Thrilling New Chapters with Michael Wendroff

Turning a lifelong dream into a published reality.

Marketing-consultant-turned-thriller-writer Michael Wendroff shares his fascinating journey of being raised within a literary family – surrounded by manuscripts and legendary authors like Robert Ludlum – before carving out his own successful career in marketing. 

He discusses how the pandemic finally provided the opportunity to overcome a lifetime of procrastination and pen his debut novel, What Goes Around. 

Michael offers invaluable insight into the traditional publishing process, the essential role of literary agents, and the importance of perseverance when receiving editorial feedback. 

We explore the 'self-actualising' power of fulfilling a lifelong creative dream and the positive impact it has on mental and physical wellbeing, while Michael also provides practical advice for aspiring writers, from exercising the 'writing muscle' daily to the necessity of self-promotion in the modern publishing landscape.

Connect with Michael here.

Buy books by Creativity Found guests here.

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Transcript

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Michael Wendroff: 0:08

You know, I always did want to write a book, but the practical side of me and my parents said, you know, go get yourself a good education. It is a little tough at first to hear your baby, your creation is not quite perfect. You know, maybe a little weight was taken off of my shoulders that's been there my entire life. And now that I actually got this done, I'm just so thankful and happy.

Claire Waite Brown: 0:35

Hi, I'm Claire. For this podcast, I chat with people who have found or refound their creativity as adults. We'll explore their childhood experiences of the arts, discuss how they came to the artistic practices they now love, and consider the barriers they may have experienced between the two. We'll also explore what it is that people value and gain from their newfound artistic pursuits. This time, I'm chatting with with Michael Wendroff. Hello, Michael. How are you?

Michael Wendroff: 1:07

Hi. How are you doing?

Claire Waite Brown: 1:08

I'm very well, thank you. Start by telling me what your current creative outlet is, please.

Michael Wendroff: 1:15

Well, I am a thriller writer, I'm happy to say after many years as a marketing person. My debut thriller was actually published about a year ago in hardcover as well as ebook and audiobook. And. And more recently, it has been published in a trade paperback, and the paperback edition actually has a book club discussion guide inserted into it because my novel was very popular among book clubs.

Claire Waite Brown: 1:44

Oh, brilliant. Did creative activities, whether writing or something else, did they play a part in your life when you were younger, at school or at home?

Michael Wendroff: 1:55

Certainly I was born into some creativity because my mother was actually an editor in major New York City publishing houses. In fact, I distinctly remember her on weekends sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and manuscript pages strewn about her. And she had her red pen in hand marking up her editorial comments on these manuscripts. Now, you know, you think that would have prepared me for when I got my editorial input on my novel, and, you know, it wasn't in red ink, but those words in the side of the document on the computer, they felt like red ink. But you know that that's the way it is in publishing. Editors have to do their jobs, and they always make the books much better.

Claire Waite Brown: 2:42

Yeah, as an editor myself, I very much like that comment. They always make the books better. It can be difficult, can't it, when somebody else is reading and critiquing your creations?

Michael Wendroff: 2:55

You know, that's true. And I've heard from other authors, Sarah Penner, whose first book was a bestseller, and even Lee Child, who's had, you know, million Jack Reacher bestselling books, and I've heard them both say that they'll get this editorial input back. They'll start cursing or they'll start crying, in the case of Sarah Panner. But then, you know, they put it aside for a day or two and then they go back and make their changes and they again say, yeah, it's better for it, but. And it is a little tough at first to hear your baby, your creation is not quite perfect.

Claire Waite Brown: 3:31

Not quite perfect. As you were growing up, seeing that, did that make you aspire to go into the same area of work? What was your later education and work life like?

Michael Wendroff: 3:46

Writing always came a little bit natural to me, but you know, that was mostly school reports, that type of thing. But you know, I further grew up around writers because my mother remarried and she married a literary agent. And literary agents are really key in the publishing world. If you're not going to self publish and you want to get published by a traditional publisher, you need a literary agent. Publishers will not look at manuscripts unless they come through a literary agent. And a literary agent serves many purposes. Sometimes the literary agent is really your first editor. They'll provide suggestions before they'll even show your novel to prospective publishers. And then, you know, they know what publishers to send your type of novel to. Like my novel, what Goes around is a thriller. So my agent would send it to specific publishing houses and specific editors that the agent knows would like this type of book. So they have these important relationships and if you're lucky enough to get a publishing deal, they'll negotiate the terms of the deal, they'll take you through the contract and all that legalese, and they'll also sell other types of rights to your book. For example, what Goes around was sold in the Italian language, which is great because I'm now in Italy, which is fun. And it's sold in Hungarian and it was sold in Japanese. I can't Waite to see that one. I'm glad I don't have to prove it though. So, you know, agents are key. And my mother actually remarried literary agent Henry Morrison and he had a lot of interesting clients, really well known clients a lot in the mystery and thriller fields. And that's how I got into the field, just reading all those books. Of course, they were all free to me. And I also got to know some of the authors. One of his clients was Robert Ludlum, who a lot of people know from the Bourne Identity movies with Matt Damon. But he was a big best selling novelist. And I remember, in fact there was one time where I got to vacation at his winter home, which was in the Caribbean at St. Thomas. I remember waking up early one morning, going into the living room and there he was on the couch with a yellow legal pad and number two Ticonderota pencil in his hand. And that's how he wrote his 450 page novels, by hand. I couldn't believe it. And, you know, while I admire Ludlam's plotting and his prose, thank God when it came time to write my novel, I had a PC not doing my hand.

