The Society of Unpublished Authors

Episode 9: Dani Vee Interview! Pitching, Podcasting & PublishingIn this episode we speak to Dani Vee, host of the popular Words and Nerds Podcast, publisher at Larrikin House and author of multiple books for children. Dani shares her secret to managing such a busy and creative life. Spoiler: It’s doing what you love! She talks about finding the joy and the positives in neurodivergence, and her great desire for children to see themselves in books. Listen in for pointers about pitching and bio writing and hear Dani’s most important tip for the upcoming submission window at Larrikin House.

Episode 7: Better Together- Kate Temple InterviewThis week's episode is all about co-writing. We discuss well known Kidlit collaborators Emily Gale and Nova Weetman, Amy Kaufiman, Megan Spooner and Jay Kristoff. Also Maddy Mara and Christina Lauren.We welcome very special guest Kate Temple, co-author of many popular and award winning books for children. She shares all about the experience of writing with her husband Jol and gives plenty of great advice for aspiring co-writers.We discuss our own experiments in co-writing and challenge ourselves to finish our picture book We’re using royalty-free music by Geoff Harvey—be sure to check out his full catalogue on his YouTube channel @GeoffHarveyMusic

On this episode we talk about why rejection feels so hard, and what we can do after we get rejected.We learn from poet Maggie Smith in her book 'Dear Writer' that YOU are not being rejected, your work is.We talk about 4 big reasons picture books are rejected from the Picture Book Summit PodcastOur big takeaway is not to send your work out too early. Take your time and make it the best it can be.Also, do your research and send your manuscript to the right kind of publisher.Thinking about rejection rituals, we love Western Sydney author Adam Byatt and his Pigeon of Proclamation, and his 24hrs of eating cheese. Jo also shares some helpful tips from Dani Vee.We're using royalty-free music by Geoff Harvey—be sure to check out his full catalogue on his YouTube channel @GeoffHarveyMusic

We share the experience of having our book ideas come into the world, not written by us.We discuss whether there is anything truly original? Where do ideas come from, and how to capture them. What is a unique voice, and how can we find ours?We talk about the books Steal Like an Artist, Use Your Words, Big Magic and The Seven Basic Plots.We compare the way we write our first drafts, and how ideas are fun to get, but stories can be hard to write.Intro and outro music is royalty-free music by Geoff Harvey—be sure to check out his catalogue on his YouTube channel @GeoffHarveyMusic

This episode is all about what on earth publishers are looking for and whether knowing or not knowing can affect our writing. We discuss whether Rick Rubin's theory that 'the audience comes last' is a good one for writers, and we also talk about country singer Luke Combs and his song Doin This.We talk about young children and the way they make things for the joy of it, not the finished product.We share our experience of attending a WestWords Creative Writing workshop for the WestWords Living Stories competition.We challenge ourselves to find our most unpublishable idea or manuscript and show it some love and joy.Intro and outro music is royalty-free music by Geoff Harvey—be sure to check out his catalogue on his YouTube channel @GeoffHarveyMusic