How to Go From Idea to Published Essay to Book Deal

How to Go From Idea to Published Essay to Book Deal

Ariel Henley suffers from crouzon syndrome, a rare disease that affects her appearance. Her writing shares her experience and emotional growth. A Face Like Picasso is the book, There’s a Mathematical Equation that Proves I’m Ugly--Or So I Learned in My Seventh Grade Art Class is the essay and Ariel Henly is the Author. In this episode she reads her essay and we talk to her, and her publisher, about how she got her essay published and her how she got her book deal.

Today on our show, we’re talking to Lilly Dancyger, an editor at Catapult, among many things. She’s also a freelance editor at Narratively and Barrelhouse Books, a memoir writing teacher, writer, curator of Memoir Monday, and the editor of the just-released anthology called Burn It Down. We talked to her about what she’s looking for in an essay, and how to successfully pitch to Narratively and Catapult. Read this before you submit to Lilly or anywhere. 

Ariel Henley reads her essay called There’s a Mathematical Equation that Proves I’m Ugly--Or So I Learned in My Seventh Grade Art Class, which was published in Narratively. Lilly tells us why she chose Ariel’s essay.

And because Ariel’s essay spawned a book deal, we got Ariel on the phone to talk about how she went from idea, to essay, to publication, to agent, to published book. 

This episode is an inspiration to anyone looking to write their stories. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

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Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Justina Shandler, Ari Herstand, Andi G. Cohen, and Podington Bear.

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