Writers With Wrinkles
Whether you're an aspiring author, indie publisher, or career writer, Writers with Wrinkles is your essential guide to writing craft, book marketing, and the publishing industry. Hosted by authors Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid, we iron out the wrinkles of the business — from mastering novel writing and story structure to navigating literary agents, query letters, and KDP self-publishing.
Each week, we bring you expert interviews with editors, publishers, and bestselling authors, plus practical advice on building your author platform and marketing your book. Whether you're drafting your first manuscript or preparing for a book launch, we have the guidance you need to thrive in today's competitive publishing landscape.
Visit www.WritersWithWrinkles.net for resources. Follow us on TikTok: @writerswithwrinkles
Writers With Wrinkles
Latest Episodes
How to Revise Your Novel: Developmental Editor Joel Brigham's Checklist (encore episode!)
In this re-released conversation, developmental editor Joel Brigham returns to talk all things revision: how to approach your first editing pass, the most common pitfalls he sees in drafts, and how to know when a manuscript is truly ready to qu...
Stop Making Videos Nobody Watches — Here's a Way to Actually Sell Books
Hosts Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid cut through the noise of book marketing advice to spotlight what genuinely moves books: word of mouth. Nearly half of readers (47–48%) choose books based on personal recommendations — outperforming social med...
Back by Popular Demand: Words on the Page with editor Joel Brigham
Joel Brigham runs Brigham Editorial (developmental edits, manuscript critiques, query help), teaches high school English in Illinois, and is an editor for RevPit — a community that gives away free developmental edits each spring.<...
Stop Querying Wrong: Agent Nikki Carrero Breaks It Down
Beth and Lisa talk with literary agent Nikki Carrero, from The Rights Factory, to break down the querying process from the agent’s side — what gets you noticed, what gets a pass, and how to make the most of The Call. Highlig...
How to Write Better Stakes & Tension in Your Novel (and some Taylor Swift!)
We tackle a publishing debate, draw writing wisdom from Taylor Swift, and dig into one of the most common craft problems in fiction — weak stakes and missing tension. Plus a community book shout-out.THE HARDBACK DEBATEBeth ...
Fan Mail
A very informative podcast. Happy to hear that there is an emerging MG ‘category’ - young teen lit. My 13 yo protagonist is a budding housing activist, in grade 8, and my target audience is ~ 11-14 yrs, and so this is encouraging. Also Meg provided a good summary of $$ considerations re publishing a book. Creative talent + hard work + a sound business plan (might) = a book on the shelves. Thanks
Ottawa, ON
