[00:00:01.130] – Rachel Thompson

Welcome, Luminous Writers, to the Write, Publish, and Shine podcast. I am your host, author and literary magazine editor, Rachel Thompson. This podcast explores how to write and share your brilliant writing with the World. In each episode, we delve into specifics on how to polish and prepare your writing for publication and the journey from emerging writer to published author. Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe This is the 100th episode of this podcast. I have had so much joy and delight in each of the conversations and episodes I’ve been able to share with you in the process of talking to folks and the topics we’ve been able to explore on how to write, publish, and shine and in the writers who listen to each episode and share with me about what they gleaned or the little ways that we did encourage them to keep going. By the way, it’s taken [00:01:01.210] a while since the start. We just reached 100 episodes after seven years, so it took a while. I think we’re going at a slightly quicker pace now, so probably the next 100 will be a little faster coming. But this episode is a moment to reflect on what the podcast has been and where it’s going.

[00:01:22.810] – Rachel Thompson

Podcast listeners share how the podcast helped them write, publish, and shine. And dear writers, these voice memos and notes touched me so much and surprised me, too, that things writers took away from listening were often beautiful reminders of the conversations we’ve had and really started here and then extended into the work we do together in my writing course community. They’ve also really touched me because I feel like they’re cool little how-to notes as well, too. It’s like, Oh, you can listen to this episode and think about this and go this way with your writing. I hope you enjoy this listener feedback episode, the 100th episode of the Write, Publish, and Shine podcast.

[00:02:07.190] – Wendy Weil Atwell

Hi, this is Wendy Weil-Atwell. I write non-fiction and most recently published an article about Kelly O’Connor’s Art in Oxford, America. I started listening to the podcast because I enjoy Rachel’s writing community. The first episode I listened to was number 42, Rowan McCandless and How to Create a Writing Community. One of my favorite things about the podcast is getting to hear editors from literary magazines explain what they’re looking for in writing.

[00:02:38.320] – Rachel Thompson

I loved that episode that Wendy mentions the episode with Rowen McCandless, a wonderful writer who has been a vital part of my writing community for many years now. Many listeners, like Wendy, shared how listening to what editors want and getting that front-row seat to exactly what they see working and not working in submissions has been a highlight for them as listeners and writers listening to the podcast. The podcast if you’ve been listening for a long time, if you’re an Ogie listener, you would know that the podcast started as Lip Mag Love and sprung out of my course by the same name. So we’ve had many editors on, talking about that love and sharing how to publish with their journals. Here’s another voice memo.

[00:03:22.480] – Jennifer Robinson

Hello, this is Jennifer Robinson. I write creative non-conviction, and I most recently published Little Packages in River Keith’s Beautiful Things column. I started listening to the podcast because my friend Lena Lau mentioned it, and she talked about how it helped her learn the culture of litmags and how to submit, and it seemed like it really helped her to get published. And so I wanted to get published as well. So, I listened to the podcast. It was a really nice time in my life. When I look back, I would go for a run in the mornings, get a coffee, and then just walk around listening to the podcast. And I did that almost every day until I had listened to all of them. My favourite guest, I think, was probably Pamela Malloy from the New Quarterly. She talked about and validated and gave credence to the idea of going slow or being slow. And that’s something that I felt at the time I really needed permission for. [00:04:22.790] I think that’s a really important part of my process. And just the way I work in general, I think I’m a slow person. And I need that to be okay, and I need that to work for me.

[00:04:34.810] – Jennifer Robinson

She said, I confess to being a slow thinker, a ruminator. I’m the one who thinks about it and has the idea after everybody has left the table. And she also said, “Quiet stories are the ones I’m often drawn to.” And I just really related to that. She also talked about the importance of community and investing in the writers that The New Quarterly publishes. And so I just felt like a warm welcome from her; even though I’ve still not published anything with The New Quarterly, I’ll still keep submitting. That’s the culture and community that I’m looking to be a part of in my writing life.

[00:05:11.500] – Rachel Thompson

I love Jen’s takeaway of permission from Pamela Malloy of TNQ to be slow and to take her time. There’s so much rushing and pushing, right? I remember another guest on my podcast, Wendy Lesser of ThreePenny Review, who told me when we spoke, I think there’s too much pushing moving forward in a way that is not motivated by pleasure, that is motivated or shaped by ambition or greed or some sense that people have what they should want. I take from that and from Jen’s takeaway, too, is that she found a speed that she’s happy with, and that’s what she wants from her writing life, and a writing life that gets her pleasure and lets her be published and read still, but at her own pace. She’s publishing and shining, and even though she hasn’t yet published with T&Q, she gets to keep that as a goal that will happen when it happens. My fingers are crossed for her. Agata Antonow wrote me a note about [00:06:11.760] a case where she listened to an episode that featured an editor and then did place a piece inspired by that conversation. This is what she told me in her note.

[00:06:22.480] – Rachel Thompson

I remember the first time I heard the Write, Publish, and Shine podcast. It was the episode with Téa Prieto of The Gravity of the Thing. I remember I had the podcast on in the background while I was puttering around doing something else. As Téa spoke about using nontraditional structures, I suddenly had an idea for a piece structured like a recipe. That fictional short was published in the Gravity of the Things: Strange Writing Anthology and was nominated for an award. Although, Agata puts as an aside, I didn’t win that competition. She finishes, but that still stands out as a podcast episode for me. Wow. Of course it does because she just went directly from being inspired to write something after listening to an editor and then going on to publish in the anthology of the same publication that the editor works at. I’m really thrilled that this happened for her. Agata, by the way, has gone on to publish many brilliant stories, including the recent publication, [00:07:23.130] Three Beats for the Broken Hearted with Eunoia Review. Thank you so much for sharing that note with me.

[00:07:29.530] – Laurel Parry

Hello. This is Laurel Perry. I write creative non-fiction and fiction, and most recently published in 5 Minute Lit. I started listening to the podcast because it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. The first podcast I heard was number 13, Lift Up Women’s Stories with Cierra Skye-Gemma. In that podcast, Cierra says, To me, a very intimate piece of memoir that could in no way be fact-checked was just as valid as a piece of Investigative Journalism. That quote and other things she mentioned really resonated with me at the time, and I still carry those messages today. I agree with Cierra. The very best memoir, in my opinion, is a memoir where it is interior thoughts, where the stage is quite small, but the emotions and the tensions and the risks are really high. Over the years, I’ve been trying to [00:08:29.640] craft my work, and this podcast has really been helpful to me all along the way. And I just want to say congratulations, Rachel, on your 100th podcast. And I should also share that later on, six months after I listened to that first podcast, another friend suggested that I enroll in Lit Mag Love, which I did.

[00:08:51.950] – Laurel Parry

And it wasn’t until I was well along that I realized that Rachel was responsible for both the podcast and this wonderful course of LitMeg love. So congratulations. And here’s to all of us who continue to get such great inspiration from Rachel and all your wonderful and generous guests.

[00:09:11.420] – Rachel Thompson

I love Laurel’s takeaway from that conversation with Sierra Sky Jemma, that interior thoughts, where the stage is quite small, as Laurel beautifully put it, are not only valid, but really exciting to her as a reader and writer, and I agree with her. Those are very exciting to me as well. Sierra S sky, Gemma, by the way, was one of many of my colleagues at Room magazine to appear on the podcast. Roomies, as our collective has been affectionately called for decades, supported the podcast so much. In fact, there wouldn’t be this podcast without Room. My first sound editor was Micah Lemesky, then a collective member, and then publisher, Megan Bell, helped green light the whole project. I’ve loved speaking with other past and present roomies over the years on the podcast, including Yonina Kerton, Micah Kiljoy, Geffen Samak, Shaline Knight, Nara Monteiro, Ellen Chang-Richardson, Jessica Johns, about our craft. It [00:10:11.600] isn’t often when we’re working on the magazine that we get to pause and reflect on exactly what we’re doing and why. So I valued that a lot. In my most recent episode, episode 99, I talked about some of my favorite gleanings from my guests over the years.

[00:10:28.500] – Rachel Thompson

But hearing from everyone so far who’ve talked about editors who’ve touched them with their words and the listener notes that are coming up as well, has had me remembering more and more conversations. And every guest has really brought it to the conversation, sharing deep, caring insights for our listeners. So I’m really grateful. I mentioned the podcast name changed from Lip Mag Love to what’s today called the Write, Publish, and Shine podcast. And that was to allow more conversations about the journey from emerging writer to published author, so to give a little bit more breathing room to the topics that we cover. I’ve recently had writers in our community at various stages on to talk about their experiences and learning craft. One of those listeners/guests was Yoland House.

[00:11:19.320] – Yolande House

Hi, this is Yoland House. I write creative non-conviction, and I most recently published, Heart of Hearing: A Dyptych in Voices from the Fold: The Festival of Literary Diversities 2023 Conference program. I joined Rachael’s Lip Mag Love Course because I was struggling to submit to lip mags. Around that time, I had submitted to a bunch of lip mags but only received foreign rejections. I was so overwhelmed by the whole process of where to submit and just how to do everything. Then I saw Rachel’s course and I thought, I need that, and it was fantastic. Rachel taught us the process for figuring out which lip mags are a fit for our writing and so much more. My favorite learning on the podcast was actually when I was on the podcast. It was the writerly Book Club episode number 88 on K Tempest Book on Connection, and it was a wonderful experience. I had been on one podcast before that, [00:12:19.570] and it was not a good experience. Rachel’s podcast was a wonderful antidote to that. I really appreciated how Rachel shared her questions with in advance, and she stuck to them. She was so patient through the process of recording, and she did a fantastic job of editing our discussion.

[00:12:38.970] – Yolande House

I really enjoy talking about a book I loved, and I’m really proud of the resulting episode that we put out. I also love how thoughtful and intentional Rachel is about everything, both her courses and podcasts alike.

[00:12:53.470] – Rachel Thompson

Thank you, Yoland, for co-creating that episode with me through your engagement in the craft conversation we had. This was episode 88 and recently replayed, so it’s easy to find in my podcast feed. I’m really happy that she had that experience. Earlier this year, I shared that I didn’t reach this standard for one guest, but I do aim to be intentional in all I do, but it’s an imperfect practice. I feel like it’s important to mention that when it comes to writing about the imperfection of all of the practices that I myself do around the writing. I think it’s something that I really care about when it comes to writing, owning our stories imperfectly, which is also why I loved hearing from Terry about how that came across in her early listening of the podcast.

[00:13:38.880] – Teri Kinne

Hi, this is Terry Kinne. I write creative non-conviction, working on a memoir, and I’ve most recently published a theater review for the Hollywood Times magazine. It’s our local publication. And though that was journalistic, I put a heavy narrative slant on it because I am a storyteller. I started listening to Write, Publish, Shine podcast way back in 2016, when I was really deep diving into the craft of writing and wanting to hone my skills and get better, more professional, deeper, and shine, as she says. What I stayed for, what I really like about it, is that the podcast and what Rachel and the editors that she interviews communicate was respect for other writers, for other cultures, other abilities, [00:14:39.070] and a very open and generous view. I was very attracted to that I like the message of writing responsibly and with respect. So I’m still listening to the podcast. I’ve since joined the community, and I’m pretty involved in Rachel Thompson’s workshop I had to wait quite a while. I was on the waitlist to join the online platform and community, but I’m very involved, and I appreciate it and appreciate her.

[00:15:12.190] – Rachel Thompson

Thank you so much, Terry, for being in our community and for your openness and care in our community, too. Heidi Grogan recently shared a lovely note with me about this 100th episode, starting with mentioning that this is a huge deal, and I agree, doing things slowly in my own time and own way with so much support from our community. I’m a little surprised at times to be here, and I hope we get to keep going for at least 100 more. But here’s what Heidi shared in her note. I started listening because I attended a workshop you offered on Lyric Writing. I wanted more of this quality of content and googled your site. She emailed me to ask where she could get more of this learning. Heidi went on to say, I was blown away by the breadth of craft and writing life topics and by the level of guests interviewed, Heidi wrote, The podcast that gave me that more, I thought, was 66: Empathy for Objects in your Writing with Lindal Cain. As for favorites, I could [00:16:12.250] write a long list about gems that filled the pages of my notebooks. Many were from podcasts connected to the Lip Mag Love course.

[00:16:19.400] – Rachel Thompson

The guests were incredibly generous with insights, and I couldn’t write fast enough. I have a way better understanding of how things work behind the Lip Mag scene and how to engage editors in ways align with their process and begin to build, potentially and hopefully, mutually beneficial relationships. My most recent fave is 73 Agency and Finding an Agent with Lacey Young. She also gave a shout out to Mellie Walker, who’s been supporting me producing several of the episodes in the past few years. So thank you so much for that note, Heidi. I love from that that Heidi got so much out of Lindal Caine’s excellent approach to Objects in Writing, which again is episode and Lacey Young on Finding an Agent, episode 73, both of whom are community members and were part of that shift from only speaking with editors to then also broadening out to connecting with writers who shared what they do in their practice of writing and getting published. Finally, I want to share a [00:17:19.590] note from Tamara Jung, who was my very first student in the Lip Mag Love course and who is working on her forthcoming memoir right now. Yay. Over the time I’ve been offering the course and podcast, she’s been working at her own pace towards this amazing accomplishment.

[00:17:38.060] – Rachel Thompson

I love this parallel that we’ve been working in these two tracks at the same time. Here’s Tamara.

[00:17:45.400] – Tamara Jong

My name is Tamara Jong. My pronouns are she and her. I am a mixed-race writer of Chinese and Scottish ancestry and a longtime fan girl and member of Rachel Thompson’s Lip Mag Love community. I write non-fiction, children’s books, and I am a comics artist. I’m hard at work on book edits for my memoir that is coming out in 2025 with Bookhuck. I joined Rachel Thompson’s Lip Mag community, and to be honest, a lot of fantastic things happened to me later. I started listening to Rachel’s podcast because I was fortunate to be there from the beginning as a beta writer, and also I am a long-time listener. I will often listen to the podcast over and over again, trying to glean a little bit of wisdom when I need some inspiration, but also when I don’t, and I really enjoy it. The reason I was attracted to Rachel’s Lip Mag was because I had gotten rejected from an MFA program. And I was a little deflated and crushed. I came upon a webinar that was done with Rachel and Doretla Lau, and it was called 10 Years of Not Giving Up: How to Keep your Writing Life Alive.

[00:18:43.520] – Tamara Jong

It gave me hope and perspective, and I decided to sign up. I started writing again. I applied to the writer’s studio. There’s been a lot of great things, as I mentioned, that happened after that. And also, I still received rejections, but I started to frame them a little bit differently. I learned a lot from the Lip Mag Love course, and I really recommend it. Cover letters were something that I hadn’t really thought about, but it helped me make better ones. I’m consistently encouraged by Rachel’s podcast and emails, and I would say some standouts. There is so many to choose, to be honest, and it’s really hard for me. But the most recent one, I really did enjoy with Set Shooting, where they talked about there is something about exploring your own story and trying to connect it to a great story. Since I write non-conviction, of course, like I said, I connect to many of the episodes, but there’s always something to pick up. I love how all the episodes and the interviews are very easy, and it doesn’t sound formulaic. I especially learned a lot from Rachel’s interviews with many of the [00:19:43.640] editors, from many of the Lip Mags that I wish to submit to, and even the ones that I didn’t.

[00:19:47.890] – Tamara Jong

I just really enjoyed hearing conversations about writing. I’m also super grateful for the Lip Mag love community. There are so many, and my list is growing, and I’m not sad about it. There’s Heggie, Mellie, Rowan, Shirley, Sharon, Lindal, Kimberly, Lacy, Ellen, Yoland, Maradula, AL. There’s so many of you. And Rachel, I love you all. I really believe that writing is about persistence and pursuing what you love, supporting, giving back, and being kind. And also for me, majorly, it was about community. I encourage you to find it, find the people who get you, whether they’re your editors, readers, your co-writers, work with them, being community with them. Again, like I said, I know I wouldn’t be there without them. In whatever shape or form, everyone has inspired me so much and saved me and continues to inspire me. Thank you, Rachel, for everything that you’ve done for me in my writing. I am forever grateful for you. Congratulations on your 100th. Well done.

