The Long Road to Girl Gone Wild: From First Essay to Publication & Promotion with Antonia Crane

About this episode

Courtney Kocak discusses her debut memoir 'Girl Gone Wild' with guest Antonia Crane, exploring the long journey of writing and publishing.

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 Antonia Crane, author, academic, and one of my all-time favorite memoirists. In this special episode, the tables are turned as Antonia interviews me about my debut memoir Girl Gone Wild , and we get into what it actually takes to write a book over 15 years and finally share it with the world. We talk about the long, nonlinear road from first essay to finished memoir, including incubators with Chloe Caldwell, revising through many drafts, and why sometimes you have to write an entire version of a book just to figure out what it isn’t. We also get into structure, how trusting your gut can be more important than following industry expectations, the difference between factual accuracy and emotional truth, the challenge of fact-checking your own life, and why writing about the past often means confronting the parts you’ve tried hardest to forget. We discuss “dark teachers,” perfectionism, and the complicated process of making meaning out of tough experiences like addiction, abusive…

People in this episode

Host: Courtney Kocak

Guest: Antonia Crane

Topics covered

• memoir writing
• publishing process
• personal narrative
• addiction
• feminism
• sexual trauma

Keywords

• memoir
• writing process
• publishing
• personal essays
• emotional truth
• fact-checking
• dark teachers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Substack, Meow Town

Books & works: Girl Gone Wild

More episodes of The Bleeders: about book writing & publishing

• How TikTok, Substack, AI & the Creator Economy Are Changing the Business of Being a Writer with Jane Friedman · May 8, 2026 · 45 min
• The Evolution of Publishing: Traditional, Hybrid & Self-Publishing in 2026 with Brooke Warner · March 20, 2026 · 49 min
• Girl Gone Wild: The Story Behind My Memoir—Interviewed by Lili Gourley · March 18, 2026 · 21 min
• Before & After the Book Deal: The Truth About Publishing Success with Courtney Maum · February 17, 2026 · 53 min
• How Sari Botton Blew Past Gatekeepers to Build a Writing Life on Her Own Terms · December 28, 2025 · 47 min
• Building a Book Like a Startup: Ali Kriegsman’s Playbook for Self-Publishing Success · December 21, 2025 · 53 min