Heck of a Year: Episode 295 is 2021 in review

What did we notice evolving in the industry? What worked and what didn&#8217;t in our own writing lives? Here&#8217;s our take. We&#8217;d love to hear yours&#8212;check in via the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/hashtagamwriting">#AmWriting Facebook group</a>.<br/><br/>Links from the pod<br/><br/><a href="https://blog.findawayvoices.com/spotify-announces-acquisition-of-audiobook-leader-findaway/">Findaway Voices acquired by Spotify</a><br/><br/><a href="https://variety.com/2021/biz/news/penguin-random-house-simon-schuster-1235132125/">Penguin Random House/Simon Schuster merger</a><br/><br/><a href="https://investors.storytel.com/en/storytel-to-acquire-streaming-service-audiobooks-com-entering-the-u-s-market/">Storytell acquired Audiobooks.com</a><br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781982160142">The Other Black Girl</a> by Zakiya Dalila Harris<br/><br/>Reading Apps like <a href="https://radishfiction.com/">Radish</a> <br/><br/><a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-shrink-next-door/umc.cmc.jov1gljmqnux0i15rbqsoyfk">The Shrink Next Door</a><br/><br/>Our best lessons from 2021:<br/><br/>KJ: You only need one plot.<br/><br/>Sarina: Write the flap copy first.<br/><br/>Jess: My best writing comes from what I&#8217;m immersed in and I need the freedom to write about those things. (<a href="https://www.jessicalahey.com/comingofageinthemiddle/2021/10/18/look-at-the-sky">Blog post: Look at the Sky</a>, Grown and Flown: <a href="https://grownandflown.com/parenting-creative-teens-porter-robinson/">Parenting Creative Children</a>.)<br/><br/>Y&#8217;all heard me&#8212;KJ&#8212;rave about the coaching certification I&#8217;m working towards with our sponsor Author Accelerator. I have learned so much&#8212;about my own work, and how to help others&#8217; with theirs. I spent five years editing others&#8217; work at the New York Times, and I&#8217;m a good editor&#8212;but no one ever taught me how to help other writers feel excited about those edits before. (At the Times we kind of went in for the &#8220