About this episode

Tawny Lara shares her publishing journey and effective strategies for writers to promote their work and build a network.

Welcome, writers and book lovers. The Bleeders is a podcast about book writing and publishing. Make sure you subscribe to the companion Substack : https://thebleeders.substack.com/welcome Today’s guest is author, writing coach, and sobriety expert Tawny Lara, the author of Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze . In this episode, Tawny pulls back the curtain on her publishing journey—from blogging and viral essays to finding an agent, switching from memoir to more journalistic nonfiction, completely rewriting her proposal, and ultimately selling her book. We get into querying, indie publishing vs. the Big Five, advances, audiobooks, and DIY book publicity. She also shares why every writer needs a newsletter, how she built an effective Substack strategy, the publicity tactics that landed her major media coverage, and why tapping into your existing network is often more powerful than chasing social media algorithms. Plus, Tawny explains how she sold a sobriety card deck to Penguin Random House, why rejection is an essential part of every publishing career, and the simple writing advice that transformed her creative practice. Subscribe to Tawny's…

People in this episode

Host: Courtney Kocak

Guest: Tawny Lara

Topics covered

• book writing
• publishing
• DIY publicity
• querying
• indie publishing
• media coverage
• newsletter strategy

Keywords

• publishing journey
• book publicity
• writing coach
• sobriety expert
• media coverage
• newsletter
• Substack strategy
• rejection in publishing
• creative practice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Penguin Random House, Substack, Bookshop.org, Amazon

Books & works: Dry Humping: A Guide to Dating, Relating, and Hooking Up Without the Booze, Girl Gone Wild

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