Perfecting the Page One Experience
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe welcome writer Rhiannon Harvey for an in-depth Books with Hooks critique. Rhiannon reads her polished query for ‘Mara’s Call’, a speculative YA mystery set on a fog-shrouded New England island where the sea whispers secrets—and a girl’s family history refuses to stay buried. The hosts discuss tightening hooks, anchoring motivations, crafting atmospheric titles, and deepening interiority to strengthen character connection. They also dig into market positioning for YA vs. adult vs. new adult and explore what makes an opening page irresistible. A must-listen for writers polishing queries, sharpening voice, or navigating genre “in-between” spaces.
Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there. We've got a lot. We're really excited to tell you about, but I'm going to make this real |
| 0:04.9 | quick so you can get to the episode. The deep dive is coming up at the end of January. The lineup of |
| 0:10.9 | speakers is incredible and the range of topics is mind-blowing. You do not want to miss out on the last |
| 0:17.3 | deep dive ever. Then the beta reader matchup is open once again |
| 0:21.3 | with the matchups going out early in February. |
| 0:23.9 | Sign up to kick your creative year off with a bang. |
| 0:27.2 | Lastly, there's an amazing writer's workbook available |
| 0:30.0 | which will make the perfect gift for you |
| 0:32.3 | or the writer in your life. |
| 0:34.4 | Head to our website, The Shit About Writing, to find out more. |
| 0:44.6 | Hi there and welcome to our show. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. I'm best-selling |
| 0:51.1 | author Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Cece Leera of Wendy Sherman Associates and Carly Waters of PS Literary. |
| 1:00.2 | Hi everyone. Welcome back to another Books with Hooks. We're really excited to have the author joining us on today's episode. |
| 1:08.6 | Rianne and Harvey, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:12.5 | I'm excited to be here. For our supporters who are watching on YouTube, please show us your |
| 1:19.2 | lucky T-shirt, your Great White Shark T-shirt. I'm wearing my favorite shark t-shirt for good luck. |
| 1:26.0 | I am a marine biology nerd and my stories tend to feature |
| 1:29.5 | the ocean. So I have a pretty one-track mind, honestly. Amazing. We've often said on the podcast |
| 1:36.1 | that we should have Carly and Tisi wearing shark hats sometimes so that they can like fight each |
| 1:41.1 | other for for submissions. So that fits in perfectly. |
| 1:45.3 | And this is the perfect way for me to show everybody who's watching on YouTube. |
| 1:49.4 | Some of you will know that I'm absolutely obsessed with raccoons to the point that my last book had a main character who was a raccoon. |
... |
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