Writer's Digest Presents
Episodes
When and Why To Work With a Book Coach (featuring Adrienne Westenfeld)
16 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Book coaches offer a wide range of services that are catered to your personal needs as a writer. Maybe you need help brainstorming plot problems, or y...
The Dogs That Shaped Us With Isabel Klee
19 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Klee is best known for her work in fostering and rehabilitating dogs in New York City. As "Simon Sits" on social media, Klee chronicles the exp...
Reading Like a Writer with Amy Jones
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In February, "Writer's Digest Presents" managing editor Moriah Richard and senior editor Michael Woodson discussed performing reading audits and what ...
The Fight Against Amazon with Bookshop.org
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon's rise in dominion over the publishing industry is largely connected to the idea that convenience outweighs community—and independent booksto...
How (and Why) To Do a Reading Audit
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you were to do a reading audit of the last year or two of reading, what would it look like? Do you spread your reading across various genres, or do...
Writing the Perfect Ending (w/ Literary Agent Allegra Martschenko)
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We spend so much of our writing time perfecting the beginnings of our stories that we might be neglecting the endings—and literary agents can tell. ...
Why You Should Consider Writing Retreats
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SEASON FINALE. With the new year right around the corner, it might be time to start thinking about your creativity in 2026. For writers, writing retre...
Turning Your Career Into a Book (with Alexandra Gater)
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Say you want to learn more about woodworking, but you're not quite ready to follow a how-to video on YouTube and just want to learn as much as you can...
The Craft of Writing Horror (with Carson Faust)
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If blood and violence aren't your thing, but you love a palpable atmosphere and aren't afraid of a few ghosts, gothic fiction is right for you. The go...
Keeping Young Readers Engaged (with Alyssa Colman)
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fall is upon us and a new school year has begun. Kids are lining hallways and rushing to class, clutching their school work, and new books to read. Be...
Meet Cutes, Miscommunication, and Queer Romance with Chip Pons
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The conversation around publishing journeys is often binary: You either try traditionally publishing or choose self-publishing. But the reality for ma...
Tackling Historical Nonfiction (with Robert Fieseler)
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you tackle historical nonfiction, you're offering doing more than simply putting to paper the events of the past. In author and journalist Robert...
Writing Fiction Based On Your Life (with Jessica Berg)
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you write what you know? By writing fiction based on your life. This doesn't mean writing memoir or simply changing the names of the people in ...
BONUS EPISODE: Writer's Digest is Going to England!
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer's Digest is heading to England! From September 12-20, you can join managing editor Moriah Richard and literary agent Amy Collins in London and ...
How to Be a More Media-Savvy Author (with Paula Rizzo)
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first job of a writer is to actually write their book. The next is to promote it. But getting in front of a camera or microphone and talking to a ...
Writing Whatever You Want (with author Hilary Leichter)
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In publishing, we spend a lot of time talking about genre, and a lot of authors know exactly what genre they're interested in writing in. But what abo...
Getting Started In Screenwriting
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Screenwriting is a completely different animal than novel writing—there are different rules, there are different ways to get feedback, there are dif...
How to Fictionalize Personal History: A Chat With Sharon Short
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, our own personal family history where elements of it make for the perfect story—but what do you do if the history itself works best in a ...
How Fight Scenes Can Reveal Character—and More!
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fight scenes in fiction aren't just physical—they can be psychological, emotional, and often setting our characters up for any kind of fight helps u...
From Self Publishing to Traditional Publishing: An Interview with Zenda Walker
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, author Zenda Walker won grand prize in Writer's Digest's 29th Annual Self-Published Book Awards for her picture book, Zara's Wash Day. Since ...
The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Publishing
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The prevalence of book influencers on social media has taken the publishing industry by storm. What is the role of a Bookstagrammer or BookToker? Has ...
Write in Italy With Writer’s Digest!
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Writer's Digest is headed to Italy! Join editor-in-chief Amy Jones and senior editor Robert Lee Brewer this September 26 – October 3, 2024, for an I...
Designing Your Book Cover
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You've heard the old adage: Don't judge a book by its cover. Well, we all know that a gorgeous cover is hard to pass by, and those of us in the publis...
Evoking Emotion and Conflict In Your Writing
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When you think of "emotion" with regards to your writing, what comes to mind? Is it your own emotion when you're writing, the emotional quality of the...