Claire Waite Brown: 6:27

Yeah, having that influence, having those people around, that must have been very exciting. What did you aspire to do career wise or what did you do career wise?

Michael Wendroff: 6:38

So, you know, I always did want to write a book, but the practical side of me and my parents said, you know, go get yourself a good education. So I went to NYU in the usa, both undergraduate and graduate. I got my MBA in marketing. And it was interesting though that, you know, when I was writing my MBA thesis, I was actually able to combine my original love of books in the publishing industry along with my new love of marketing. I really enjoyed studying marketing and business. And my thesis was actually on marketing within the publishing industry. And for that, in order to write that and research that thesis, I had to talk to a lot of business executives in the publishing industry, a lot of editors. And I remember in fact, Waiteing outside the editor in chief's office at Simon and Schuster Publishers. His name at the time was Michael Korda. I'm Waiteing and it's beyond time for my appointment. And then finally the door opens up and I come in and who is standing there in front of me but Truman Capote looking just as you'd think, the panama hat, a big white suit, and, you know, talk about thrillers. In Cold Blood. I mean, one of the original masterpiece thrillers. So it was really something. And the other good thing was that there's a trade journal in the publishing industry that's called Publishers Weekly in the US and they got wind that I was going around talking to all of these editors at the publishing houses and they contacted me and, you know, I sent them what I had on the thesis and they actually ended up excerpting my thesis in three different issues. And then they paid me for it. So I paid for my thesis. And that was the first time I got paid for writing. And I like that.

Claire Waite Brown: 8:31

So was marketing then what you carried on doing?

Michael Wendroff: 8:36

Yes, it was. So, yeah, after graduation, I got a job in marketing at a big consumer products company. And it was great for. For learning all of the basics of marketing then and dealing with advertising agencies and getting A good classical marketing background with the ad agencies. They would come and they'd bring us storyboards for TV commercials or print ads. You'd go back and forth on the storyboards. The marketing people would provide suggestions to the advertising agency or ask them to come back with totally new executions. And, you know, sometimes because I liked writing too, I would write my own storyboards and give it to them. And I don't think they liked that. I think they wanted to do their own job. So I. I don't think any of them bought my book. But it was a good education in marketing, for sure. And then eventually, you know, after a number of years with very big companies, I opened my own global marketing consultancy.

Claire Waite Brown: 9:34

So that must have kept you busy. When and why and how did you give yourself the time or decide now was the time to write for yourself as opposed to writing for what other people needed?

Michael Wendroff: 9:50

Well, you know, it was really the pandemic Covid that got me to write. And, you know, in my town in Florida at that point, you really couldn't do anything. You couldn't play tennis, obviously. You couldn't go out to eat or see movies. And, you know, you couldn't even go to the beach in my town. So I had no more excuses for putting off my novel. And, you know, I was also reaching a certain age, and it's like kind of now or never. I better give this a shot. And so I. I did write it during the pandemic, and, you know, I was able to get a literary agent. So all has been good. In fact, you know, based on the reviews and the sales of what goes around, my publisher has given me a contract for a second book, which I'm writing right now.

Claire Waite Brown: 10:37

Oh, how exciting. Had you written the book book before looking for the agent? Because you could have just written the plan and a sample. Which way around did you do it?

Michael Wendroff: 10:50

I wrote the book in full and then, you know, have the. Have my family read it and make suggestions, and I'd revise it on that basis. And then I sent it to the agent. And I didn't quite realize in traditional publishing, you know, what the whole editing process is like. And that was definitely an education because I learned that when I typed the end, it was not. It was not the end by any stretch of the imagination. What I learned was that there's a lot of different types of editors in the publishing world. I can't tell you how many times I read my book. It's a good thing. I like it.

Claire Waite Brown: 11:37

Where did the story come from?

