Babe Cave

Books are having a moment on screen, and Amanda has thoughts — including that Greta Gerwig is going to direct her novel someday. Greta doesn't know this yet. Hollywood has spent years refusing to greenlight anything without existing IP, which sounds like bad news until you realize that existing IP is exactly what a published book is. This episode is about why that matters for writers right now, and what it actually looks like when a book becomes a film. In this episode: The Yesteryear deal: four studios bidding, 15 publishers competing, Anne Hathaway attached — and why that kind of buzz starts with the book What the self-described Book Whisperer of Hollywood says changed after Harry Potter and Twilight, including her advice to screenwriters to write the book first How options work, why most of them never become movies, and why that's not necessarily the tragedy it sounds like What you're actually giving up when you sign those rights over, and why having a good agent in the room matters more than people think

No gatekeeping allowed — and that includes yourself. After leaving Jubilee feeling like the real conversations were happening somewhere else, Amanda found them at Copper Books' Book Fair in Nashville. One day, one room, and editors, agents, marketers, and publicists actually telling the truth about what's happening in publishing right now. She's bringing it back to you here, along with a moment of self-reckoning she didn't see coming. In this episode: The honest state of nonfiction publishing right now: who's buying, who isn't, and where cookbooks actually land in that conversation Why a Simon & Schuster editor said one Substack subscriber is worth five to ten Instagram followers to a publisher, and what Amanda actually thinks about that What three publicity powerhouses said about in-house pub teams, and why authors who were promised the moon are learning the hard way to be their own best advocate Allison Trowbridge's reminder that if you have a book idea, you really have a business idea The moment s

Writer's block is real. Amanda Polick believes in it, and she's in it right now. She's deep in revisions on her novel: the one she's been writing for years, the one she wrote 30,000 words of in the wrong direction in 2024, the one she finished a rough draft of last year that she's now going back through with brain fatigue and a spring that got away from her. Instead of hiding from it, she brought it here. In this episode: The one-page flash fiction exercise that gets her out of her own head when she's too stuck to touch the actual manuscript Why she thinks she's lost the habit of romanticizing her writing process — and why she wants it back Olafur Arnalds, instrumental music, and the case for being bored more often What she's noticing in the novel she's currently reading about backstory dumps, exposition monologues, and the things she's actively trying not to do in her own book Why consuming the same content over and over is part of what creates the block in the first place The honest truth about writer's

Cherry Bombe's Jubilee is the conference in THE food world. Amanda Polick has been before, took a few years off, and went back this year with an actual game plan and a lot of thoughts she's whispering to her friends later. This episode is her honest debrief: what worked, what left her wanting more, and what she walked away with that had nothing to do with any of the panels. In this episode: Why going in with a loose schedule and a short list of people she wanted to meet changed everything Her real talk on conference programming that stays too surface when the room is full of people who came for the inside baseball The Levain Bakery founders, copycat recipes, and the conversations she wished had gone deeper Why she cried meeting Grace Young and has zero regrets about it The follow-up moves that actually matter after a conference ends The best thing she got out of Jubilee wasn't from the talks. It was the face-to-face time, texting new connections already, and the moment she shared her novel idea and watc

If you have a book idea, you really have a business idea. That line — from publisher Allison Trowbridge at a Parnassus Books panel — is the jumping-off point for this episode. Amanda Polick gets into what it actually means to treat your writing life like a business: not in a hustle-culture, monetize-everything way, but in a packaging-yourself-correctly, knowing-what-you-bring-to-the-room way. She's been doing her own reckoning with this lately — restarting after a year heads-down on her novel, going back to conferences, cold-emailing people, and asking herself how to pull together all the scattered pieces of a writing career into something coherent. In this episode: Jane Friedman's The Business of Being a Writer and why Amanda tells every single client to get it Why writers being financially sustained by writing alone has always been the exception, not the rule — and what that actually frees you up to do The cold email formula that works almost every time, and why showing up in someone's inbo

