Amy Doak on writing young adult fiction, twisty crime, new books and tips for navigating the quer...

Tina Strachan interviews author Amy Doak about her YA mystery thriller What Have They Done to Liza McLean?, pitched as a twisty story set at an elite boarding school with dual viewpoints and secrets leading to a death. Amy discusses crafting one-liners using comp titles to convey “vibe,” avoiding overthinking, and balancing the ongoing Eleanor Jones series (book four, Eleanor Jones Is Not Drowning, due in July) with writing a standalone to avoid being a “one trick pony.” She shares her publishing journey: an unsellable adult action-adventure manuscript, writing Eleanor Jones for her teenage self and niece, pitching agents, submitting to Penguin’s open window, and being selected after an editor spotted her pages at the printer; she signed with agent Alex Adsett, who negotiated a two-book deal. Debut Spotlight features Amanda Hewitt’s contemporary romance The Last Resort (Echo Publishing), about Abby’s solo holiday fling with Nick that becomes complicated when he buys her hotel chain; it was the only manuscript signed from 300 submissions in August 2024. 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:56 Meet Amy And The New Book 01:17 Story Pitch And Premise 02:19 One Liner And Comp Titles 05:45 Eleanor Jones Vs Standalone 08:43 Keep Writing While Waiting 11:52 Writing Habits And Process 13:50 Plotting Mysteries And Clues 16:16 Standalone Or Sequel Plans 18:16 Origin Story And First Drafts 21:42 Rejections And Market Fit 24:52 Penguin Submission Breakthrough 28:35 Signing With An Agent 29:05 Book Deal Spotlight 31:01 Pitching Agents Vs Publishers 34:15 Why Pitch Sessions Matter 37:15 Defining The YA Market 41:13 Kids Reading Up Too Fast 43:40 Romance Spice And Labels 46:10 BookTok And Going Viral 47:23 Writing In The Cracks 53:06 Top Tip Be Kind 56:21 Podcast Wrap Up Join our Patreon community (  / thebookdealpodcast  ) for less than the cost of a coffee per month and support the pod! Your contribution will go to directly paying our sound producer, Brogan, and to help us bring you the conversations with industry professionals you love. Follow The Book Deal podcast on Instagram The Book Deal podcast (@the_book_deal_podcast) • Instagram photos and videos (  / the_book_deal_podcast  ) You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here: Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos (  / td_strachan  ) Tina Strachan children's book author (https://www.tinastrachan.com/about-ti...) Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos (  / madeleineclearywrites  ) Madeleine Cleary | Author (https://www.madeleinecleary.com.au/) Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos (  / raiwriting  ) Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor (https://www.raiwriting.com.au/) If you want to stay in the know, sign up to Madeleine, Tina and Natasha's newsletters for the latest news first. Madeleine: Subscribe here (https://madeleinecleary.substack.com/...) ...