Krisserin's brain is scrambled from her massive Excel spreadsheet organizing her 24,000 remaining words, while Kelton is juggling unexpected client work that threatens to derail her memoir proposal. But this week they're joined by Emily Halnon, USA Today bestselling author of To the Gorge: Running Grief and Resilience and 460 Miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, a writer, trail runner, and mountain athlete who set the fastest known time on the 460-mile Oregon PCT.

Emily's here to talk about the gap between landing an agent and getting published—and why the submission process was far more brutal than her surprisingly smooth querying journey. After three agent offers in six weeks, Emily faced publisher after publisher saying no, not because of her writing, but because her platform wasn't big enough. She breaks down the "pitch deck" strategy for positioning your memoir, how market bias shows up in publishing decisions (including the absurd reasoning that there's only room for one book about women on trails), and the practical realities of book marketing that most authors do themselves.

The trio discusses what actually gets your book into readers' hands—from strategic podcast appearances to NPR affiliate targeting to direct DM outreach. Emily shares her candid breakdown of launch strategy, sustainable (and unsustainable) approaches to self-promotion, and the vulnerability hangover that comes after pouring your grief onto the page. Plus: Emily's discovery of poetry as creative renewal, Krisserin's push toward December 1st manuscript completion, Kelton's chapter outline goals, and their shared realization that sometimes the best writing investment is permission to rest and let ideas compost.

Through their different paths to publication, all three writers circle back to the same truth: authenticity and persistence matter more than perfect platforms or publishers' initial predictions.

Get Emily's book: To the Gorge: Running Grief and Resilience and 460 Miles on the Pacific Crest Trail

Learn more about Emily:
Website: https://www.emilyhalnon.com/
Instagram: @emilysweats
Substack Newsletter: Trail Mix

Recommended Reading from Emily:
The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow
Poets Square by Courtney Gustafson
Tilt by Emma Pattee
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

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Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios