We recently connected with Leslie Lehr and have shared our conversation below.

Leslie, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?

When my first novel won the Pirates Alley Faulkner Prize, the conference leaders flew me to New Orleans and put me up in a penthouse to accept the award. Before the ceremony, a hurricane caused the city to shut down. When I returned the following year I didn’t get the penthouse, but I met my new agent and my editor from Random House. I overheard my agent tell other writers about my query letter and the editor telling writers to read my novel. Between the fiction award and getting a screenplay produced the same year, I was hired to teach in the Writers Program at UCLA, to hold private workshops, and begin consulting one on one. I was publishing in both fiction and nonfiction, so I was walking the walk – doing as well as teaching. I’m still actively writing and have a reputation for having X-ray vision to help other writers develop their stories. I love my job!

Leslie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an award-winning, bestselling author, essayist and screenwriter who works with other writers at every stage of the process. 90% of sales on Amazon go to the top 1% of writers. As a working author, I can recognize and help mine the gold of every story so that it shines on every page. With 25 years in the game, I understand the challenges of both writing and publishing – and save my clients hours, weeks, and months of work to get them where they need to be as a professional.

My services range from one hour consultations, to Jumpstart packages, query letters, nonfiction proposals, and the developmental editing of full manuscripts. My expertise is where most writers fail: structure. Other consultants and book coaches can point out problems – as a working author with the highest level of technical knowledge and personal expertise, I can suggest ways to solve them. That makes my work unique.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During the release of my third novel, I had breast cancer treatments that left me with chemo brain. My analytical skills snapped back so I could work with clients, no problem. But my creative well-spring for fiction was gone. I wrote a New York Times Modern Love column which went viral and was read on NPR by Katie Couric, and called it a day.

A few years later, the night we moved to my dream house and were ready to celebrate my survival, I got out of the shower and got upset seeing my scarred body in the mirror. My husband was waiting for me while watching TV, and just as he tried to calm me down, a famous-late night comedian made a boob joke! After all I’d been through since being a typical little girl – wanting boobs, getting them, hiding them, breastfeeding with them, and now nearly dying from them – I was furious. My husband accused me of being obsessed. He was right, but I wasn’t alone – and I needed to understand why. That very night, I knew this would be my next book – exploring women’s lives through the lens of our breasts, the way we are treated and held back because of the way our culture sees us.

So I wrote A Boob’s Life: How America’s Obsession Shaped Me.. and You. It’s both memoir and nonfiction narrative with research, lists of facts, and photos. The hardback was released during Covid as a Must-Read for People, Glamour, and GMA; Entertainment Tonight included me in “Women Changing the World”; the NYTimes Wirecutter called me a “boob expert,” and it was the #1 Bestseller on Amazon for Feminist Literature the same day HBOMax optioned it as a TV comedy series.

Since then, the paperback release is a Women’s Nat’l Book Association “Great Group Read” and I continue to get letters from grateful readers all over the world. The TV series has evolved into a romantic comedy film – and I just finished the screenplay. So being resilient was truly a trust-your-instincts move.

A takeaway for creatives is that our Intellectual Property has a ton of value. If we believe in a project and do our best work, no matter what happens when we send it into the world, it represents us. And it can live forever, on many platforms.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is the opportunity to have a voice. Beyond entertaining and informing others, our art allows us to express who we are and how we live. We can stick a pin in the map of the world and say: I was here.

As a writer, my work is in the Library of Congress. AI has stolen several of my books to teach computers, but they can’t steal my place in the world. I love writing to vent, to inspire, to examine, and to make the world a better place.

I love working with clients to help them find their voices and write their stories in the best way to be heard. I am not a coach who coddles, but a professional working from the trenches who can help others rise about the noise. Most of my clients find me online or by referral because my name is my reputation. I work hard, and I believe in the craft. At the end of the day, that’s what makes it feel like magic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leslielehr.com
• Instagram: @leslielehr_author
• Facebook: authorleslielehr
• Linkedin: leslie-lehr
• Twitter: Vetoing Elon Musk

Image Credits

Pegasus Books