Content warning: Please note this episode contains brief references to crimes against children, including mentions of historical cases and industry terminology. These topics are not discussed in detail, but listener discretion is advised. Not suitable for younger audiences.

Madeleine interviews beloved Australian author, Rebecca Lim. Rebecca is an Australian writer, editor and lawyer, and the author of over twenty books, including Tiger Daughter (a Kirkus, Amazon and Booklist Best Book, CBCA Book of the Year, and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award-winner), Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky (NSW History Award-winner) and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been twice shortlisted for the NSW Literary Awards and Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and ARA Historical Novel Prize, shortlisted multiple times for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, longlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award and the Tasmanian Literary Awards, and has been optioned for film.

Rebecca talks to us about:

• why being a publishing flake might be a good thing
• rejections and the financial realities of being an author
• having no brand (but loving what you do)
• how she balances life as a corporate lawyer, mother, dog owner and writer (and a little spoiler, her advice includes the use of toilet paper rolls).

The Graduate (Affirm Press, 2026)

A razor-sharp revenge thriller that blows the whistle on the cutthroat world of corporate law.

New graduate Fei Fei Chou is an outlier at her prestigious law firm.

She's too quiet.
She wears too much makeup.
She’s only here because the boss has a thing for Asians.

But Fei isn’t here to climb the corporate ladder – she’s here for revenge.
Thirty years ago, three schoolgirls were kidnapped and abused by a man who’s never been identified. The information Fei needs to find him is buried somewhere in the firm’s records.
Deliberately placing herself in harm’s way, Fei will uncover a secret history of power and privilege that haunts not only her firm, but the nation itself.
Taut, riveting and blackly humorous, The Graduate is a mesmerising legal thriller and a masterfully dark crime debut from a beloved Australian writer.

Our Debut in the Spotlight this week is Lit by Anna Woods (Allen & Unwin, 2026).

00:51 Meet Rebecca Lim

02:33 Early Writing

08:46 Quitting Law For Writing

10:23 Genre Hopping

13:56 The Graduate

32:24 Debut in the Spotlight

33:45 Editing

40:20 Writing Adults Vs Kids

42:37 Balancing life

43:52 Burnout And Career Breaks

50:58 Feedback And Resilience

54:31 Top Tip

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Tina Strachan welcomes author and teacher Jess Galatola to The Book Deal podcast to discuss her upcoming children’s books: picture book The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell (launching 19 July) and graphic novel Seasons of Clementine (launching 4 July). Jess shares that The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell uses homophones and comedic chaos to encourage resilience, imperfection, and joy in language, praising debut illustrator Lou Baker’s Easter eggs. She explains Seasons of Clementine evolved from a picture book (The Cloud Collector) into a graphic novel after publisher feedback, and describes learning the format through Perenti Press workshops and the Perenti Prize. Jess recounts her “backwards” publication journey, writing Some Families Change during a 2020 separation, its 2024 release with EK Books, and her advice to remember your “why,” avoid comparison, build relationships, and persist through slush-pile submissions.

00:00 Podcast Introduction
00:56 Welcome Jess Galatola
01:43 The Witch Who Couldn't Spell Pitch
04:25 The Witch Who Couldn't Spell Message
06:24 Illustrator Magic
09:29 Seasons of Clementine Origins
13:45 Graphic Novel Craft
16:10 Perenti Workshops
20:19 Reading Kids Today
23:27 Why Reading Matters
23:56 Books as Escape
25:13 Representation Matters
26:03 Jess Origin Story
27:25 Writing Through Separation
29:38 Landing a Publisher
30:41 Finding Kidlit Community
33:41 Slush Pile Reality
35:12 Rejection and Resilience
39:48 Advice for Authors
44:25 Pitching and Conferences
47:45 Upcoming Launch Events
48:57 Final Thanks and Outro

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Hosts Tina Strachan, Madeleine Cleary, and Natasha Rai introduce The Book Deal podcast and share monthly updates. Tina takes a break from an intense manuscript, catches up on author admin, runs a kids’ workshop at The Little Book Nook in Palmwoods, prepares for workshops and Bethany Loveridge’s Josie Mack launch at Quick Brown Fox, and flags opportunities including the Lighthouse Arts Residency (Hunter Writers Centre) and the Spier(s) Prize for middle-grade fiction via UWA Publishing ($5,000 plus a publishing deal). Madeleine finishes a book-two rewrite, recounts being heckled while interviewing Belinda Alexandra at Readings, and discusses craft insights from Dervla McTiernan and Benjamin Stevenson about questions and clues per page. Tash explains completing structural edits quickly by prioritizing time and using Emily Maguire as an early reader, and outlines an upcoming library workshop on pitching, including X-meets-Y, comp titles, and “vibe sheets.”

