Page One - The Writer's Podcast

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Oli Munson is a leading literary agent with AM Heath in London. He has a list of bestselling authors including Mari Hannah and Nadine Matheson, and is always on the look out for new and exciting commercial fiction.

We had a great time chatting with Oli about how he became an agent, hearing about how it has changed since he first joined, and why it's so important to make a good first impression with your query letter. We also chat about the state of the market, and why he thinks data-led decisions have made publishers very risk-averse.

Links:
Query Oli now
Our Drafting Notes episodes on querying:
Writing Your Query Letter
How to Write a Great Synopsis
The Agent Call - What do you ask?

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Listen to authors telling stories together on our sister show, Narrative Damage

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 as a full video interview on YouTube

Ludo Cinelli is an Agent and the Managing Director at Eve White Literary Agency. He joined the company in 2017 and has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. He represents fiction, non-fiction and children’s authors across genres and was shortlisted as British Book Awards Literary Agent of the Year in 2022 and 2026.

We had an interesting chat with Ludo about how he got into agenting (and chat about the variety of paths people can take to become an agent), and what catches his attention in queries. We also chat about some bad habits in queries, and discuss why the market is difficult at the moment. Plus, Ludo offers his advice to writers out there who are looking to query soon.

Links:
Submit to Eve White now
Follow Ludo on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Listen to authors telling stories together on our sister show, Narrative Damage

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 as a full video episode on YouTube

We're back after a short break, but it appears nothing has changed in publishing as we are still talking about our (least) favourite subject: AI! We go through some listener mail and comments on the subject before diving into Jerry Falade's collapsed $2.4m book deal, wonder if AI detectors are reliable, and have a talk about different methods of book marketing, wondering what works and what doesn't.

00:00 Intro
02:11 From the Slush Pile - Listener Comments
17:25 AI Hid the Body - $2.4m Book Deal Collapses
24:07 Claude & Pangram - Watermark My Words
39:54 Marketing Your Book - Book Tok or Book Flop?
51:12 Stranger Than Fiction - Nadine's Idea Factory
55:57 The Final Chapter - Entertainment Catch-up

Links:
$2m crime novel deal collapses amid questions over AI use
Agents react to major book deal that collapsed over suspected AI use
Claude's new scarlet letter watermark is invisible—for now
I tested a popular AI slop detector. It felt empowering.
I spent $44,000 launching my book. Three of those dollars worked.

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! Find all our shows here!

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Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Olivie Blake is the New York Times bestselling author of speculative fiction for adults, including The Atlas Six trilogy, Alone with You in the Ether, Masters of Death, the short story collection Januaries, Girl Dinner, and her most recent novel, Dreamland. With Little Chmura, she is the co-creator of the graphic series Clara and the Devil. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult novels My Mechanical Romance and Twelfth Knight. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

We loved speaking with Olivie about her writing career, hearing how she started with fan fiction and self-publishing, what really happened when The Atlas Six took off, and why trad publishing was always her ultimate goal. We talk about how writers need to be both resilient and adaptable, talk about books as art vs books as products (and when you should think about them as each), and chat about her new book, DREAMLAND.

Links:
Buy Dreamland now
Follow Olivie on Instagram
Visit Olivie's website

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: 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

Follow us on Facebook
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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 as a full video interview on YouTube

Ian Green is a writer from Northern Scotland with a PhD in epigenetics. His biopunk eco-terrorism thriller EXTREMOPHILE was one of Financial Times’ Best Science Fiction Books of 2024 and was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Dragon Awards. His debut fantasy trilogy THE ROTSTORM began with the Sunday Times bestseller THE GAUNTLET AND THE FIST BENEATH. His short fiction has been widely published and he won the BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines competition, the Futurebook Future Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the British Fantasy Awards.

It was great to get Ian back on the podcast and hear about what he has been up to since he was last on back in January 2023. We talk about whether he wishes he had followed Extremophile up with another cyberpunk novel given its success, why he likes trilogies, and what influenced his new fantasy book, THE DEEP AND THE DROWNED.

Links:
Buy The Deep and The Drowned now
Follow Ian on Instagram
Visit Ian's website
Watch Ian play Call of Cthulhu with us on Narrative Damage

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

Page One Extra 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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Page One Extra 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.