Writing a Novella Collection with Josh Malerman, NY Times Bestselling Author of Bird Box
Josh Malerman makes his second appearance on the show to talk about writing his new novella collection, Goblin. With this format, he’s been able to focus on exploring multiple tones and characterizing the setting itself through different characters while sticking to a central theme throughout the novellas. Malerman is a bestselling author who won international acclaim with his debut novel, Bird Box, which Netflix adapted into a film starring Sandra Bullock. In normal years, Josh also toured the country with his rock band, The High Strung. To preorder Goblin, follow the link below.
From Amazon.com:
Josh Malerman is an American author and also one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung, whose song “The Luck You Got” can be heard as the theme song to the Showtime show “Shameless.” His book Bird Box is also currently being filmed as a feature film starring Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich, and Sarah Paulson. Bird Box was also nominated for the Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the James Herbert Award. His books Black Mad Wheel and Goblin have also been nominated for Stoker Awards.
Whether you’re traditionally published or indie, writing a good book is only the first step in becoming a successful author. The days of just turning a manuscript into your editor and walking away are gone. If you want to succeed in today’s publishing world, you need to understand every aspect of the business – editing, formatting, marketing, contracts. It all starts with a good book, then the real work begins.
Join international bestselling author J.D. Barker and indie powerhouses, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, as they gain unique insight and valuable advice from the most prolific and accomplished authors in the business.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- What Clive Barker said about Goblin
- How to characterize your setting
- How different tones/perspective help add to a central theme
- Why Malerman works on one project at a time
- News on Amazon’s new Vella Program
Links:
J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/
J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/
Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/
Josh Malerman – https://joshmalerman.com/
Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas – https://mybook.to/Goblin
Story Rubric – http://storyrubric.com
Nonfic Rubric – http://nonficrubric.com
The Career Author Summit 2021 – https://thecareerauthor.com/summit2021/
Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.com/
Music by Nicorus – https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep
Voice Over by Rick Ganley – http://www.nhpr.com and recorded at Mill Pond Studio – http://www.millpondstudio.com
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/
*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.
Christopher Wills
3 years ago
Excitable show today. I love the idea of short stories or novellas based on one place. I can see a lot of possibilities, especially if it fits into Vella. One could create a place and a bunch of characters that readers might want to revisit. So a minor character in one story could become the lead in another; like the ‘Sin City’ movie story overlaps. Interesting.
It’s also refreshing to hear someone who has the courage of their convictions and doesn’t just follow the latest trend.
My main takeaway today is to keep writing. I’ve always had this idea from industry of continuous improvement (identify – plan – execute – review etc.) so I am continuously improving my writing and never throw anything away. One day my mountain range of discarded stories and ideas could be mined and electrum or amalgam could be found. And with my improving writing skills I might be able to extract the gold from them.
Great show today
J. Thorn
3 years ago
Thanks, Christopher. Josh embodies so many positive characteristics of a great writer and a great person. He’s one of my favorite people.