#59 Jodi Picoult: The Secret That Inspired Her 30th Novel
Off The Shelf with Morgann Book
Jodi Picoult discusses her 30th novel, Hollow Bones, reflecting on her writing journey, research methods, and evolving relationship with rea
Key takeaways
- Writers are born storytellers but can refine their craft through discipline and self-editing.
- Publishing has rapidly evolved since 1992, with social media and podcasts now central to reader discovery.
Main topics
- The evolution of publishing and author branding
- Author-reader relationships and email engagement
Notable quotes
"I think you are either born a storyteller or you're not."
Conclusion
Jodi Picoult reflects on her three-decade career with gratitude and cu
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) you Speaker 2 (0:05) Hi everyone, welcome back to Off the Shelf. Today's guest has long helped readers make sense of the world. She's the credible author behind My Sister's Keeper, 19 Minutes, and Small Great Things. Hollow Bones is her newest release and is a book that I have genuinely not stopped thinking about. So today we are diving into how this book came to be and the 29 novels of experience before it. Jodi Pico, welcome to Off the Shelf. Oh, thanks for having me. I was so excited. Thank you for coming in here. Now, as part of the lead up to your 30th novel, you've done on this like 30 things you've learned in 30 novels. What is something that you're still Speaker 1 (0:39) learning or want to learn? That's a great question. I think that something I'm still learning is how quickly publishing changes, right? Speaker 2 (0:49) I Speaker 1 (0:49) mean, so like I used to publish a book every year. Now I publish every two years. And I'm continually amazed at how things change just in that short period of time. I think people expect publishing to kind of be like one of these dinosaur industries that never change. But the way that readers are... Finding books has changed so much, even since, you know, my publication in 2024. I mean, to be honest, podcasts are the way that most people find their books. Wow. Speaker 2 (1:15) Yeah. Isn't that kind of cool? The boom of social media, even in like 2020 with... with book talk and TikTok and everything even changed for like how I discover books as a reader. So I can only imagine how it is for Speaker 1 (1:26) an Speaker 2 (1:26) author. Yeah, exactly. Speaker 1 (1:27) And so it's kind of, you know, it's challenging and it's also really fun to have been in the industry forever, you know, but to have to kind of keep reinventing yourself and the way that people find you and find your stories relevant. Speaker 2 (1:40) Wow. Now let's go back a little bit. Your mom said that you wrote your first book at five. You yourself have been like, you're a writer because you can't not. Right. Why do you think at a baseline level writers are born, not made? Speaker 1 (1:54) Oh, I definitely think writers are born, like you said. I think they can be made better writers. Okay. So I think you are either born a storyteller or you're not. And, you know, sometimes it manifests in a career like mine. And sometimes it's just you're the person who sits at an airport and watches people go by and like invents entire life stories for them. Right. You know, but. In my case, I think that I've been telling stories forever since I was a tiny little kid. I never thought I'd be a published writer. I didn't know anyone who was a published writer. Who has that kind of career, right? So that still, honestly, even after all this time, shocks me a little bit. And my husband and I, sometimes when something great happens, we'll grab each other and we do this little jig in the kitchen where we just jump in a circle together to celebrate. It is. Even 30 years into it, there's still so much joy when something good happens. I do think that if you are a born storyteller, you can take writing workshop courses. You can become your own best editor. You can learn how to write on demand. Those, to me, are the really important skills that a writer has to have. You can learn how to deal with criticism because that's another big skill. And that's how you become a more fluent writer. What I think is always really interesting is that at kind of, I would say the end of the first third of my career, the publisher I was with at the time bought my backlist. And they were like, hey, here are the last seven books you've written. If you want to make any changes, go ahead. And I was like, ooh, should I? Because four people who bought the hardcover, do I want it to be a different experience? And when I went back and I reread the stories, I stood by the characters and the plots. And the only things that I would have changed, there were times as a younger writer where it might take me a page to describe something. And now I could probably do it in five really well-placed words. So I think in that sense, I've kind of honed my skills a little bit as a writer. Speaker 2 (3:57) Now, when you publish your first novel, 1992, you... offered to donate books to libraries you offered to attend book clubs how has that kind of changed since that if a new author was starting right now in 2026 would you still give that same advice absolutely Speaker 1 (4:15) because word of mouth is the most invaluable you know a bit of success that you can have as a writer and sometimes you have to create that and I think in a way it's become easier because of social media, but also harder because of social media, because you're not always going to wind up in someone's algorithm. And, you know, a lot of, I call it the American idolization of publishing. You can't just sit in your ivory tower anymore. You are a brand and you have to brand yourself. And I like that part of it. I like. being out. I like being an extrovert. I love doing events. I love meeting my fans and hearing like what my books have meant to them. But there are a lot of writers who don't like that part of it. So, I mean, in a way I'm well suited to that, that kind of task. Um, but I do think libraries are always a great place to start. You know, you buy 10 copies of your own book. You say, I am willing to go and talk to any book club that reads this. And, you know, ideally what happens is they have a great experience with the book. They have a great experience with you. And then they tell a bunch of friends about it. And that's how you spread word of mouth. So, again, that still is, I think, completely legitimate. The way things have changed for me is I used to go and visit book clubs. And then we started doing Zoom and online book clubs. And I scheduled. 