Writing workshops: a combination of ritual scarring and group therapy — or the thing that actually made you a better writer? Amanda Polick is not sure it isn't both. In this episode, Amanda digs into the history and honest reality of the writing workshop, whether creative writing can even be taught, and why she still has PTSD from the ones she's been in. She also revisits the Girls Iowa arc, which she maintains is the most accurate depiction of workshop culture ever put on television. In this episode: The history of creative writing programs in America, from a Harvard drama workshop in 1906 to the GI Bill-fueled MFA explosion — and Iowa's official position that they had nothing to do with producing Flannery O'Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ann Patchett Why Hannah Horvath's Iowa episodes still hold up: the rotted-teeth prodigy, the party meltdown, the non-apology letter, and the relief of almost getting kicked out Stephen King's argument that workshops force you to write with the door open when you need it clo

Here's the full description: What if the thing standing between you and your best work isn't a better template — it's not enough resistance? Amanda Polick has been thinking about friction. Not the kind you eliminate, but the kind you seek out: the static electricity of doing hard things anyway, showing up when it's inconvenient, sitting with a sentence until it finally lands. This episode is a case for why writers who are obsessed with removing every obstacle from their process might be accidentally removing the thing that makes the work worth doing. It starts with her handwriting, which has, by her own admission, become garbage. And it ends somewhere much bigger. In this episode: A Dan Koe post on writing without AI, without templates, and without knowing what you're writing yet — and why it stopped her cold Why a template is only valuable after you've sent hundreds of terrible versions first, and what we lose when we skip that part What C.S. Lewis, dense reading, and the lost art of wrestling with a

Print never died. The people running it just stopped believing in it first. Amanda Polick — former Cooking Light fellow, Time Inc. segment producer, and longtime magazine obsessive — makes the case for why the magazine revival isn't a nostalgia trip. It's a signal. And if you want to write a book, it might be the most important thing happening in media right now. Amanda unpacks what the resurgence of publications like Saveur, the new Gourmet newsletter, and indie food zines like Tomato Tomato actually means for writers and why she's always believed that every book idea lives inside a magazine pitch. In this episode: What Charles Dickens, Joan Didion, Maya Angelou, and Hunter S. Thompson all have in common (before the books came) What a 2025 Huck magazine piece gets exactly right about why print is culturally ascendant again — and why digital content has trained readers to distrust almost everything they skim The inside story of working at Cooking Light and Time Inc. during the era of rolling layoffs, sol

Spring didn't just show up on the calendar — it showed up in the work. Amanda Polick recorded this one on the first official day of spring, and it's exactly what it sounds like: a real-time reckoning with hibernation, self-imposed smallness, and what it finally feels like to wake back up. This isn't a productivity episode. It's a permission slip. Amanda gets honest about a winter spent rethinking major parts of her novel, sitting with creative fatigue instead of pushing through it, and quietly realizing she'd stopped betting on herself in ways she used to do without thinking twice. Cold emails. Conference sign-ups. Relentless connection. Somewhere along the way, that version of herself got comfortable — and comfortable got small. In this episode: Why she's been shifting the language she uses with herself — and what phrases writers reach for that quietly keep them stuck What happened when she stopped treating her network like a to-do list and started letting the dots connect The meme about the world being

Hot garbage isn't an insult — it's a practice. Cookbook coach Amanda Polick makes the case for why submitting imperfect, unpolished, still-in-progress work is not just acceptable — it's the whole point. Drawing on her background as an actor and Second City Hollywood graduate, Amanda unpacks why perfectionism stalls more writing projects than any lack of talent ever could, and what it actually takes to break through the wall. In this episode, you'll hear: Why Amanda holds the line on deadlines with every client — and what that teaches writers about their own resistance The Anne Lamott quote on perfectionism that she returns to again and again What the Tadashi Suzuki acting method reveals about creative fatigue (and why friction might be exactly what you need) How writing 30,000 words in the wrong direction on her own novel changed how she coaches The free-writing technique that unlocks the section you've been avoiding Oh — and this episode is itself a live demonstration of the concept. Amanda recorded i

