May 24, 2019 • 41M

160: #10MonthsfromStarttoDeadline

 
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Entertaining, actionable advice on craft, productivity and creativity for writers and journalists in all genres, with hosts Jessica Lahey, KJ Dell'Antonia and Sarina Bowen.
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Parkland author Dave Cullen on everything you ever wanted to know about pitching and writing a topical nonfiction book at top speed (and going broke doing it).

We talked to Dave Cullen, about writing Parkland: Birth of a Movement, in ten months while he was 3 years overdue on his current book.

"I'm just not gonna tell Gail," he said of his editor when he took the first assignment from Vanity Fair--but there was something going on with the Parkland students that grabbed him, and he--with the help of his agent, Betsy Lerner--grabbed it.

"I just had to."

He describes the process of writing the book, how the length, plan and due dates evolved--and how he almost went broke doing it.

#FaveIndieBookstore

Dave's #FaveIndieBookstore is Books & Books in Miami Beach, FL. "It was the only store I specifically asked to visit on my tour."

#AmReading

A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin

Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Letham

This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s 2-tier outline template.

Find more about Jess here, and about KJ here.

If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship.