Episode 138 – Sara Bennett Wealer – Connecting with YA Readers

The Make Meaning Podcast

When your mother is an English teacher and your favorite TV show is Masterpiece Theater on PBS, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll take to writing creative, compelling, fantastical stories that captivate readers. “Writing was something I knew I could do,” says Sara Bennett Wealer, the latest author to share her story on the Make Meaning Podcast.

In this episode, host Lynne Golodner interviews Sara Bennett Wealer about how to make a living as a writer, how to earn money writing books and how they are not often the same thing. Sara discusses the importance of the author hustle to keep enough books in the pipeline so readers will keep returning to your words, and what to do when your first book goes nowhere.

In this episode, Lynne and Sara discuss:

• What to do when your first agent is a “hot mess”
• What it’s like when you finally click with an agent (shout-out to Holly Root and Root Literary!)
• Getting over publishing heartbreaks
• What to do when your books don’t sell
• The importance of a tight time frame and compelling conflict
• Book tours
• How to market your books & your author brand
• How publishing is a long game

Links and Resources:

• Books Forward
• Grave Things Like Love
• Rival
• Now & When
• Plotter or Pantser
• Harper Teen
• Rush
• Bloomsbury Spark

Find Sara Bennett Wealer:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll like these other Make Meaning Podcast episodes:

• Episode 128 – Becky Robinson – Building Reach for Books
• Episode 117 – Steven Wingate – How to Find Your Voice Again & Again
• Episode 103 – Katie Yamasaki – How to Create a Mural That Represents a Community
• Episode 87 – Rasheda Kamaria Williams – How to Emerge Stronger After Being Bullied
• Episode 84 – Andrew Meloche – How to Make Every Student in a High School Feel Special & Noticed