By Corinna Kloth
About the Podcast
Words and Nerds Podcast is an entertaining and conversational podcast that aims to get inside a writer’s mind. We discuss books, the social and political influences of a writer’s work and how literature has the power to change the world.
Tell us about yourself/selves.
DV: I am an author of children’s books. I’m focusing on writing books for kids with ADHD and anxiety so kids can see themselves and feel confident about who they are. I have a book coming out later this year titled ‘I am not too much!’ for all the kids who have been told that they should be smaller.
I’m currently wrangling an adult fiction novel, this is actually where my writing began.
I’ve hosted the Words and Nerds podcast since 2017. I am also a publisher at Larrikin House, an ex-high school English Head Teacher, a parent of a teen and a tween, I have ADHD and love books!
How did you get started with The words and nerds Podcast?
DV: I’ve always been involved in writing and books, either reading, writing or teaching. When I was on mat leave, I missed having nerdy chats about books and so I started the podcast in a study in my house while my kids were very young and just hoped for the best! I had no experience or expectations, I just wanted to have cool conversations.
How would you describe your podcast?
DV: It’s been described by others as a fire-side chat! The conversations are cosy, relaxed chats about books, writing, process, publishing and we always go on tangents about what influences the writing. We support all creatives in the industry, chatting to authors, illustrators and publishers. We have spin offs such as Date with a Debut hosted by Nick Wasiliev, Queer Session Writes hosted by Troy Hunter promoting LGBTQI creatives and RADelaide Reads hosted by Adam Cece. I love going on tangents and having real, fun, vulnerable conversations about books and hot topics such as feminism, parenting, neurodiversity and whatever influences the writing.
What’s the most challenging and most satisfying part of running a podcast?
DV: The most challenging aspect is the time it takes. I created a post recently, that with the time it takes to read the book, formulate questions, record, edit, upload and create social media posts, it takes up to 9 hours to create each episode.
The most satisfying thing is to give something back to the industry by allowing creative people to discuss their work at length and all aspects of writing and publishing.
Personally, it has been incredibly satisfying to have created something from nothing, with 800 episodes and 2 million downloads, it’s still very surreal.
what’s one of your favorite episodes?
DV: That’s very hard to choose! I’d say the Publishing Insider series was a favourite because we learnt so much about the publishing industry. I love episodes where I’ve built a relationship with the author and we can continue chatting. I love our NaNoWriMo episodes because we are good friends and enjoy chatting on the podcast and having a good time.
The most popular episodes in the last 12 months are always Trent Dalton, listeners love takeovers, and the series Everything I’ve Learnt About Publishing was popular.
Episode 801 with Dervla McTiernan was such a great chat and she gave some wonderful writing advice which I’m taking on board.
What’s your uploading schedule, and what can we expect from talking book publishing in the upcoming months?
DV: I’ve just uploaded my 800th episode which was pretty special. I’ll usually upload two episodes per week starting on Friday when people have time to listen over the weekend or for the week ahead.
There will always be the usual episodes with creatives but I’m always coming up with ideas for a series. If listeners have any ideas, send them through!
Where can listeners find talking book publishing?
DV: Anywhere you listen to your podcasts! I love Instagram, so you’ll find out about all the episodes there too.
Thank you for listening!
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