This week Rachel and Lynne's guest is Jenny Valentish, a journalist, author, and writing coach, joins the conversation to share her career journey from fanzines to freelancing for The Guardian. She also talks about her new book, The Introvert's Guide to Leaving the House.

Jenny dives into the importance of structured feedback in writing groups, the challenges of memoir writing, and the value of teaching practical writing tools. She also shares why she likes to be quite strict about her weekly schedule and how her six-week writing workshops provide a supportive environment for writers to improve their craft and form important connections.

Connect with Jenny via her website: https://jennyvalentish.com/ or look at her courses at https://www.valentish.net/

Details about her book: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Introverts-Guide-to-Leaving-the-House/Jenny-Valentish/9781923135109

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here. Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co

This week Rachel and Lynne are chatting with Michelle Newell, a narrative strategist based in Melbourne/Naarm who shares her expertise on using storytelling for content strategy and branding. During our chat, we talk about:

• How freelancers can transition into thought leadership – and why they should
• Why you need a unique point of view
• How to leverage personal branding
• How to handle a fear of visibility and trolls
• How to secure speaking gigs, enhance visibility, and charge premium rates for your services

Connect with Michelle via her website: https://thestorytelling.biz/

or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-newell/

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.
Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au ), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co

This week our guest is Toby Schmitz, actor, screenwriter and now novelist.

It's a fun chat, talking all things books, reading and writing.

Toby shares insights into his upbringing in his family's second-hand bookstore, his motivations for writing, how his debut novel 'The Empress Murders' came about and why he chose such an amibitious work as his debut. He delves into the creative process of adapting a play into this novel, the challenges and rewards of publishing, using palm cards to plan his novel and what he is writing next.

The Empress Murders is out in bookstores now. Follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tobymschmitz/

Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com

Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au

Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au

If you have questions you'd like us to answer in our next Q&A episode, just send them here.

Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: hello@rachelslist.com.au for the details.

Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co