In this episode, I talk with writer and editor Sari Botton. Back around 2010, Sari started an interview series at The Rumpus called “Conversations with Writers Braver Than Me.” At the time, as a writer of first-person nonfiction, she felt paralyzed by the fear of hurting those closest to her.

This week, we’re featuring an episode from a great new show called The Bleeders. The Bleeders is a podcast (and support group) about book writing and publishing. The podcast emphasizes “transparent conversations with authors, agents, and people in the publishing industry about how to write and sell books.” The title is a wry nod to the famous Hemingway quote: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

It can be difficult for writers to learn to put our stories front and center. That was originally the case with today’s guest, Lilly Dancyger. She originally set out to memorialize her father, Joe Schactman, through a book that would feature artwork and stories she’d collected from friends.