Jamarcus Turner is a TV writer who wrote and story edited for the Chuck Lorre-produced Bob Hearts Abishola, and he also just so happens to live in Indiana. This is the VERY FIRST in-person interview for Ledger!

Jamarcus stopped by to talk about when he started writing for TV - it is unlike anyone else's story, no doubt about it - how he got his 10,000 hours of *watching* TV in, what it's like to work in a writer's room, and what you should focus on when in a meeting for a potential writing job.

If you're working toward becoming a TV writer, or *any kind* of professional writer, Jamarcus covers so much here that can help you now and far into your writing career. You can find him online on Instagram, @jtcomedyofficial, and on Twitter, @MrMarcus260. Thank you so much to Jamarcus for coming by and to you for listening!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can now support the show through Patreon at https://patreon.com/LedgerPodcast and get exclusive written posts, behind-the-scenes info about episodes, Q + A sessions with me about podcasting and writing, as well as co-writing sessions/hangouts. I'm exploring the possibility of adding a script coverage and notes tier if there's enough interest, so keep your eyes out for that.

I am already offering my services as a reader outside of Patreon, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Contact me via my website for rates and availability, or on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

SHORT FICTION! This is the official audio release of my story "Hate to Meet You," which was originally published in Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Death, issue #06, by Ahoy Comics. Two high school coaches meet each other for the first time and realize immediately that they hate each other. They also realize they'll not be able to escape one another...

Watch out for more featured short fiction right here on Ledger!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can now support the show through Patreon at https://patreon.com/LedgerPodcast and get exclusive written posts, behind-the-scenes info about episodes, Q + A sessions with me about podcasting and writing, as well as co-writing sessions/hangouts. I'm exploring the possibility of adding a script coverage and notes tier if there's enough interest, so keep your eyes out for that.

I am already offering my services as a reader outside of Patreon, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Contact me via my website for rates and availability, or on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

Brent Forrester is an Emmy Award-winning writer who has worked on an incredible list of shows including The Office (where he also executive produced and ran the writer's room at one point), The Simpsons, The Ben Stiller Show, King of the Hill, The Larry Sanders Show, and more!

He stopped by Ledger to chat about how to overcome writing pressure, managing expectations, and failure; what it's like to pitch a TV show to studio executives (and the actor he has attached to his current pitch for his show Surf Lodge); the need for bravery from artists in the face of tyranny; and that one time he told a joke that bombed in front of Steve Carell.

It's an incredible chat with an accomplished TV writer, an invaluable look behind the scenes at the life of a successful writer. Go to brentforrester.com to check into taking his next pilot writing class where he teaches his Six Step System - it's only $200 which is NUTS - it's basically guaranteed you're going to have a blast and meet some likeminded writers.

Thank you so much to Brent for stopping by, and thank you to you for listening!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can now support the show through Patreon at https://patreon.com/LedgerPodcast and get exclusive written posts, behind-the-scenes info about episodes, Q + A sessions with me about podcasting and writing, as well as co-writing sessions/hangouts. I'm exploring the possibility of adding a script coverage and notes tier if there's enough interest, so keep your eyes out for that.

I am already offering my services as a reader outside of Patreon, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Contact me via my website for rates and availability, or on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

Today’s guest is screenwriter Laura Kroeger, one of two winners of the 2024 Final Draft Big Break contest. Disclaimer: Final Draft is not sponsoring today’s episode.

Laura Won the Big Break Contest with her script BIGGER IN TEXAS. She talks about the genesis of that script as well as how the Women In Film & Video (WIF) fellowship helped her writing; how her own reading and writing groups and their dedication to the craft/art have shaped her as a writer; how integral her manager Max Gonzalez at Fourth Wall Management has been; and the incredible amount of hard work she’s put in both at and away from the keyboard/page.

It's a wonderful chat and a great peek into writing for film and TV for anyone who is curious what it's like right at the beginning of a career.

