When Sarina found Stephanie Pao on social media, she knew she had to interview her. Stephanie has the job we all want—she owns a bookstore on wheels. La Fleuria is L.A.’s first mobile romance bookstore, and we are here for it. Tune in to hear our interview with Stephanie. We’re discussing how she got this idea, where she turned for advice, and how she figures out what to stock and where to park La Fleuria! Show links include: #YouAndYourBookstore episode with Mary Laura Philpott La Fleuria book truck Stephanie on Instagram Stephanie’s Linktree La Fleuria’s popup schedule Thrown for a Loop , Sarina’s upcoming release (pub date 11/4/25) TropeTruck , a book truck whose owner generously contributed knowledge Ingram , the wholesale bookseller we discuss in some detail (because Jess needed to understand how this bookseller access to indie authors works!) Books Stephanie recommends and loves to sell at La Fleuria: Yes No Maybe by Jessica Sherry (La Fleuria’s #2 bestseller!) Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata Hey, Jess here to talk to you about a new series I have created just for supporters of the #AmWriting Podcast. I met an aspiring author and speaker who has an idea for a book that just knocked me over. I said, please, please write that book. This is someone who had an idea that has a place in the market. It's timely. She's the perfect person to write it, and I asked her, I begged her, if I could please mentor her through this process publicly on the podcast. So while we're not giving her full name and we're not giving the actual title of the book, because we don't want to hand those things away, I am coaching her through the entire process, from preparing her book proposal to querying an agent. I'm going through the whole thing with her. She knows nothing about the publishing industry, she knows very little about how one goes about writing a book—so essentially, this is as I mentioned before, from soup to nuts, From Authority to Author, and hopefully we'll get her there. But really, whether or not this book ends up selling, whether after this book she ends up having a speaking career, this is about the process of preparing to do that. I hope you’ll join us. This series is for supporters only, so if you are a free subscriber right now, consider upgrading . Remember, if you upgrade, you'll also get the ability to submit for our First Pages Booklab, and lots of other fun stuff that we put out just for supporters—So come join us. It's a lot of fun. Subscribe now
