one can ruin everything that came before. On this week's episode of Drafting Notes, we talk about what makes a good ending, and talk about some of the ways to think about crafting that ending to try and give a satisfying conclusion to your stories. Plus, we talk about some of our favourite endings (slight spoilers for Marvel Endgame and Star Wars: A New Hope!)

Drafting Notes is a series in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them!

Drafting Notes episodes are available early if you join our Patreon - check it out and get this and other great benefits!

Drafting Notes and Page One - The Writer's Podcast are brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Drafting Notes is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
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Watch this episode a full video episode

Kesia Lupo is the commissioning editor at MacMillan Children's Books, as well as being a former agent and author of three YA books.

We had a great chat with Kesia, learning about how she first got started in the publishing industry, and the differences between working for a smaller and larger publisher, and the impact that has on acquisition decisions. Plus, we discuss the differences in the US and UK markets, talk about the all-important query letter to agents, and hear about times that authors have pushed back against editing suggestions.

NOTE: We know Marco's audio is bad on this one - he unwittingly used the wrong mic when recording - we have cleaned the audio up as much as we can, but fortunately you are here for Kesia, not him!

Links:
Follow Kesia on Bluesky
Visit Kesia's Substack
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