The Book Deal

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
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...

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
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...

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
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...