[00:20:45.410] – Speaker 2

Tamara, thank you so much for believing in me way back when this was all an idea. Thank you for your vital presence in our community, and thank you to everyone who shared a voice memo or a note with me for this As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, this podcast sprung out of my Lip Mag Love course, which still happens at least once, usually twice per year. Here’s a recent alum, Shantelle Powell.

[00:21:12.140] – Shantell Powell

Hi, I’m Shantelle Powell. I write a lot of things, fiction, poetry, and creative non-conviction, but I tend towards writing speculative fiction, horror, and indigenous futurism. My most recent publication is the poem Exile of Nulia Yuk, in the Heredity Issue of Non -Binary Review. I I learned Rachel’s Lit Mag Love course because I wanted to familiarize myself with the ins and outs of getting published in literary magazines and anthologies. My favorite thing about the course has been learning what to do and what not to do when sending works off for publication. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve had a dozen publications so far this year with more to come.

[00:21:50.430] – Rachel Thompson

Lit Mag Love is still my signature course, and we’ll start again in September as of this recording. If you’re interested in enrolling, you can learn more about it at rachelthompson. Co/lipmaglove. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who sent in notes and voice memos about the podcast. A special thanks because this month can be rather extra as we head into summer, and people would rather be outside than recording voice memos in their closets, I’m sure. So thank you for that. And thanks also to the folks who I asked and couldn’t do it this time. A warm no is also a beautiful thing. I love those boundaries, and I’m working on boundaries all the time myself. So it’s because of listeners like you, yes, the person you listening to this now, that I can keep doing this podcast, and I’m really grateful for that. Thank you for sharing your time and attention to what I and my guests have to say about writing. I plan to take a break over summer now, [00:22:50.660] but I will come back with new episodes in the autumn, in the Northern hemisphere autumn. Some of our listeners are not in the Northern hemisphere, so that’s It’s a different season for you.

[00:23:01.710] – Rachel Thompson

I think that’s the spring. But September-esque, you can expect new episodes. Coming up in that next season, you can expect more conversations about specific craft genres, something I promised early this year in 2024, but we’ve done just one somehow. It was really lovely with Lena Lau and we talked about flash, but I promised more this year. So that will be corrected, and more will come. I’ll also bring in more interviews with editors and behind the scenes on Lip Mags because I heard from so many, including several of the listeners today, about how valuable those conversations have been. Agatha had an epiphany during an editor conversation, wrote a piece, and then published with that editor. I really think we got to have more enlightening editor conversations for sure on the podcast. Thank you also to Mellie Walker, who has helped me produce episodes for the past few years, to Diya Jeffrey, who creates our transcripts. And [00:24:01.720] Gultas, Said and Ectegar have also helped with this in the past. So, thank you both as well for being part of the podcast. I mentioned Maicah Lemisky, who was the first editor for the podcast. So thank you, Maicah.

[00:24:13.110] – Rachel Thompson

And huge thank you now to Adam Linder for the very attentive sound editing that you do for each episode. When Yolanne mentioned how thoughtful the editing was done for the episode that we recorded together, I want to correct that that’s not me. This is Adam’s brilliance at work. So thank you all for everyone who’s been part of the team over the years and currently are part of our team. You can learn more about the work I do to help writers write Publish and Shine at rachelthompson.co. When you’re there, sign up for my writerly love letters every week and filled with support for your writing practice. If any of my 100 episodes encouraged you to write, publish, and shine, I would love to hear all about it. You can always email me at hello@racheltompson. Co. And tell other luminous writers about this episode. You can do this by sending them to the podcast at rachelthompson.co/podcast or suggest that they search for Write, Publish, and Shine wherever they get their podcasts. Thank you for [00:25:13.300] listening. I encourage you to keep at something for a while. Maybe it’ll take you a number of years to get to 100.

[00:25:21.520] – Rachel Thompson

You may be a bit slower like I have been with this podcast, but you’re going to do it in your own time and own way and keep going. I’m recording this podcast episode in the South Sinai, Egypt, on lands historically and presently inhabited by the El Muzzina Bedouin. I support a free Palestine, and I really hope to see this in our lifetimes..