Virginia Woolf published A Room of One's Own in 1929. Nearly 100 years later, the questions she raised — about money, creative freedom, and a woman's right to write — are still the questions women writers are asking. In this solo Women's History Month episode, Amanda Polick takes a deep dive into the essay that inspired the name Babe Cave itself, and unpacks why its central argument is just as urgent in 2026 as it was when Woolf delivered it as a lecture at Cambridge in 1928. In this episode, you'll discover: The story of Shakespeare's hypothetical sister — and why Woolf believed she lives on in every woman who hasn't written her story yet The history of women writing anonymously, and what it means to put your name on your work today Why Aphra Behn — the first English woman to earn her living by writing — deserves your attention (and probably a few flowers) How financial independence and creative freedom have always been the same conversation Why the restrictions facing women writers in 2026 are just as r

What does hosting a dinner party have to do with writing a book? Everything, it turns out.   In this episode, Amanda Polick dives into Chelsea Fagan's Having People Over and draws surprising parallels between the art of entertaining and the writing process — from reclaiming formality in your creative work to why going deeper (not wider) is the move that changes everything.   In this episode, you'll discover: •       Why we've gotten too casual with our writing — and how to fix it •       The "back-pocket recipe" method for finding your creative focus •       How to combat the loneliness of writing by inviting people into your process •       What the Golden Hour coaching call is and how it can help you take your next book step   Perfect for: Aspiring authors, writers stuck in the idea phase, creatives craving community and a clear next step.   Shownotes: https://www.amandapolick.com/blog/having-people-over-episode  Newsletter: Weekly insights on writing and creativity Connect: Instagram @amandapo

Lokelani Alabanza has invented over 300 ice cream flavors, spent five years writing the cookbook she was born to write, and will absolutely change the way you think about what's in your freezer.   Loke is a classically trained pastry chef with 20+ years of experience, founder of Saturated Ice Cream (a non-dairy, plant-based brand based in Nashville), and the author of Ice Cream Queen: Flavors from Black America's Past, Present, Future — out June 16, 2026, the week of Juneteenth. The book covers 200 years of Black American ice cream history and includes 100 recipes.   In this conversation, they get into: → What it actually took to finish this book — surrendering control, surviving the silence, and betting on herself when no one could guarantee the outcome → Why you have to be a little delusional to see a creative dream through (and why that's not a bad thing) → The mission behind Ice Cream Queen — and what Loke hopes you feel the next time you walk down the ice cream aisle → What the publishing process reall

Your cookbook proposal isn't a rough draft—it's a business plan that will make or break your book deal. After years of coaching aspiring cookbook authors, Amanda Polick has seen the same mistake over and over: brilliant writers with incredible concepts who sabotage themselves by treating their proposal like an afterthought. They think agents will clean it up, or figure it out. But if your proposal doesn't immediately prove you have a clear concept, know your audience, and can market your book, it's dead in the water. In this episode, you'll discover: •       Why your proposal is your best opportunity to land a book deal (not your book itself) •       What goes into each section of a winning proposal and how to make it sparkle •       The marketing and promotional plan mistakes that immediately signal amateur hour •       How to get expert guidance without going it alone (including three new coaching options) Perfect for: Aspiring cookbook authors, food bloggers ready to write a book, recipe developers see

In this episode, celebrating Black History Month, Amanda Polick dives into the life of Edna Lewis. A woman who became the Grand Dame of Southern Cooking not by following culinary trends, but by staying true to her roots.  Edna's path was anything but linear. She worked as a seamstress making dresses for Marilyn Monroe, threw legendary dinner parties in NYC's bohemian art scene, and eventually became head chef and co-owner of Cafe Nicholson, where literary giants like Tennessee Williams and Eleanor Roosevelt came to eat her roast chicken and chocolate soufflé. But the real turning point came when her editor told her she was telling two different stories—and forced her to choose the one only she could tell. In this episode, discover: → How growing up in Freetown, Virginia (a community founded by formerly enslaved people) shaped everything about Edna's approach to food and community → The epic dinner parties that led to her running one of NYC's most celebrated restaurants with zero professional training →

