The Failing Writers Podcast

Maps? What's that got to do with writing? Men? How are they relevant in 2025? Oh no… wait … Er. OK... let me explain what’s going on today... by introducing you to (another) 2 handsome and charismatic young men. Jay Foreman – comedian, singer songwriter (bloody great songs-look em up!) & Map-enthusiast. And Mark Cooper-Jones – Ex-geography teacher, producer & comedian. Both… now… primarily You-Tubers.  (Ha! because that’s a real job.) Together, they are… Map Men.  An absolutely genius bit of infotainment, which I’m willing to bet my last rolo, that you will love: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfxy4_sBQdxy3A2lvl-y3qWTeJEbC_QCp [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfxy4_sBQdxy3A2lvl-y3qWTeJEbC_QCp] Tell me I’m wrong! I dare you! But, right… and here’s the important bit….  they’ve written a book! A brilliant book, which like their show is both brain-engorging and extremely funny. Here’s a link to purchase several copies for yourself, your family & friends:  https://lnk.to/mapmen [https://lnk.to/mapmen] And while we’re on the subject of books. Have you ever tried writing one? It’s bloody difficult isn’t it? Yeah. Seriously.  Who knew? So may I be so bold as to recommend that you try using Scrivener. It has more features than you’ll ever need! However that does mean that if you do need one, Scrivener has got it! It just makes writing easier.  Not just for books either, but also for plays and screenplays and radio plays and non-fiction and stuff. PLUS – if you go to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener [https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener] You can make 20% of the price of Scrivener completely disappear by using the magic word “failing” at checkout. (You could even simultaneously imagine that you’re a flamboyant 80s stage magician with a white tiger and an open collared shirt while you do it, if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy doing.) And then – our HYPEWRITER feature! Where you send us something you’ve written that you’re proud of and then we go and celebrate the living babaganoosh out of it. (If you’d like to join in, just send a bit of writing - roughly 5 – 8 mins-worth - to failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com [failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com] – explain what it is, why you wrote it and a bit about yourself and you could feature on the pod!) This week we introduce the extraordinarily talented Aaron J Courts, who sent us a lovely piece called Pass & Review. You can find out more about Aaron here: https://aaroncourts.substack.com And behold. The shownotes are done for another episode. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