Michael Wendroff: 11:40

The impetus goes back to my mother again. And it goes back to the second that I was born. I was put on her chest, or so I'm told. And she said, oh, how nice to see you again. And it was always that again part that intrigued me. And I always wanted to do something, write something about that. And that actually makes it into the final plot twist. It's a traditional thriller in some ways. It's a real page turner and it's got twists and turns throughout the whole book. And it has an ending that's kind of a traditional thriller ending where things get resolved in the final twists. But then I have an epilogue, which it goes a little bit into the spiritual realm for normal readers who aren't interested in that. It's got, it's got its thriller ending, which is satisfying. But then the epilogue has yet another twist ending that goes a bit into the spiritual realm, which is based on my mother saying, nice to see you again.

Claire Waite Brown: 12:45

Allowing yourself to write this and to have this time and to have this activity. Do you think that has introduced other benefits to your life?

Michael Wendroff: 12:55

I think being able to do something that I've always wanted to do my entire life was actually like self actualizing, getting to that stage of, wow, I did it. I actually wrote a book and it was actually bought and published and got good reviews. And it was like, I feel good, you know, kind of like the song, you know, I guess it just, you know, makes me very happy. And I guess if I'm happy, then people around me seem to be a little happier too. It's just always nice. Spread the happiness. And, you know, I think, you know, if you, you feel mentally happy, I think it could translate physically as well. I think there is that mind body connection. So I think that's the biggest thing. Almost like, you know, maybe a little weight was taken off of my shoulders. That's been there my entire life. And now that I actually got this done, I'm just so thankful and happy.

Claire Waite Brown: 13:47

Brilliant. And what advice might you have for other aspiring writers who haven't yet had the time or perhaps the courage to start their own writing journey?

Michael Wendroff: 14:01

I would say there's actually two things, one on the writing side and one on the selling side, I would call it. So on the writing side, a few things, I guess. One is write every day, even if it's 10 minutes. Just keep in practice to exercise your writing muscle. And if you can get a writer's group either online or in person to get some feedback on your writing, do that. I think that's really good. And Then, you know, there's definitely a craft to writing. And there are a lot of sources where you can practice that. Craft books written on writing. Stephen King has a famous book on writing that's very good. You can also go online and there's a lot of online seminars. I took a few actually from BBC Maestro. I took a session by Harlan Coben, and I took a session from Lee Child and actually James Patterson as well. I took three. And they don't all say the same thing, but that's fine. You adapt and find what works for you, so definitely do that. And also, you know, every genre has its own annual conferences. For example, for thrillers, I was just at Thriller Fest, which is a big annual conference in New York City that brings together aspiring writers, published writers, famous authors. And it's good for a lot of reasons. It's good to socialize with these people, make contacts. But they also, at these conferences, they all have craft sessions, various sessions on how to write from different perspectives or how to deal with a middle of a book that may be too slow or, you know, all sorts of different things on the craft of writing. So if you can, you know, I'd say go to those. Try and do all of that if you can. If you can't do any of it, just write 5 or 10 minutes every day and that by itself will be helpful. Also read in your genre. I mean, I'm constantly reading in the thriller genre. That would be my advice on the writing side. And then, you know, potential authors should know that these days you've got to really go out there and push your book. The publishers themselves, they really don't have the resources and the time to do a lot. And they expect you to be out there and sell and do things like go on terrific podcasts like yours. Go and try and get publicity at newspapers, even your local newspaper. I was, I was actually lucky, you know, with my marketing background, I was really pushing, pushing. So the newspaper where I live did a big feature article on me. The magazine in my area put me on the COVID Bookstores did events with me. But, you know, you gotta be prepared for that. And, you know, a lot of writers tend to be introverts, but just go out there and try it. Everyone's really friendly, and the more you do it, the better and more comfortable you'll be at doing it. Just go for it, but be prepared. That that's. That's part of the deal.

Claire Waite Brown: 16:57

Perfect, thank you. That's really useful. Wonderful chat we've had. How can people connect with you, Michael?

Michael Wendroff: 17:05

I have a website, michaelwendroff.com and also, you know, my book is in bookstores and all online bookstores as well and I hope you enjoy it.

Claire Waite Brown: 17:16

Brilliant. Thank you so much.

Michael Wendroff: 17:18

Thank you. I really appreciate it. It's been fun.

Claire Waite Brown: 17:21

I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, perhaps you'd like to financially contribute to future episodes at buymeacoffee.com/creativityfound There's a link in the Show Notes. If you are listening on a value for value enabled app such as Fountain, TrueFans or Podcast Guru, feel free to send a few sats my way. And if you have no idea of what I'm talking about, you can find out more by listening to my sister podcast called Podcasting 2.0 in Practice.