Writer’s Digest Best Live Streams, Podcasts, and YouTube Channels 2024
Here are the top live streams, podcasts, and YouTube channels as identified in the 26th Annual 101 Best Websites from the May/June 2024 issue of Writer’s Digest.
A * means this is the website’s first appearance on the WD list. All listings within each category are alphabetically arranged.
1. Grammar Girl
QuickAndDirtyTips.com/grammar-girl
Grammar Girl is an award-winning writing and education podcast. Grammar Girl provides short, approachable tips to help improve your writing skills and aims to help its listeners discover a love of the English language.
2. Minorities in Publishing Podcast
Now in its 10th year, the “Minorities in Publishing” podcast hosted by editor and author Jennifer Baker features candid and thoughtful interviews about the state of “diversity (or lack thereof) in the book publishing industry.” Interviewees include those working in various positions at publishing houses and authors seeing things from the other side of the table.
3. Missing Pages With Bethanne Patrick
Podglomerate.com/shows/missing-pages
Across its two seasons, literary critic and publishing insider Bethanne Patrick investigates the power struggles, mistaken identities, and unfathomably bad behavior in the literary industry through discussions with authors, publishing insiders, and media experts. Topics range from copyright questions with fan fiction, the importance of fighting book bans, and the reality of book advances.
4. Print Run Podcast
Hosted by literary agents Laura Zats and Erik Hane, this podcast covers all the most current publishing happenings writers need to know about, from strikes to trends to the subjectivity involved in literary awards. Visit their Patreon for details about their office hours and special episodes, which are open to anyone for a nominal fee.
5. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing*
Hosted by Bianca Marais with literary agents Carly Watters and Cece Lyra from P.S. Literary, this “behind-the-scenes look at the publishing industry” is for emerging writers who want to see how literary agents work. The agents analyze and critique query letters and first pages while Marais interviews “anyone and everyone who’s involved in bringing a book to market.”
6. Writing Excuses
With nearly 20 seasons under their belt, the Writing Excuses podcast is a weekly educational podcast for writers, by writers. With topics like unreliable narrators, having various writerly income streams, experimenting with format, and more, Writing Excuses covers the publishing industry from the creative process to the business side of things.
In this boot camp from Fuse Literary Agency, attendees will learn how to put together a short yet effective query letter and a one- to two-page book synopsis (fiction). They’ll also learn some best practices for submitting their query, pages, and synopsis to agents. Each attendee will have the opportunity to have ten pages critiqued by an agent along with their work in any combination: query letter, manuscript pages, and synopsis.