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:56 Hosts Catch Up

01:15 Tina Writing Reset

02:00 Workshops Launches

03:22 Declutter Phone Detox

05:01 Grants Residencies

07:12 Mads Rewrite Win

08:20 Heckler At Event

12:40 Tash Deadline Sprint

17:44 Crime Writing Tricks

21:34 Hooks And Structure

22:46 Reading While Writing

25:07 Avoiding Close Comparisons

28:42 Pitching And Comp Titles

32:21 Vibe Sheets And Playlists

33:58 Release Dates And Wins

34:55 Dymocks Top 101 Spotlight

37:06 Wrap Up And Farewell

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Natasha Rai interviews author Ashley Kalagian Blunt about her thriller Like, Follow, Die. Blunt shares an elevator pitch: a Sydney mother, known as “the most hated woman in Australia,” faces a homicide detective at her door as three narratives (mother, cop, and son ages 12–19) converge around whether she reveals secrets about her teenage son. She discusses the novel’s origin as an Audible Original, how removing a key twist reshaped the story, and why this book was easier to draft than Cold Truth, for which she discarded a full manuscript. Blunt also describes researching the manosphere and education for boys, her move from genocide-focused nonfiction to crime for strategic and creative reasons, her path to publication and agents, and tips for writers: maintain momentum (even one word a day), join a strong writers group, and prioritize structure.

00:00 Podcast Intro
00:56 Meet Ashley Blunt
02:00 Like Follow Die Pitch
03:24 Building The Detective
05:00 Audible Origin Story
07:17 Writing Process And POVs
10:13 Manosphere And Policy
13:16 Schools And Respect Crisis
15:12 Staying Sane In Dark Research
17:50 From Memoir To Crime
25:35 Early Writing And Ego
29:08 Illness And Finding Craft
32:21 First Publishing Contract
36:16 Novella Becomes Debut Book
39:54 Switching Publishers
42:50 Rejection and Resilience
44:01 Affirm Press Breakthrough
45:53 Going Agented
49:14 US Subagent Reality Check
53:41 Two Book Deal
57:35 Writing With Chronic Illness
01:02:55 Momentum Writers Groups Structure
01:08:40 Why Structure Is Rarely Taught
01:13:35 Final Thanks and Wrap

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Brooke Michie is a lifelong reader and passionate supporter of Australian authors. She works in public libraries and loves nothing more than matching readers with their perfect book. As one of Australia’s most influential Bookstagrammers she reads and reviews hundreds of books every year and spends much of her time attending author events and raving about her favourite reads.

Make sure you follow Brooke for all her recommendations on Instagram at @bmichie31.

Madeleine chats with Brooke about how she first started her Instagram seven years ago and is now one of Australia's most influential Bookstagrammers. Find out how Brooke reads 20-25 books each month and how authors can work with Bookstagrammers! Brooke recommends:

• Sasha Wasley’s The Society of Literary Marauders
• Leearna Shaw’s A Farm in Golden Clouds, and
• Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s A Wolf Who Cried Boy.

Our Debut in the Spotlight is Lorena Otes, with her memoir, Solo Mum by Choice (Hawkeye Publishing, May 2026).

00:56 Brooke Michie

03:23 What Is Bookstagram

09:24 Reading 25 Books Monthly

10:29 Social Media Focus Struggles

11:43 Choosing books to read

15:31 Honest Reviews

18:03 Author-Bookstagrammer Etiquette

25:03 Paid Review Scams

27:34 Debut Crew Support

29:04 Aussie Books

30:50 Author Social Media

33:41 Content Burnout

35:02 Book Events

37:38 Bookstagram Community

39:30 Book Recommends

42:49 Top Tip

44:19 Podcast Wrap Up

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Tina Strachan interviews bestselling children’s author Jacqueline Harvey about her 20+ year publishing career, including nearly 70 books, 40 audiobooks, and Alice-Miranda adaptations. Harvey discusses her latest middle-grade series, The Girl and the Ghost, inspired by meeting a prince in a Singapore bookshop and research at Versailles that led her to make Louis XVII the story’s ghost. She explains how travel sparks ideas across her series, how Alice-Miranda took off after years of rejections and a publisher change, and why she values testing manuscripts with young readers. Harvey shares practical advice on celebrating releases, planning while allowing story surprises, using simple tools (notebooks, whiteboard, Word), building loyal relationships with publishers and booksellers, being generous on social media, managing burnout through scheduling and saying no, and not quitting a day job too soon.

00:00 Podcast Intro
00:56 Meet Jacqueline Harvey
02:21 New Release Spotlight
02:53 Prince in the Bookshop
07:40 Travel Sparks Stories
10:35 Celebrating Book Launches
12:37 From Teacher to Author
15:27 Rejections and Ugly Covers
19:28 Backing Alice Miranda
22:37 Kid Readers as Testers
22:58 Kid Feedback Before Print
23:39 Editors Over Beta Readers
24:35 One Publisher Loyalty
27:10 Plotter Meets Pantser
30:01 Tools Word Notebooks Whiteboard
31:46 Marketing Teamwork Reality
32:31 Bookshops And Booksellers
35:00 Social Media Generosity
38:30 Avoiding Burnout Planning
42:49 Top Tips And Farewell

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Hosts Tina Strachan, Madeleine Cleary, and Natasha Rai reconnect after a busy few months. Natasha begins major structural edits on a 120,000-word second novel with tight timelines and a tip to rewrite editorial notes in her own words. Madeleine describes how edits revealed deeper issues, advises asking for deadline extensions, and discusses proactively visiting bookshops, introducing yourself to booksellers, and signing stock to boost visibility and sales. Tina reports starting an exciting new project after a beach break, discusses “stalking ideas” from the Jack Heath interview, and suggests naps can help solve plot problems. Cassie Stroud introduces her debut novel Iluka, about siblings uncovering letters from their missing mother.

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:56 Hosts Catch Up

07:44 Natasha Structural Edits

12:02 Editing Tips and Mindset

15:47 Madeleine Deadline Extension

20:20 Tina New Story Spark

26:32 Stalking Ideas Discussion

28:00 Story Idea Sparks

28:35 Channeling the Muse

29:37 Naps and Liminal Breakthroughs

32:04 Cassie Stroud Iluka

33:30 Jack Interview Takeaways

36:15 Write for Publishers

42:54 Author Marketing Reality

46:52 Bookseller Hand Selling

53:46 Cold Calls and Signings

56:52 Top Tips and Wrap

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Natasha Rai interviews award-winning author Jack Heath (49 novels, published in 10 languages) about his YA thriller 'I Know What You’re Hiding'. Heath gives an elevator pitch: after a house fire kills one sister, survivor Jamie receives a blood-written note saying “I know what you’re hiding,” and teen true-crime podcaster Zoe investigates the blackmail. Heath discusses writing for ages 12–16, the book’s long development from an earlier pitch that spun into the 'Liars' series, and why Zoe returned after 'If You Tell Anyone You’re Next'. He explains lessons about series vs sequels, selling manuscripts to publishers, balancing promotion with writing, his daily process and project management, outlining, differences between adult and kids fiction, idea “odd sock drawer” blending, embracing negative feedback, and joining nonprofit writing groups. The Debut Spotlight features Lisa Moule’s debut 'The Mother of All Calamities'.

00:00 Podcast Intro
00:42 Meet Jack Heath
01:44 Elevator Pitch
03:28 Writing Dark YA
05:42 Origins of the Novel
10:04 Odd Sock Ideas
11:35 Series Lessons
14:15 Selling to Publishers
18:28 Promotion Pressures
21:43 Writing Routine
25:45 Word Count Planning
27:45 Editing and Reading Style
30:12 Editing Versus Drafting
31:44 Guest Introduction
32:15 Outlining To Sell Books
36:41 Adult Versus Kids Writing
45:44 Ideas And Book Mashups
50:33 Sustainable Career Lessons
54:04 Embracing Negative Feedback
58:47 Advice And Writing Communities
01:01:25 Wrap Up And Credits

Join our Patreon community 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

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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...