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can now support the show through Patreon at https://patreon.com/LedgerPodcast and get exclusive written posts, behind-the-scenes info about episodes, Q + A sessions with me about podcasting and writing, as well as co-writing sessions/hangouts. I'm exploring the possibility of adding a script coverage and notes tier if there's enough interest, so keep your eyes out for that.

I am already offering my services as a reader outside of Patreon, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Contact me via my website for rates and availability, or on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

Christine Wenc is a former staff member for The Onion and the author of Funny Because It's True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire, out right now in hardcover!

Christine stopped by to chat about how she started researching the book in 2018; searching for (and maybe never finding) objective truth; coming to terms with the ways in which others can live in perceptually-generated realities, and how academics can cut, like, a TON of words from all their writing (she’s an editor too, so can say that).

Not only is her book an awesome history of The Onion, it’s a great look at print news media and the massive shifts for everyone involved - from publishers and writers on down to readers and viewers - that took place between the late 80s and early 2000s.

Come for the funny stories about The Onion being created and managing to succeed and change comedy writing forever, stay for the details about how monetizing news is maybe a necessary evil we just keep making more and more evil?

It’s a lovely chat, and it’s a book I highly, highly recommend if you enjoy any of those things.

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

I'm offering my services as a reader, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Contact me via my website for rates and availability, or on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

Jessica Berg is the founder and chief literary agent at Rosecliff Literary. Recently, they hired Tommy Dean, former guest of the show and the EIC of Fractured Lit and Uncharted Mag, two literary journals that publish a lot of great fiction.

Jessica and I discuss whether a literary agent needs to be a lawyer, what a day of work looks like for her, how to handle multiple rejections of a project, and how important community is to writers and, really, just people in general.

Go to RosecliffLiterary.com to follow the agency on their socials as well as on Manuscript Wishlist and Query Tracker. Thank you so much to Jessica for stopping by and helping de-mystify the world of literary agents a little more.

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

I'll be offering my services as a reader here soon, focusing on developmental/story analysis, proofreading, and offering coverage for scripts of all kinds. Watch out for more information on my website and on my Instagram account, @MossHeartBooks.

Thank you!

"Am I a writer?" is NOT the question, but it's absolutely related to the most important and revealing question a writer can ask themselves.

Today on Ledger I talk about how I've struggled with defining myself as a writer in the past and the way I get past that weird mental battle.

This is the first of my non-interview episodes for the new phase of Ledger, with more on the way, including some audio fiction!

To watch the Andre Dubus III interview referenced in this episode, visit the Politics & Prose YouTube page here: https://youtu.be/459xFKOM9vs?si=du-K5QY81lpaI_Eq&t=2272

That's a time-stamped link for the exact exchange I reference, and I definitely recommend watching the whole video as well as subscribing to their channel. They regularly host amazing writers!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell other writers about it! Swing by austinRwilson.com to Austin's publishing credits, to contact him, or to read free fiction.

Links to all Austin's work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can also go to mossheartbooks.com to check out Moss Heart Books, an independent bookshop which can also be followed on Instagram @mossheartbooks.

Thank you!

Ledger is changing!

The craft of writing has so much that goes into it, so many people who help writers produce, finish, and publish their work, so instead of only interviewing writers, Ledger will also begin featuring chats with everyone from Beta readers to editors, to publicists and publishers!

Along with those new interviews there will be shorter episodes offering bits of writing advice. These will be quick and to the point, showcasing ANYTHING that has helped the writing flow.

And finally - audio fiction.

Starting exclusively with fiction by Austin Wilson, Ledger will now publish audio short stories across many different genres. No outside submissions will be considered as of now, but there is that potential in the future when compensation for writers is guaranteed.

This is the next stage of Ledger, one that zooms out to contain much more of what makes the writing happens. It's going to be so much fun!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell other writers about it! Swing by austinRwilson.com to see the host's publishing credits, to contact him, or to read free fiction.

Links to all his work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can also go to mossheartbooks.com to check out Moss Heart, an independent bookshop which can also be followed on Instagram @mossheartbooks.

Thank you!