Reads and Recs of 2025

Interview with author Dana Swift!

Hello! In this episode we’re interviewing author Dana Swift! Dana Swift is a YA fantasy author repped by Kelly Dyksterhouse of Tobias Literary. She is the author of the Cast in Firelight duology, as well as the forthcoming When Dealing With Dragons, a YA Romantasy set for release this July. Dana got her degrees in English and Advertising at UT Austin, where she fenced saber and met her husband. When she’s not working on her books, she can be found reading and critiquing at her local writing workshop.  You can find Dana and her books here: Website: https://www.danaswiftbooks.com/ [https://www.danaswiftbooks.com/] Preorder When Dealing With Dragons!: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250402431/whendealingwithdragons/ [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250402431/whendealingwithdragons/] Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19510928.Dana_Swift [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19510928.Dana_Swift] Buy Dana’s first book here!: https://bookshop.org/p/books/cast-in-firelight-dana-swift/5723c22ea1c09ac0?ean=9780593124239&next=t [https://bookshop.org/p/books/cast-in-firelight-dana-swift/5723c22ea1c09ac0?ean=9780593124239&next=t] Here are some of the authors, artists, and other things we brought up during the episode. Just a disclaimer - please do not take our word as fact. The publishing industry is always changing, and often we are talking about things we are remembering from a while ago or have heard from others. It’s always important to do your own research! If we realize after the fact that we have gotten anything wrong, we will do our best to correct it in the show notes. Beth is Dead (Dana’s friend’s book): https://tinyurl.com/yz5ukxa2 [https://tinyurl.com/yz5ukxa2] Charlie Bowater (artist): http://www.charliebowater.net/ [http://www.charliebowater.net/] Wednesday Books: https://wednesdaybooks.com/ [https://wednesdaybooks.com/] Delacorte Books: https://randomhousebooks.com/imprint/dell-delacorte-books/ [https://randomhousebooks.com/imprint/dell-delacorte-books/] DFW writers workshop: https://www.dfwwritersworkshop.org/ [https://www.dfwwritersworkshop.org/]

Building Your Website

Hello! In this episode we’re talking about author and illustrator websites. When to make one, what to put on it, and where to find resources for those things.  Here are some of the authors, artists, and other things we brought up during the episode. Just a disclaimer - please do not take our word as fact. The publishing industry is always changing, and often we are talking about things we are remembering from a while ago or have heard from others. While the agent deep dive is always fact checked, we do not prep for these episodes or look up other information beforehand. It’s always important to do your own research! If we realize after the fact that we have gotten anything wrong, we will do our best to correct it in the show notes. Here are the links for Daniel Lazar, the agent from our agency deep dive: Publishers marketplace profile: https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/DanielLazar/ [https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/DanielLazar/] Writer’s house: https://www.writershouse.com/ [https://www.writershouse.com/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danlazaragent/?hl=en [https://www.instagram.com/danlazaragent/?hl=en] Snapseed, the app for blemish removal if you don’t have any programs for photo editing things like that for author photos: https://snapseed-app.com/ [https://snapseed-app.com/] The Girl of Fire and Thorns book 1 (one of Rae Carson’s books): https://tinyurl.com/4dayxc88 [https://tinyurl.com/4dayxc88]  Tracy Straaten’s website (the PR person I mentioned seeing the website talk from): https://tvsmediagroup.com/about [https://tvsmediagroup.com/about] Animorphs!: https://tinyurl.com/44vtcwrz [https://tinyurl.com/44vtcwrz] Namecheap, where you can buy a website domain: https://www.namecheap.com/ [https://www.namecheap.com/] Different website hosts: Wordpress: https://tinyurl.com/ywj7uuyc [https://tinyurl.com/ywj7uuyc] Wix: https://tinyurl.com/yb4wxn5e [https://tinyurl.com/yb4wxn5e]  Squarespace: https://tinyurl.com/damvttvp [https://tinyurl.com/damvttvp] Seesaw Press: https://seesaw-press.com/ [https://seesaw-press.com/]

How Authors Make Money

Hello! In this episode we’re talking about money: How writers make it, how payments are broken down, and how to deduct things for taxes.  Here are some of the authors, artists, and other things we brought up during the episode. Just a disclaimer - please do not take our word as fact. The publishing industry is always changing, and often we are talking about things we are remembering from a while ago or have heard from others. While the agent deep dive is always fact checked, we do not prep for these episodes or look up other information beforehand. It’s always important to do your own research! If we realize after the fact that we have gotten anything wrong, we will do our best to correct it in the show notes. Here are links to Joanna MacKenzie, the agent from our agency deep dive: https://nelsonagency.com/submission-guidelines/ [https://nelsonagency.com/submission-guidelines/]  https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/dealmakers/detail.cgi?s=all&sort=date&id=8799&p=2 [https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/dealmakers/detail.cgi?s=all&sort=date&id=8799&p=2] https://manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/joanna-mackenzie/ [https://manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/joanna-mackenzie/] Note: She had a link to the bird app too, but I’m not on it. Her IG is private.  Dots and Dashes, Suzanne’s latest book with Seesaw Press: https://tinyurl.com/yc3j5rsa [https://tinyurl.com/yc3j5rsa] This is the software I mentioned that I use to track my expenses for taxes: https://www.quicken.com/ [https://www.quicken.com/] This is the agent who was talking about romance genre crossover interest (if you want to query him, he specializes in horror, fantasy, scifi, and some romantacy): https://belllomaxmoreton.co.uk/agents/john-baker [https://belllomaxmoreton.co.uk/agents/john-baker] Some of the books we mentioned: The Lunar Chronicles: https://tinyurl.com/86n27j9r [https://tinyurl.com/86n27j9r] Heated Rivalry: https://tinyurl.com/bddkvj9b [https://tinyurl.com/bddkvj9b] Bridgerton: https://tinyurl.com/ye258tkn [https://tinyurl.com/ye258tkn] Yesteryear (the trad wife who wakes up in the 1800s) https://tinyurl.com/52xrbs4r [https://tinyurl.com/52xrbs4r]

