The Podcast
The First Draft Club with Mary Adkins
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The First Draft Club is a podcast to help you overcome resistance and write with more joy, clarity, and confidence.
If you’re working on a novel or memoir, stick around.
Whether you haven’t written a word since your 5-paragraph essay days or you have an MFA in Creative Writing, this podcast is now your weekly coffee date on your journey to finish your first draft.
The Latest of The First Draft Club Podcast
S11 E14 What to Do if Your Book Is Too Short
S11 E13 Amy Griffin's Controversial Bestselling Memoir, The Tell: A Hot Take
S11 E12 How to Write a Good Paragraph: An Interview with Greg Marshall, Part 2
Meet Mary
The Podcast Host
Mary Adkins is the author of the novels When You Read This (an Indie Next Pick and "Best Book of 2019" by Good Housekeeping), Privilege (a Today.com "Best Summer Read"), and Palm Beach (a New York Post "Best Book of 2021," described by the Associated Press as "like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable").
Her memoir, You Might Feel a Little Pressure, was published in March 2025 by Third Rail Press, an independent press she co-founded that won the Independent Book Publishing Association’s Silver Medal for Best First Book in 2025.
She’s published with big and small presses, at home and abroad, and can speak to the publishing experience across a wide range.
Mary is also founder of The Book Incubator™, a 2025 Inc5000™ company that has helped hundreds of writers finish their dream books — 94% complete their drafts within a year. It offers live, intimate instruction by Mary and Pen/Faulkner and Kirkus Prize finalist Rufi Thorpe, whose novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles is now a hit mini-series on AppleTV. Our "Big 5" editorial team includes former Penguin Random House acquisitions editor Andrea Robinson and 2025 Kirkus Prize winner Lucas Schaefer, among other notable editors and literary agents.
Most Popular Episodes
The listeners have spoken! These are the most popular episodes of The First Draft Club, broken down by topic and category.
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S10 E15 How to Keep Writing When You Don’t Know What to Write Next
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS10 E07 Hot Take on Research for Fiction: More Isn’t Always Better (and Not Just Because It’s a Rabbithole)
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS09 E10 What Kind of Writer Are You? A NEW TYPOLOGY!
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS09 E04 How I am Using Dictation to Write My Next Novel
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS09 E01 How to Not Ruin Your Novel: The Phenomenon of Premature Optimization
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S10 E12 A New Method for Memoirists: How to Structure Your Memoir Memoir in 3 Steps
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS09 E06 What I Learned from Ann Patchett about Reading Our Past Writing: A Lesson for Memoirists, Novelists, and Human Beings
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS06 E07 Should You Write a Memoir or a Novel Based on Your Life?
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS11 E11 Finding a "Narrative Perch" for Your Memoir: An Interview with Greg Marshall, Part 1
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S10 E13 14 “Out of the Box” Fixes for Your Novel
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS10 E02 The #1 Reason Feedback is Stressful is Actually Not Even a Real Thing
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS10 E18 The Small Thing You Can Ask Beta Readers That Makes All the Difference
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS10 E11 The Fine Line Between Brilliant and Confusing: Don’t Solve a Minor Problem by Making Your Draft “Mid”
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S10 E04 Book Marketing 101: What Never to Do, and What to Do Instead
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS11 E10 What is Publishers Marketplace, and Why is it a Writer’s Best Untapped Resource?
Apple | Spotify | YouTubeS10 E24 How to Write a Great Query Letter: Interview with Hannah Brattesani, our New In-House Literary Agent at The Book Incubator™
Apple | Spotify | YouTube