Write What You Know, featuring Betsy Lerner

This week we’re featuring longtime agent and publishing pro Betsy Lerner on her debut novel, Shred Sisters. We talk about being an industry insider and whether that gives you a leg up, as well as the old adage to write what you know. Betsy shares with us how her lived experience shows up in this book, noting that Freud would have a field day—and before it’s all over, she offers generous and tactical marketing tips for authors. This episode has got it all!

On this week’s Substackin, we’re giving a shoutout to Sub Club, which you can and should subscribe to here. Sub Club offers many great resources for writers—on where to submit, who’s looking for submissions, and best practices for getting your work out into the world. Highly recommended resource for writers!

ABOUT BETSY LERNER

Betsy Lerner is the author of the popular advice book to writers, The Forest for the Trees, and the memoirs Food and Loathing and The Bridge Ladies. She is the co-writer with Temple Grandin on the New York Times Bestseller Visual Thinking. Lerner received an MFA from Columbia University in Poetry. A publishing professional for more than thirty years, Betsy is a literary agent in New York. Shred Sisters is her first novel.