50 in one day. And I said, okay, it's time to stop this. Just, I mean, I wouldn't have time to write anymore. 50? Yeah. Oh my gosh. And when you went on and joined like... Speaker 2 (5:37) Were you there for the whole thing? Like what role did you play in an online Speaker 1 (5:40) book club? I mean, usually what people ask is they ask you to come and talk and then, you know, you can either stay for the rest of the discussion or you can leave. So you're there for like a half an hour to an hour, which again is also a big time commitment. But yeah, you know, like I don't choose to stay when people decide to discuss what they liked or did not like about my book. Speaker 2 (5:58) I'm like, okay, thanks. I'm good to go now. Yeah, that's okay. Now, you also famously have like an open email inbox. Why was that important for you, especially to have it open and then not only that, but respond to everyone's email? I Speaker 1 (6:12) truly am the only author I know who doesn't have an assistant. Speaker 2 (6:16) You still, I saw this. You still don't have an assistant. I mean, Speaker 1 (6:19) unless we're counting my husband who is gloriously underpaid. But, you know, no, I don't. And honestly, I think it's because I would feel really guilty because the things I would want an assistant to do are not the fun things like research. You know, I do that. I would ask them to like, you know, go grocery shopping. I don't need that. So I really feel like, I don't know. I think that for me. It doesn't take a lot of time to read the emails that a fan writes you. I know it means a lot to the fan to get a response back. And, you know, to be completely fair and honest, I'm not writing a 17-page email in response. I'm writing a short paragraph. But I think that there are a lot of books in the world, and there are a lot of stories that a reader can pick up or choose to use their money to buy. And if you picked mine, it's just polite to say, Thank you so much. That's really all you have to say. You have to say thank you. Thank you for telling me how my book affected you. Thank you for picking my book up off a shelf. You know, to me, it's just, it's the right thing to do. Speaker 2 (7:20) Wow. Now, Hall of Bones release is right around the corner. Speaker 1 (7:24) Can Speaker 2 (7:24) you expect a number of emails to come through? Speaker 1 (7:27) You can always see it. Like, the amazing thing is, this blows my mind every publication. The morning after the book is released, I will have about 10 emails just like six hours after release saying, I loved it. What's next? And Speaker 2 (7:44) I'm like, oh my God. It took me two years Speaker 1 (7:47) to get this book to you. Can you pace yourself? It's hard. I love that people are so consumed that they stay up all night to read it. But on the other hand, you know, like it takes me a lot longer to write it than it does for you to read it. But yeah, I will see an influx of emails as people start reading it and they want questions answered or they want to give me their feedback. I think this is going to be a really interesting book for me. It reminds me a little bit of Mad Honey in that I think it's hitting at a time where book clubs are going to really want to. dig their teeth into it and talk about it. And Mad Honey is still a very big book club favorite because of that. So I expect this to sort of have a longer tail end. Yeah, I don't think it's going to be a spike of people who read it and then just forget about it. I think I'm going to see a lot of book clubs continue to pick it up. Speaker 2 (8:35) Well, I mean, I read it a few weeks ago and... it was an arc so obviously not many people have read it and I'm like mom when this book comes Speaker 1 (8:42) out Speaker 2 (8:42) I need you to my mom is a huge fan of yours I have some of your backlist here I went through our house um my parents absolutely love your books but I was like I need you to read because there's again there's Speaker 1 (8:51) a Speaker 2 (8:51) lot of things that come up and I think a lot of opinions about this book yeah Speaker 1 (8:55) and Speaker 2 (8:55) I have kept it all inside you're waiting for someone to talk about I'm Speaker 1 (8:59) waiting Speaker 2 (8:59) for someone Speaker 1 (8:59) I need Yeah, Speaker 2 (9:00) my mom and I have our own little book club of sorts. So I'll wait for the 15th. I love Speaker 1 (9:05) that too, because there's so much in this book is about motherhood and what it means to be a good mother. And I love that you're going to have that conversation. There really Speaker 2 (9:11) is. I'm so excited. And Speaker 1 (9:12) she will listen to this episode, of course. Speaker 2 (9:15) You write a lot about very topical things. You write what you're willing to learn and in a way that sort of still makes you a student. What kind of student were you in high school or university? I want you to guess. What kind do Speaker 1