Pencils&Lipstick podcast

Joan Schoettler has surrounded herself with children’s literature, sharing it with her sons when they were young, inviting children she taught to step into the world of stories, and teaching children’s literature at California State University in Fresno. In addition to spending time with family and friends, she enjoys reading, gardening, and traveling. Joan lives with her husband in central California. Visit her onlin...

Hannah grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia but wound up in South Jersey after falling in love with her complete opposite. She's got all the degrees of a "serious" fiction writer but only smiles when she's writing romance.

She lives with her husband and two daughters in a picturesque town outside of Philadelphia where she enjoys reading in all genres, especially the spicy ones, and confusing people with her half-...

Get signed up for the Book Sales School Summit here: https://katcaldwell.com/booksalessummit2025

If you're a fiction teacher or coach you might be interested in the Fiction Teachers Summit. Sign up here:https://katcaldwell.com/fiction-teachers-summit

Rhonda Douglas is starting her Book Finishers Bootcamp July 18th. It's a ver good way to get ahead in your writing this summer: https://katcaldwell.com/book-finishers

We're talki...

Page Turner Awards is an inclusive writing and book awards with one goal – to change the lives of as many writers as possible. The team at Page Turner Awards passionately believes that talented writers can be from any background, age, race, religion, or interest. To find out more and enter the awards go to  https://bit.ly/Kat-Caldwell-2025 If you decide to enter use the discount code: 25KATCALDWELL10 And let me k...

Esther thought of herself as a reluctant reader until she read John Irving’s, The World According to Garp in her teens. From that day on, she discovered that she loves books! These days, she mostly listens to audiobooks.

Esther’s writing career grew from the stories she told her children. Book after book poured out of her as she began to put the words down on paper. She also shares her deep knowledge of storytelling, ...

This week I'm so excited to bring an interview with Spoken to you! They are truly changing the audiobook industry and I want you to be part of it! I've always wanted to have audiobooks, but it's been so far out of reach due to price for me, but not any more! Spoken Studio is the first purpose-built workflow empowering authors breaking the sound barrier. Spoken deeply analyzes each work and character to surface, or des...

Today I'm talking with Melissa Burnham from Embers Igniting. Melissa is a writer herself and sees editing as a partnership, walking beside writers through the editing process, encouraging growth while respecting their unique style and explaining the “why” behind her suggestions.

Melissa is offering a 2000 word sample edit for Pencils&Lipstick listeners. Just mention the podcast in the contact form at: https://www.ember...

This week I am talking with author Nancy Christie. She got her start in journalism and has written nonfiction, short stories and novels. Nancy's fiction and nonfiction books explore the subject of change — the challenges in transitioning (physically or emotionally) from one place to another, the sense of loss that develops when the landscape of life undergoes a metaphorical shift and the importance of finding the strength ...

Today I'm talking with Greg Keogh from Curios. Curios is a self publishing platform for digital content that puts the creator and their audience first. On Curios the creator of the content keeps 100% of any revenue they earn. Additionally, with the audience's permission, creators can access their fans' contact information, and any IP stays with the creator. As a reader, you can also use Curios to support your favorite ...

Launch My Book, Inc. was founded in 2013 by Joel Pitney. A writer by training with a background in digital marketing, he helped launch his first book onto the New York Times Bestseller list, and soon began working with a wide range of authors to help bring their books to the world. Since then, Launch My Book has grown in scope to help support authors through every stage of the book launching process.

Check them ou...

Today we are talking all about blurbs! After this episode I'm betting you'll feel more confident in your abilities to understand them, as well as write them. Let's go!!

Jessie Cunniffe is a professional blurb writer and book blurb coach from Sydney, Australia. A passionate advocate of the indie author community, Jessie has dedicated herself to taking the pain out of blurb-writing with her custom blurb services and two signa...

Want to be an ARC reader for my historical romance? Click and share the link: https://katcaldwell.com/ARC-historical-romance

Check out curios.com, Check out Manuscript Report https://katcaldwell.com/manuscript-report and use code KAT5 for $5 off.

Like Substack? Find me at Lessons In Story. https://lessonsinstory.substack.com Sign up for my writers' newsletter to learn more about the craft of writing, know when my workshops a...

Rebecca Pickens is a certified book coach, editor, and host of Self-Editing Essentials, a group coaching program for writers with finished or almost finished manuscripts, who want to learn more about the editing process. She works with writers at all stages of the creative journey to help them start, finish, and get their stories into the hands of their ideal readers. Find out more about Rebecca and sign up for her newslet...

Lynn Bohart is a mystery writer that probably has the BEST author newsletter for crime and mystery writers that exists, but she has switched to YA. Why? Let's find out in this episode!

Get her latest book, Case of the Missing Will: A Teen Mystery Adventure, here: https://www.lynnbohart-author.com/books

Find out more about Lynn and sign up for her amazing newsletter here: https://www.lynnbohart-author.com/

Like Substack? Find ...

We are talking about email, newsletters and email marketing today. And we're starting with the basics. My course with more details is here:https://writeyourstory.thrivecart.com/start-your-author-newsletter

All of the companies I name in the episode are linked below. A few are affiliate links.

Mailerlite (affiliate) https://katcaldwell.com/mailerlite

Send Fox: https://sendfox.com

Mailchimp: https://mailchimp.com

Kit: https://ki...

Let's review the key scenes that each novel needs and how to get started on writing a novel.

Like Substack? Find me at Lessons In Story. https://lessonsinstory.substack.com

Sign up for my writers' newsletter to learn more about the craft of writing, know when my workshops are and be the first to get exclusive information on my writing retreats. https://katcaldwell.com/writers-newsletter

Want more information on my books...

Today I'm chatting with C.C. Tyler about the misconceptions of an "almost perfect" draft, another way to look at getting feedback and her unique approach to editing that was inspired by her collegiate swimming years. You aren't going to want to miss this!

You can find out more about C.C. Tyler, her books and her coaching, at https://www.authorcctyler.com.

Sign up for my writers' newsletter to learn more about the craft...

Roland Denzel is bringing his health and habits coaching expertise to his writing and his teaching us how we can too! we chat about the Pomodoro effect, the REVERSE Pomodoro effect, Brain Fog and more. Is Writing Block read? Come find out!

You can find out more about Roland, get on his newsletter and be part of his ARC team for The Author Brain here: https://indestructibleauthor.com/

Get the prequel, Bended Dream, here:...