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Sonya and I talk about the way to report or write a book while holding a full-time job. The first step is to—you ready for this?—listen to your body. We explain what we mean and also share stories of how to steal time out of your day...even at that full-time job.  Season Two: The Process. If you like what you hear, reach me via email at paulkixnewsletter.com. It's free to sign up. 

Where to go to do your book research is easy. When to travel is the question to ask, and one we learned the hard way. Tons of stories here and tons of tips to avoid the mistakes Sonya and I made. For more stories like this head to paulkixnewsletter.com and sign up for my newsletter.

The evolution of our marriage is also the evolution of how I learned to take, with Sonya's guidance, ever better notes. We talk about the various systems we adopted and discarded to arrive at something, with my book on Birmingham, is truly efficient, and in no-small part awesome. The better a writer's notes system, the less frustration he encounters in writing a book.

Sonya and I talk about the mistakes I made with my first book and how I've tried to correct those mistakes in the early going of the research phase with my second book. You may think book research is reading as widely as possible. It is actually reading as deeply as possible. Learn from my mistakes. To keep up with what I'm doing, connect with me via email. Sign up for the newsletter (it's free) at paulkixnewsletter.com.

This week Sonya and I break down how to find an agent if you don't have one. We cover what you should be looking for in an agent and how to identify the traits that will best help you. We also talk about what happens when you're book goes to market, and all the stress and joy that comes with it. If you like what you hear, rate and review the podcast. Best way to stay in touch is through https://www.paulkixnewsletter.com/. 

This season of Now That's a Great Story covers the process of writing a book, specifically how my process for writing my forthcoming book can help you write yours. This season will be a week-by-week audio diary of not only what I'm learning but how that research into the Civil Rights movement still shapes our nation and the workings of my interracial family. My wife Sonya will co-host this season of the pod, and we'll talk about the teamwork necessary to write a book, offer tons of tips on the process of writing books, and talk about what it means to be an interracial couple, heirs to the vision of which Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed.  For more info head to paulkixnewsletter.com. 

The proposal is the first step to writing a book. Sonya and I break down how we did it for my first book and the different approach we took this time, with my second book. We talk about how to stay motivated during the proposal process, how long the proposal itself should be, and also how, with my new book, we decided the proposal had to include the social justice movement of 2020. It affected our interracial family, which meant it was also relevant to a proposal on Black-and-white relations. If you like this episode head to paulkixnewsletter.com to stay in touch.   

I talk about my decision to switch the podcast away from a weekly format to a seasonal one.

Author Kevin Alexander comes on to talk about the crazy rise and  maturation of Gabriel Rucker, the chef in Portland who basically fathered America's farm-to-table dining revolution. Rucker's boozy story is the centerpiece of Kevin's Burn The Ice, which is the rarest of foodie books: The one I couldn't put down. I've known Kevin since 2008 and have watched him transform as well, from a struggling grad student to the James Beard winner who's the nation's best food writer. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I've got a question for every listener of this podcast—and I want your answers!

I talk with the fascinating Ryan Holiday, the entrepreneur and everyman philosopher, about a sequence of Stillness is the Key, Ryan's latest book, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Ryan's work has had a huge influence on how I see and process the world, and I'm hoping you'll be just as enlightened. For full show notes—and there are plenty, given Ryan's erudition—head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Don Van Natta Jr joins the show to discuss the time that he, a reporter whom Bill Clinton loathed, played a round of golf with the president. The day is recounted in Van Natta's best-selling book, First Off The Tee, and Don and I talk about how the game is perhaps the best insight into the lives of men who run the world. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I loved Kitty Sheehan's approach to the story she told Monday, and made that approach—a first-person essay that actually has an omniscient point of view—the focus of today's After Show. Because trying something new, persevering when others tell you you shouldn't because it's new, has its rewards. For show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk with the teacher-turned-writer Kitty Sheehan, and the essay that took her 40 years to write, describing what happened one day in 1978 to her and her family. Kitty's piece went viral after it was published, and our conversation captures the story's appeal: its emotional rawness, its humor, and its hope, for Kitty and anyone who aspires to have their voice recognized by the world. For full show notes, head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

I talk about how a couple aspects of Tribe apply to my life and the lives of many of my friends. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk with Sebastian Junger about Tribe, the book that after two decades as a war correspondent and documentary filmmaker is the best-selling author's manifesto. Our conversation moves from the history of Native American tribes to survivors of AIDS to veterans returning to the States. Underpinning it all is an argument about our innate desire for a tribal group of friends, how the modern life cleaves us from that and literally sickens us, and what we can do to get it back. My time with Sebastian had a profound impact on me. I'm betting it'll do the same for you. For full show notes go to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I talk in depth about something Patrick Radden Keefe touched on Monday: How to know the proper length and arc of your story. It's a principle I learned from my first editor when I was 22 or so. It's called the And Rule. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

The New Yorker staff writer and New York Times best-seller Patrick Radden Keefe joins the show. We talk about an at-times hilarious and above all chilling sequence of his latest book, Say Nothing, a history of the Troubles that is also a commentary on how that history never really ended. Patrick and I discuss how and why he reports stories like this one, and what he's constantly seeking as an investigative journalist and writer. For show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.

I pick up on a point Rich Cohen made and discuss something that the guy who played Walter White, the woman who created Fleabag, and the emperor who once ruled Rome knew: Do the work. Forget the outcome. And you'll find you'll have a better outcome than you hoped for. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast. 

Rich Cohen, the seven-time New York Times best-selling author, comes on the podcast to discuss a sequence of my favorite business book, The Fish That Ate the Whale, a biography of Sam Zemurray, who built his fortune in the banana trade. What Zemurray did in Honduras—I mean, just listen. I don't want to give away anything. For full show notes head to https://www.paulkix.com/podcast.