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Want to Write a Graphic Novel? A First Second Editor Explains
Your graphic novel isn't a novel. It's a screenplay, and editors can tell from page one whether you know the difference. First Second Books editor Ivan Taurisano explains how to write and submit a graphic novel script that gets read. Kids ages 8 to 12 head straight for the graphic novel shelf, and prose writers are trying to follow them there. But Ivan says a submission that misses the format doesn't just earn a "not for me." It can earn a "don't send me your next one." Here's what he wants y...
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29
Sept. 28, 2026
Want to Write a Graphic Novel? A First Second Editor Explains
Your graphic novel isn't a novel. It's a screenplay, and editors can tell from page one whether you know the difference. First Second Books editor Ivan Taurisano explains how to write and submit a graphic novel script that gets read. Kids ages 8 to 12 head straight for the graphic novel shelf, and prose writers are trying to follow them there. But Ivan says a submission that misses the format doesn't just earn a "not for me." It can earn a "don't send me your next one." Here's what he wants y...
28
Sept. 21, 2026
150+ Episodes of Publishing Advice, Now in One Book
We just turned 150+ episodes of hard-won publishing wisdom into one book — and it's finally here. Write, Revise, Publish: Essential Lessons from the Writers With Wrinkles Podcast is up for pre-order now, and today Beth and Lisa are pulling back the curtain on why they wrote it, what's inside, and how it can save you from making the same missteps they did. If you've ever finished a podcast episode thinking "that's such a good tip" — and then completely forgotten it by the next day — this book ...
27
Sept. 14, 2026
Why Middle Grade Books Got Too Long For Kids To Read
Harry Potter didn't just create a fantasy phenomenon — according to one Big Five editor, it quietly helped break middle grade publishing. Every book that tried to chase that success got longer, older, and harder for actual kids to read, and now imprints are shutting down because of it. In this encore episode, literary agent, bestselling children's author, and founder of At-Home Author Vicki Weber breaks down what's really happening in publishing right now — the layoffs, the imprint closures, ...
26
Aug. 31, 2026
An Acquiring Editor Reveals What She's Buying Right Now
Most rejected picture book and middle grade manuscripts aren't turned down because they're bad — they're turned down because an editor has already seen five just like them. Susan Marston, the new editorial director of Albatros Books' US expansion (and former 25-year editorial director of the Junior Library Guild), joins us to lay out exactly what's landing on her acquisitions list right now — and what's already been done to death. We talk about why Albatros — the largest publisher in the Czec...
25
Aug. 26, 2026
AI Stole Our Books. Now We're the Suspects
AI companies are shredding rare books to train their models—and now authors are the ones being told to prove they didn't use AI to write their own. Beth and Lisa unpack the double standard rocking publishing right now. From a debut novelist's multi million dollar book deal getting pulled over AI suspicion, to writers being told to reinsert typos and kill their em dashes just to "prove" they're human, the burden of proof has landed on exactly the wrong people. Beth and Lisa dig into who gets acc
Aug. 17, 2026
The 4 First-Page Mistakes That Get You Rejected Fast, with editor Joel Brigham
Your opening pages have about 30 seconds to keep a literary agent reading — and most manuscripts lose that fight before the first paragraph ends. Developmental editor Joel Brigham returns to unpack exactly what makes an agent stop reading (and what makes them keep going): the four ingredients — tension, suspense, mystery, and unfairness — that hook a reader in the first few pages. He breaks down why agents almost universally reject prologues, the two-highlighter trick for catching your own in
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Sept. 28, 2026
What a Graphic Novel Editor Wants You to Know Before You Write One
Watch kids in a bookstore and you'll see where they go first: straight to the graphic novels. Lisa says she could be standing there holding her own book and they'd walk right past her to grab the latest Investigators. No wonder so many prose writers…
Sept. 21, 2026
We Wrote the Book We Wish We'd Had: Introducing Write, Revise, Publish
If you've been listening to Writers With Wrinkles for a while, you already know the drill: every episode, Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmidt sit down with an agent, editor, or fellow author and walk away with another nugget of hard-won publishing wisdom…
Sept. 14, 2026
Why Middle Grade Books Got Too Long For Kids To Read (Encore with Vicki Weber)
A few weeks ago, three pieces of publishing news landed in quick succession: Roaring Brook shut down, Dial Books for Young Readers closed, and Simon & Schuster laid off editors across nearly every imprint. For literary agent Vicki Weber, it was the …
About the Hosts
Beth McMullen
Author
Beth McMullen is the author of the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series , the Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter series, and The Secret of the Storm series (Aladdin/S&S).
She is also the author of the Spy Mom series (Hyperion).
Beth lives in Northern California with her husband, kids, and very grumpy cats. She's obsessed with podcasts and might give up writing in order to have more time to listen. Could happen.
