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Amy Suto
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto, a bestselling author and San Francisco content creator. Find your next job on my job board, 🛋️ CozyJobs!
Nobody is Going to Make Your Thing: The Cavalry Isn't Coming and Other Hollywood Pep Talks
I get a lot of people who ask me how to get started in the industry, i.e. how to sell a script or something or get somebody to produce your idea or get a studio to buy your screenplay or make your podcast or whatever.
Get Help Becoming a Freelance Writer + Writing Your Novel, Screenplay, or Whatever: Consultations + Writing Coaching Sessions Open!
In the past decade or so since I started this blog, I've had the pleasure of chatting with so many of you wonderful people about all things writing/creativity/the best coffeeshops in LA.
My Freelance Writing Workflow: Billing, Invoicing, Contracts and More (How to Manage Your Freelance Writing Business)
Like most freelance writers and people on the planet earth, I don't really enjoy things like contracts, billing, invoicing, and all that jazz. If it was up to me, I'd spend my days frolicking through the forest writing poetry on tree bark and learning how to whittle tiny figurines of pandas.
My Advice to 2020 and 2021 Film School Graduates: Navigating the Post-COVID Entertainment Industry and Building a New Path
I've written a lot on my blog about traditional entrypoints for the industry, from surviving being an agency assistant to networking authentically to the difference between support staff positions in the writers' room. Now, I'm modifying my advice, in part because I don't think the assistant route is a viable one for writers anymore.
How to Produce a Scripted Podcast
We're all about scripted podcasts here on the ol' blog nowadays! If you missed my post about how to write a scripted podcast, I'd recommend starting there. After all, there is no scripted podcast without a script!
How to Be a Freelance Writer During a Pandemic
I feel like most of my blog posts these days begin with "hello everyone, remember this horrific world we in the United States are living through right now? Hopefully we can turn this chaos and mass tragedy of COVID-19 and the failings of our nation into something positive!"
How to Write a Scripted Podcast at the End of the World
We're living in extraordinary times, from the pandemic to the incredible revolution sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement. It's a reminder to all storytellers that we need to support the kinds of stories that reflect the reality we live in: that cop shows have glorified cops for far too long, that we haven't been questioning underlying structures of our world in the way that we need to in order to create dangerously and be good allies.
Content Writing: How to Get Hired as a Blogger and Actually Get Paid to Have Opinions on the Internet
It's 4pm, and I'm settled on my chaise lounge by my open window overlooking the LA skyline dotted by palm trees, a fresh breeze blowing gently. The warm sunlight streams in as I type away on my laptop, sipping an iced tea as I share a steady stream of thoughts on the internet about why your five waffle irons are cluttering your kitchen, or how authors can connect with their audiences by showing the #struggles of what it's like behind-the-scenes as we spin words into fiction.
Essay: Things I Want You to Remember
In this time of both quiet and noise, there's some things I'd like to remind you of. I want you to remember that while you can't pluck the stars from the sky, you can build the infrastructure to reach them.
A New Writer's Guide to Moving to Los Angeles & Surviving Hollywood
Hello! Welcome to Los Angeles. I am writing this from Pandemic Times, but one day soon it will not be The End of the World (I so dearly hope) and in that time the migration of new writers coming to this city to make it in Hollywood will resume.
How to Hire and Work with Freelancer Writers
When I'm not writing my scripted podcast, working in a TV writers' room, or on the road traveling for work and for play, I'm a freelance writer and memoir ghostwriter.
Remote Work Survival Guide: How to Work from Home and Not Lose Your Goddamn Mind
So, I heard you're working from home now! WELCOME to the league of pajama-wearing workers like myself. We've been doing this for awhile, come on in, the water's just fine. (So you can stop hoarding water bottles now, okay?)
Pandemic Diaries: How Writers Can 'Create Dangerously' in Times of Turmoil
Things are tough right now: how do we make the best of a crisis while taking care of ourselves and others? Part of the way I'm staying sane throughout this pandemic is by connecting frequently with friends and family over the phone and via FaceTime, reading good books, going on walks, and trying to focus on work even in a time of crisis.
10 Things To Do While Under Coronavirus Self-Quarantine for Writers and Creatives (Pandemic Survival Guide!)
In a matter of days, my writers' room began working from home, all my meetings and events got cancelled, and we had to put a pin in all of the in-person programming we had set up for Kingdom of Pavement. I started lining up freelance work for when my writers' room ends with the intention of just hanging out at home for a bit while this whole pandemic absorbs the entire city and also does the impossible: quell Los Angeles traffic. (Drag racing on Sunset Blvd, anyone?)
The 9 Things I Did Right in My Writing Career in 2019
Hello! It's time for my 2019 wrap-up post, and I thought I'd go over the 9 things I did right this year in my writing and in life.
