The Writer’s Cookbook is almost seven years old. It’s practically a pensioner in website terms.

It’s grown and changed since it was created in July 2014, as have I.

I created it after finishing my MA in Creative Writing, in the summer of 2014.

One of my favourite parts of studying for that MA was my return to student radio. In total, I hosted student radio shows for three years.

My co-presenters and I even won an award for ‘Show With Best Entertainment Value’.

In that show, we played our favourite guilty pleasure songs, and talked about pop culture. It was a fun way to unwind, and listeners agreed.

This time, though, we won’t be unwinding.

We’ll be working.

Working 9 to 5…or not

The Writer’s Cookbook podcast is here to help you build the skills and mindset you need to succeed in the modern writing world.

We’re not here to sugarcoat it, or pat you on the back. We’re here to tell it like it is.

You’ll end each episode feeling uplifted, inspired, and motivated to get your writing done. And get closer to waving goodbye to your day job.

For three weeks each month, we’ll tackle a different writing-related problem.

Then, on the last Thursday of every month, we’ll do a deep-dive into an inspiring female writer.

The first person we’re covering is Charlotte Perkins Gilman, whose short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, helped to change the way post-natal depression was treated over 100 years ago.

Your hosts

The podcast will be hosted by me (Kristina Adams), and my wonderful friend Ellie Betts.

Ellie has been writing for years, but didn’t fully commit to her writing until a couple of years ago.

Since then, she’s written many blog posts for The Writer’s Cookbook, helped me teach online workshops, and started studying for an MA in Creative Writing. (The same one I did that led to the creation of this very site.)

Ellie will be your guide, asking questions to solve the writing problem of the week.

Behind the scenes

The podcast is hosted on Red Circle.

We chose this for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it’s a new business with a different model to other podcast hosts, so we want to support it.

Secondly, they don’t charge for podcast hosting.

Instead, they take a percentage of donations when someone supports the podcast.

(You can donate to The Writer’s Cookbook podcast here.)

They also connect podcasters with advertisers, helping both to reach wider audiences.

Subscribe

Our podcast trailer is available to listen to on most platforms, meaning you can subscribe now!

We’ll also be publishing on YouTube, so you can watch us chitchat and look out for Millie and Frankie cameos.

Where to listen/subscribe

How you can support the podcast

Subscribe

A podcast’s success is measured by how many subscribers it has.

By subscribing on the platform of your choice, you help to show your support to the podcast, meaning places like Apple and Spotify will recommend it to more people looking to improve their writing.

We also need 100 YouTube subscribers to get a custom URL! Which means we really need your help to get there (even if you listen on another platform!).

Spread the word

As mentioned above, the more people who listen, the more people our podcast will get recommended to.

So, if you can spread the word and listen, it’s doubly helpful.

Donations

Creating a podcast takes time. Each episode takes roughly half a day to produce when you factor in planning, recording, transcribing, editing, and publishing.

Showing your support with donations pays for mine and Ellie’s time to create this content for you.

You can send one-off donations, or set up a recurring donation. If we get enough recurring donations, we’ll look at creating some subscriber-only content, too.

(A weekly writing Q&A, for example.)

You can donate to the podcast here.

You don’t have to donate to listen in, but donating is a way to show support to your favourite content creators and keep them doing what they love.

And of course, it enables creators like us to do more of what we—and you—love.

Review

Much like in the literary world, reviews make the podcast world go round.

They help to increase a podcast’s rankings, introducing it to more people, and helping those people decide if they should give the podcast a listen or not.

Even just a few words and 5* makes a huge difference.

Over to You

See you on 7 January!

Did I mention we’ll be launching with our first four episodes? 😉

TTFN!