Writing Speculative Fiction: A Chat With Waubgeshig Rice
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Waubgeshig Rice's series of novels Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves, the author sets up a world in the midst of the apocalyp...
5 Books In 2 Years: Catching Up With Mazey Eddings
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2022, managing editor Moriah Richard held a roundtable with three debut authors in our debut authors episode—one of those authors was Mazey...
How to Adapt a Novel Into a Screenplay
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than half of what we see in the theaters or watch on TV are adapted from books, graphic novels, video games, and more. Which begs the question: W...
Writing Advice For 2024
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New year, new goals! With the start of the new year, people across the world have stated new resolutions and goals for themselves. Writers are no diff...
How to Write a Dramedy (with Byron Lane)
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How to write a dramedy is more than simply mixing jokes with the tear-jerking moments. Combining comedy and drama is a tight-rope act that, if done wr...
How to Self-Edit Your Novel (with Tiffany Yates Martin)
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know how to self-edit your novel? If your answer is "no," you're not alone. While creative writers know a thing or two about building worlds an...
Combining Genres to Keep Readers Guessing
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Writers: curious about how to combine genres? Want to know what it's like to incorporate elements of mystery, science fiction, espionage, and romance?...
AI Stole My Name: A Chat with Jane Friedman
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
AI has infiltrated the creative process, with ChatGPT and other platforms making writing "easier." But the sinister side of this technology has led ar...
How to Misdirect Your Readers: A Conversation with Lydia Kiesling
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You ever have that experience reading a book where you think it's about one thing, and then slowly it starts to reveal that it's actually about someth...
Why You Should Attend the Annual Writing Conference
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every summer, the Writer's Digest team heads to New York City for the Annual Writing Conference—three full days of writing advice, keynote sessions,...
Fan Fiction and Retellings
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is fan fiction? Is there a difference between fan fiction, retellings, and reimaginings? What makes us categorize them as being similar? In the ...
Writing Charismatic Villains: In Conversation with Cherie Dimaline
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In our latest book club discussion, editor-in-chief Amy Jones and content editor Michael Woodson sit down for a chat with author Cherie Dimaline about...
Why Writers Should Read Romance
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Editor-in-chief Amy Jones, senior editor Robert Lee Brewer, and content editor Michael Woodson sit down with Writer's Digest University's content dire...
How To Define Success as a Writer
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you define success as a writer? Is it the finished, published novel on bookshelves? The story in a literary journal? Writing a sentence a day? ...
Writer's Digest Presents: 2022 In Review
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's the end of our first season of "Writer's Digest Presents," and the editors of Writer's Digest sit down to reflect on the year—from favorite pro...
Writer's Digest Presents: THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD Book Club with Tiffany D. Jackson
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the second installment of Writer's Digest's official book club, we read The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. Here, Tiffany sits down for a bo...
Writer's Digest Presents: Working With Literary Agents
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What's a literary agent, and how do you know that you've found the right literary agent for you? In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," the ed...
Writer's Digest Presents: Writing Communities
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," we're discussing writing communities. Editor-in-Chief Amy Jones leads a roundtable discussion with Seni...
Writer's Digest Annual Conference!
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're so excited to tell you about our Annual Writing Conference, this July 28-31, 2022 in New York City! Listen as Content Editor Michael Woodson tel...
Writer's Digest Presents: Vacation Reads
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
School is out and the sun is high: it's time to take to the road and to bring our vacation reads with us! In this episode, the editors chat about the ...
Writer's Digest Presents: World-Building
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," take a look at how world-building impacts your storytelling! Featuring an editorial roundtable discussi...
Writer's Digest Presents: National Poetry Month
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
April is National Poetry Month, and in this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," we tackle all things poetry! Senior Editor Robert Lee Brewer leads ...
Writer's Digest Presents: Debut Authors
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a debut book memorable enough to dive into the author's later work? In our third episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," the WD team talks a...
Writer's Digest Presents: Flash Writing
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
February is Flash Fiction Month at WD, and this episode is all about short and flash fiction, nonfiction, and more! Featuring: —Editors roundtable w...
Writer's Digest Presents: Beginnings
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Writer's Digest Presents, a monthly podcast of writers helping writers, brought to you by the editors at Writer's Digest! Catch us every th...