You know those writers who seem to have managed effortlessly to harness the awesome power of social media to hook increasing numbers of readers into their gravitational pull? Well good for them! No but seriously, wouldn’t it be fascinating to talk to someone who’s become an actual viral sensation themselves and find out what their strategy was? (That’s your cue to stop reading and crack on with listening to this episode btw.) BUT WAIT, THESE CAPITAL LETTERS STOPPED YOU IN YOUR TRACKS DIDN’T THEY? Well that’s good, because now I can tell you all about our sponsor, the indispensable writing app: Scrivener! The writing app that you can get 20% off! by going to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener [https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener] and using the code: failing (I promise you won’t regret it.) So there you go. How to blow up on TikTok? A chat with a lovely writer? Some great advice about not reading reviews?  A discount of some amazing writing software? What more could you want? Ah you want to know how to get your hands on a copy of Autumn’s excellent romance novel? OK. Fair enough. Should have seen that coming. Just click on this link… https://www.authorautumnwoods.com [https://www.authorautumnwoods.com/] What? You still want more?  Wow… you’re in quite a demanding mood today aren’t you? Well… you’re in luck, m’friend.  Cos this week in our regular Hype-Writer feature we’ve got a darkly disturbing but excellent little extract from last year’s flash fiction competition winner, Katie Holloway! She’s promised to post more of Cups of Tea at the End of the World on her substack – so keep your eyes peeled here: https://substack.com/@loseyourselfbooks [https://substack.com/@loseyourselfbooks] Right. Ya happy now? Phew. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Finally. I know, I know. It's that time of year we all look forward to. The leaves begin to loosen their grip. The sky is pregnant with it's autumnal offerings. Jon gets poetic. But aside from all that - it's the bloody Failing Writers Five Hundred Pound Flash Fiction Competition, in association with Scrivener! That's the bit we're really all excited about. That's when Tommy and I hunker down, curl up and bask in your beautiful little stories. (I'm not even joking here, it genuinely is a joyful experience.) So have a listen to the episode - find out everything you need to know in order to enter the competition, including the little phrase you have to include in your story... and be in with a chance of winning that 500 squids! This years judge is the delightful Sarah Lewis from writers HQ. Sign up now for a whole smorgasbord of helpful stuff. Workshops. Advice. Masterclasses. and of course the brilliant (and free!) Flash Face Off. Which we urge you to join in with - After all, it could be the thing that takes your flash piece from great to really blummin' marvellous! https://writershq.co.uk/ [https://writershq.co.uk/] Finally we wrap things up with an unusual but brilliant bit of poetry from the very talented free-styling-street-poet: Isaiah Frati. check him out here: Insta: @___reaver And finally... A GIGANTIC THANK YOU to our wonderful sponsor Scrivener yet again, for sponsoring the podcast, and the competition. If you'd like to get your hands on the writing software that really matters - get yourself to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview [https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview] and get 20% off with the code: failing Right. Go on then... crack on! You've got until midday October 24th. We can't wait to read your submissions! Good luck. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Aaaaand PART 2: This week we're looking at the extremes of the indie publishing industry. From the fantastic BlueMoose Books... https://bluemoosebooks.com [https://bluemoosebooks.com/] Where we speak to founder, Kevin Duffy about the highs and... well... mostly highs to be honest... of being a very successful indie publisher. Right over to the very opposite end of the spectrum, where our second guest, Janeen, tells us about the very ugly experience she had when approached by a 'so called publisher'. Followed by a discussion about the various publishing scams designed to part well intentioned writers from their cash - and how to avoid them. And now's a good time as any to mention that this series of The Failing Writers Podcast is sponsored very kindly by Scrivener. Fancy trying their world class writing software? Then get yourself over to https://www.literatureandlatte.com [https://www.literatureandlatte.com/] for a month's free trial. and if you use the code: failing … then hey presto, bish bash bosh, bob’s yer uncle... you'll get 20% OFF! Also, please consider supporting the writers and publishers mentioned in these 2 episodes! Here are Janeen’s links: Including a link to the book that nearly cost her a lot of money - the very same book featured on Hype-writer this week! Dot Exe. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dot-Exe-Janeen-Leese-Taylor-ebook/dp/B0DV7DZ9YL [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dot-Exe-Janeen-Leese-Taylor-ebook/dp/B0DV7DZ9YL] https://x.com/InkAndSmudge?t=QRkcSP-WtYQy3ymoVfpfow&s=09 [https://x.com/InkAndSmudge?t=QRkcSP-WtYQy3ymoVfpfow&s=09] https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0BLP33ZVY [https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0BLP33ZVY] And here’s a couple of brilliant online resources mentioned in the ep: A list of known scammers: https://writerbeware.blog/scam-archive/ [https://writerbeware.blog/scam-archive/] Including the company that tried to scam Janeen: https://writerbeware.blog/2023/12/01/author-complaints-at-l-r-price-publications-ltd/ [https://writerbeware.blog/2023/12/01/author-complaints-at-l-r-price-publications-ltd/] And Jill’s Book Café, with a list of indie publishers: https://jillsbookcafe.blog/independent-publishers/ [https://jillsbookcafe.blog/independent-publishers/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

PART 1… it’s double-bill time! It suddenly occurred to us that we didn’t know much about independent publishers. And that doesn’t sit well with us - Not knowing stuff about the world of writing. So we reached out to our lovely online writer friends, and found a few people happy to talk about their experience of being published by a small press. And what we found out was very eye opening! About the pros and cons… How different publishers work with their writers… How widely they publish…  What to expect from the relationship and why you might want to consider approaching a small press yourself! Massive thanks to Scrivener for sponsoring the podcast. Don’t forget you can get 20% off this glorious writing software at https://www.literatureandlatte.com [https://www.literatureandlatte.com/] by using our sneaky, little secret code: failing Here are the details of the excellent people we waffled with: We talked to Chris W McGuinness: https://chriswmcguinness.wordpress.com [https://chriswmcguinness.wordpress.com/] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellbound-Bastards-Chris-W-McGuinness/dp/B0F2HY8DRM [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellbound-Bastards-Chris-W-McGuinness/dp/B0F2HY8DRM] https://alienbuddhapress.wordpress.com [https://alienbuddhapress.wordpress.com/] https://cloakedpress.com/ [https://cloakedpress.com/] Then we had a natter with flash maven Kathryn Aldridge-Morris: https://www.kamwords.com/about-me [https://www.kamwords.com/about-me] https://www.dahliapublishing.co.uk/product/cold-toast [https://www.dahliapublishing.co.uk/product/cold-toast] Followed by YA writer Luke Palmer: https://lukepalmerwriting.com [https://lukepalmerwriting.com/] https://fireflypress.co.uk [https://fireflypress.co.uk/] And last but undoubtedly not least: Genevieve Marenghi-Daly https://genevievemarenghi.com [https://genevievemarenghi.com/] Keep an eye out for her debut released on October 10th 2025… https://www.burtonmayersbooks.com [https://www.burtonmayersbooks.com/] And don’t forget… next week we continue our investigation into indie publication – when we chat with Kevin Duffy of BlueMoose Books. Then…. go digging into the darker side of publishing… ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.