By Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner
Podcasting, much like book publishing, is a saturated space. Lots of people are doing it. The same question publishers ask of books—hasn’t this already been done before?—was the very one we mulled over when our podcast, “Write-Minded,” was just a seed of an idea. Our reservations were short-lived, however. We both work for organizations that champion the indie spirit—Brooke at She Writes and Grant at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The philosophy by which we both live is that anyone can write their story, and by extension, we figured, anyone can podcast. And why not us?
That said, we are two busy heads of organizations, so the notion that we could or would learn the ins and outs of podcasting not only didn’t appeal to us, it didn’t seem possible. Neither of us could take on the back-end of production and editing, or the administrative tasks that come with hosting a weekly podcast. Gratefully, we found BurstMarketing through one of Brooke’s colleagues, and it’s been a beautiful collaboration of nearly 90 episodes so far. And because all of us are in different parts of the country, using remote recording technology over the web has made it easier to schedule and record the show on a weekly basis.
“Write-Minded” is a weekly podcast where we talk about writing and also interview an author. Our goal from the start was consistency. We upload our episodes on Mondays with the hope that writers will tune in early in the week to get their “weekly dose of inspiration,” which is our tagline. We wanted to feature guests from all genres and all publishing paths. We are agnostic about publishing—we believe that what matters most is that a writer’s story find its readers—so we’ve done shows with authors who are traditionally published, hybrid published, and self-published; we’ve done shows with authors who’ve been published in more than one way (hybrid authors); we’ve done a couple shows with industry folks, too.
“Write-Minded” is a celebration of writing and writers. Our themes center around ideas we intend to be both helpful and inspiring. We’ve been humbled to have had so many generous authors join us, some of whom are writers we’ve long admired—such as Pico Iyer, Dani Shapiro, Tayari Jones, Kwame Alexander, Meg Wolitzer, Marissa Meyer, Daniel José
Older, and countless others. Our collaboration as co-hosts has been rewarding for us for many reasons. We support one another in finding the guests, sharing the workload, and also tapping into our different silos. Brooke’s connections and area of expertise lean toward literary writers and the craft of memoir. Grant’s lean toward commercial fiction and YA writers and the craft of fiction.
As co-hosts, we’ve been thrilled with the reception of “Write-Minded.” We also know we couldn’t do it without our incredible team. As heads of organizations, one thing we both know is how to stick to our strengths, and the value of not trying to brave big projects all alone. Since we launched the show in August of 2018, we’ve discovered that podcasting is a lot of work (surprise!), and its rewards are also abundant. She Writes and NaNoWriMo are community-driven organizations whose very existence is about supporting writers—to write and also not to write alone. We love that “Write-Minded” is an extension of this intention, and we are so grateful for all the ways in which the show continues to reach new listeners. We hope you, too, will check out the show, downloadable wherever you get your podcasts.
Here are a few of our listener testimonials.
Here’s a link to our show’s website. Enjoy!
Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She currently sits on the boards of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Bay Area Book Festival, and the National Association of Memoir Writers. She writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly. Find Brooke online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He is the author of Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, and also published a collection of 100-word stories, Fissures, two of which are included in The Best Small Fictions 2016. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and his essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. Find Grant online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