Reads and Recs of 2025

Hello! In this episode we’re talking about reads and recs of 2025 - what we read this past year, what we loved, and what we’d recommend.  Here are some of the authors, artists, and other things we brought up during the episode. Just a disclaimer - please do not take our word as fact. The publishing industry is always changing, and often we are talking about things we are remembering from a while ago or have heard from others. While the agent deep dive is always fact checked, we do not prep for these episodes or look up other information beforehand. It’s always important to do your own research! If we realize after the fact that we have gotten anything wrong, we will do our best to correct it in the show notes. Here are the links for Laura Rennert, the agent from our agency deep dive: https://www.andreabrownlit.com/Team/laura-rennert [https://www.andreabrownlit.com/Team/laura-rennert] https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/LauraRennert/ [https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/LauraRennert/] https://www.instagram.com/ljrennert/ [https://www.instagram.com/ljrennert/] https://bsky.app/profile/ljrennert.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/ljrennert.bsky.social] Here are links to all the books we recommended! Roll Call: https://tinyurl.com/56vusne6 [https://tinyurl.com/56vusne6] Divine Rivals:  https://tinyurl.com/9naw8uyy [https://tinyurl.com/9naw8uyy] The Spellshop: https://tinyurl.com/5xry5mpv [https://tinyurl.com/5xry5mpv] The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich: https://tinyurl.com/5ay9vr8d [https://tinyurl.com/5ay9vr8d] A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping: https://tinyurl.com/yc7vsjjy [https://tinyurl.com/yc7vsjjy] The Wedding People: https://tinyurl.com/3ca8afrt [https://tinyurl.com/3ca8afrt] The Raven Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/4mzwbf85 [https://tinyurl.com/4mzwbf85] The Love of my Afterlife: https://tinyurl.com/2y8car4v [https://tinyurl.com/2y8car4v] Sabriel: https://tinyurl.com/3desw7c8 [https://tinyurl.com/3desw7c8] The House of my Mother: https://tinyurl.com/mrtpsybc [https://tinyurl.com/mrtpsybc]  An interview that goes over the study done of comparing audiobook reading to book or ebook reading: https://tinyurl.com/rjbjmdcw [https://tinyurl.com/rjbjmdcw]

Interview with Illustrator/Author Raissa Figueroa!

Hello! In this episode we’re interviewing Raissa Figueroa Raissa Figueroa is a self-taught artist of both digital and traditional media repped by Natascha Morris of Tobias Literary. She has illustrated nearly 30 books for publishing houses such as Viking Books for Young Readers, Harper Collins, Little Simon, and more. Her book series Oona not only earned out, but earned a glowing review from Kirkus and a starred review from the School Library Journal. She is a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner, and her work has twice been displayed at the Society of Illustrators show in New York. She loves hiking Southern California’s trails, boba, and hanging with her cat, Phoebe. Where to find Raissa: Website: https://rizzyfig.com/ [https://rizzyfig.com/] Order Raissa’s books here! https://rizzyfig.com/books [https://rizzyfig.com/books] Socials: https://www.tiktok.com/@raissafigueroa [https://www.tiktok.com/@raissafigueroa] https://www.instagram.com/rizzyfig/ [https://www.instagram.com/rizzyfig/] https://rizzyfig.substack.com/ [https://rizzyfig.substack.com/] Here are some of the authors, artists, and other things we brought up during the episode. Just a disclaimer - please do not take our word as fact. The publishing industry is always changing, and often we are talking about things we are remembering from a while ago or have heard from others. While the agent deep dive is always fact checked, we do not prep for these episodes or look up other information beforehand. It’s always important to do your own research! If we realize after the fact that we have gotten anything wrong, we will do our best to correct it in the show notes. Raissa’s recs: Marco Bucci 10 min to better painting videos: https://tinyurl.com/4zbvfj6a [https://tinyurl.com/4zbvfj6a] Iraville (watercolorist): https://www.instagram.com/iraville/ [https://www.instagram.com/iraville/] SVS learn: https://www.svslearn.com/ [https://www.svslearn.com/]Books: Framed Ink: https://tinyurl.com/yhje4m2x [https://tinyurl.com/yhje4m2x] Picture This: https://tinyurl.com/ptk9u5p3 [https://tinyurl.com/ptk9u5p3]