Not everyone who wants to write a cookbook should—and as a cookbook coach, Amanda Polick knows when to say so. In this episode, Amanda shares the red flags she watches for when aspiring authors apply to work with her: the family friend who insisted his wild game cookbook was "all in his head," the woman who tried to negotiate rates while planning to spend $8,000 she didn't have on self-publishing, and the applicant who sent her a Canva movie in French. Listeners will discover: Why "it's all in my head" is the most dangerous phrase in cookbook publishing The platform-building work aspiring authors must complete before writing a book proposal How to know if you need a coach, ghostwriter, or just more time Red flags that indicate someone isn't ready for the publishing process Perfect for: Aspiring cookbook authors, food creators considering traditional publishing, home cooks wondering if they should turn their passion into a book Amanda Polick is a cookbook coach who helps food creators develop book propo

Hot take: That novel you're "too busy" to read? It might be the most radical act of resistance you can do right now. Amanda Polick is tired of fiction getting a bad rap. You know the types—"I only read TRUE stories" people who act like novels are somehow less valuable than self-help books. But here's the thing: while 40% of Americans didn't crack open a single book in 2025, our leaders are literally telling us not to believe what we see with our own eyes. Coincidence? Amanda doesn't think so. In this episode, you'll learn: Why reading rom-coms and fantasy actually makes you better at spotting BS in real life (hint: unreliable narrators aren't just in books) The surprisingly low bar for literacy in America—and why it matters when propaganda is everywhere How your brain on fiction is like your brain at the gym (30 minutes = stress relief equivalent to yoga, plus you get smarter) Real talk about why that 900-page book is exactly what your shrinking attention span needs Perfect for: Writers, avid readers, a

If you've ever felt like you're "too small" to get a cookbook deal or that everyone with a million followers is getting all the opportunities, this episode is for you. Amanda breaks down what's really happening in the influencer world right now. Spoiler: follower count doesn't matter the way it used to. Instagram's algorithm shift means small creators with shareable content are getting discovered regardless of how many followers they have. And that changes everything. This is a warm, honest conversation about building something real in a landscape that's constantly shifting. Whether you're dreaming about a cookbook deal, tired of chasing viral trends, or just trying to figure out how to show up authentically online, this episode will give you permission to do things differently. You'll hear about: Why the algorithm shift to prioritize shares over followers is actually good news for micro-influencers The real story behind follower counts and book sales (and why 5,000 engaged followers can matter more than

What do you do when you've announced a launch... but it feels completely wrong? In this episode of Babe Cave, host Amanda Polick shares why she's "unlaunching" her newly announced group coaching program—and why that might be the bravest move she's made all year. In this conversation, you'll discover: → How to tell the difference between fear-based resistance and genuine misalignment → The wild story of Hillary Rushford: how a business coach with 200K followers lost a six-figure book deal that went to auction (and what it teaches us about creative disappointment) → Why stopping your business to write a book is a critical mistake → The John C. Maxwell framework that separates failed plans from failed vision → Permission to fail publicly—and why it's more powerful than silent suffering Perfect for: Writers, creative entrepreneurs, food creators, anyone navigating the messy reality of book publishing, coaches and service providers launching programs Amanda Polick is a book coach specializing in food writers

What if the meals you ate this year could reveal exactly where you're stuck—and where you're headed? In this reflective episode of Babe Cave, Amanda Polick shares her signature year-end practice: using the way you set your table as a mirror for how you show up in your creative work and life. Through three powerful questions about the meals that defined your year, you'll uncover patterns you didn't realize were there—and design the table you actually want to sit at in 2026. In this conversation, you'll discover: How a single meal can reveal the comparison patterns and insecurities holding you back in your creative work Why the simplest meals often teach us the most about contentment—and what that means for your writing practice The connection between overcomplicating your plate and overcomplicating your manuscript (and why both fail for the same reason) A vision casting practice that writers and creatives return to year after year Three reflection questions you can journal through tonight to map your full