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Send us Fan Mail Hosts Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmidt cut through the noise of book marketing advice to spotlight what genuinely moves books: word of mouth. Nearly half of readers (47–48%) choose books based on personal recommendations — outperforming social media, platforms, and AI discovery tools combined. Beth and Lisa share three low-cost, actionable strategies to spark that word of mouth before and after your launch. 3 Strategies to Spark Word of Mouth 1. Build a Street Team • &nb...
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Send us Fan Mail Hosts Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmidt cut through the noise of book marketing advice to spotlight what genuinely moves books: word of mouth. Nearly half of readers (47–48%) choose books based on personal recommendations — outperforming social media, platforms, and AI discovery tools…
Send us Fan Mail Joel Brigham runs Brigham Editorial (developmental edits, manuscript critiques, query help), teaches high school English in Illinois, and is an editor for RevPit — a community that gives away free developmental edits each spring. REVPIT • Free developmental editing contest — editor…
Send us Fan Mail Beth and Lisa talk with literary agent Nikki Carrero, from The Rights Factory, to break down the querying process from the agent’s side — what gets you noticed, what gets a pass, and how to make the most of The Call. Highlights• Nikki runs monthly pitch parties on Threads — current…
Send us Fan Mail We tackle a publishing debate, draw writing wisdom from Taylor Swift, and dig into one of the most common craft problems in fiction — weak stakes and missing tension. Plus a community book shout-out. THE HARDBACK DEBATE Beth shares a Guardian article arguing hardbacks are outdated …
Send us Fan Mail First Page Feedback: Charlotte's Hunt for Glory Beth and Lisa critique the opening page of a middle grade fantasy submission and pull out craft lessons for any writer working on those critical first pages. The Submission Charlotte's Hunt for Glory follows 12-year-old Charlotte thro…
Send us Fan Mail The One Where Nobody Ordered the Books | Beth McMullen & Lisa Schmid Lisa Schmid shares a cautionary tale from the Sacramento Book Festival, where a series of logistical failures turned what should have been an exciting milestone — her first book festival — into a comedy of err…
WRITERS WITH WRINKLES • SEASON 5, EPISODE 16Stop Making Videos Nobody Watches — Here's How Authors Actually Sell Books If you've ever spent hours crafting the perfect Instagram reel, posted it to near-silence, a…
Joel Brigham runs Brigham Editorial (developmental edits, manuscript critiques, query help), teaches high school English in Illinois, and is an editor for RevPit — a community that gives away free developmental edits each spring.REVPIT…
If you’ve ever stared at a rejection email wondering what you did wrong, this one’s for you. Literary agent Nikki Carrero of The Rights Factory joined Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid on Writers With Wrinkles to pull back the curtain on wha…
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.