Weekend Read: Ronan Farrow's Catch & Kill, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, oh and also Cold War Kids Have a New Album
Hello! Happy November, world. I've been writing my millennial underground this story for #NaNoWriMo, and, in classic National Novel Writing Month form, I'm behind. But if you keep visiting amysuto.com/underground, you'll find new chapters added.
How to Ghostwrite a Memoir (Ghostwriting 101)
Anyways, it's October and I haven't blogged since I got back from Berlin. It's also sPoOkY sEaSoN which means I have to go to Halloween parties thrown by actors who somehow have ENDLESS costume/wig/special effects makeup to the point where 1 actor friend could outfit all the dayplayers on an episode of THE WALKING DEAD and STILL have leftover digs for the cast of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD.
A Year of Writing: What I've Learned from Traveling, Writing for TV, Freelancing, & Ghostwriting Memoirs for People All Over the World
I'm on a rooftop bar in Paris, talking to an American who works in "security" in third world countries (read: definitely CIA) and an allegedly famous actor from Istanbul. The sun is setting, the actor is buying all of us shots, and we're toasting to meeting new people and getting out of our comfort zones in the golden glow of the evening.
How to Plan a Research Trip for Your Script or Novel
Want to make the most out of your research trip for your script or novel? Here are my top tips to have inspired adventures.
THE PRISONER (1967): Day 5 of 31 Days of Spy Films & Television
Welcome back, spy fans! This is day 5 of my non-consecutive blog series of the best spy shows and movies.
4 Lessons Writers Can Learn from Yoga and Meditation
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm in the middle of training for my yoga certification so I can teach yoga for writers. As someone who loves to experiment with ways to improve my writing and creative mind, yoga and meditation were always something I turned to in order to find space for my process. Now, I'm taking a deep dive, and it's been transformative.
How to Be an Introverted Writer in Hollywood and Other Truths about Introversion
As an introverted writer, I'm going to share some of the observations I've made about making my way through the world and what I wish everyone knew about working with introverts.
Writing Routines: A Holistic Approach to Crafting Your Weekly Writing Schedule
If you think I'm writing these blog posts in part so I can spend my mornings browsing aesthetically pleasing photos of coffee and desks and people writing in dramatic lighting, you'd be 100% right. Also, it's January, so I'm on that Self Development Kick that we all get when advertisers are hammering into our minds how we can be better, and our new years' resolutions haven't faded from our minds for the next 11 months.
The 4 Best Los Angeles Coffeeshops to Write Your Screenplay In
So the best new years' resolution I've ever achieved is 'become a regular in independently-owned coffeeshops I love.' And as a screenwriter living in Los Angeles, this basically makes me a god. Or just someone who drinks way too much coffee.
The Americans: Day 4 of 31 Days of Spy Films & Television
Because I work on a spy show, I knew I had to see the full series. I, like so many people I know, gave up around season 1 because I found it a bit dull. On the spectrum, I prefer a bit more elevated spy thrillers because I find that if you get too grounded you run the risk of something too muddled and pedantic rather than a slick and gut-wrenching show that hits in an emotional place while keeping the tension high.
A Writers' Life in 2018: Novel Writing, Freelancing, First Episode of Television
It's December! You know what that means: a lengthy reflection on the year that's passed, with all the ups and downs and status on my impending carpal tunnel!
The Bourne Trilogy (Spy Month, Day 3)
In this weird shadow universe where tyrannical television hosts now run nations, I refuse to let one more injustice tip the scales. So, we're not going to acknowledge any of the Bourne films beyond Ultimatum.
La Femme Nikita (1990) and the Nikita TV Series: Spy Month, Day 2
For those of you playing along at home, the answer is yes, I am posting three blog posts for this series today because I didn't post any yesterday and I'm already behind for spy month. Feel free to judge me, I also blog professionally so really I have no excuse other than "I'm busy playing pretend for a living and this blog truly exists just so I can craft my piecemeal dissertation about why I'm never going to watch The Wire."
The Third Man (1949): Spy Month, Day 1
Today's film is none other than the classic 1949 film, THE THIRD MAN. It's not squarely in the spy genre as it's set in post-war Vienna and pre-Cold War, but the noir style and general sense of intrigue place it in my definition of the "spy" genre.
31 Days of Spy Films and Television
In honor of starting in a new writers' room for a spy show, I'm writing 31 blog posts about some of my favorite movies and TV shows within the genre. That's 31 days filled with intrigue and conspiracy and white men angrily hanging up the phone as Jason Bourne gets away yet again.
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto. I’m a bestselling author, San Francisco content creator, and co-creator of the job board 🛋️ CozyJobs. Join CozyJobs to browse thousands of jobs and get daily matches to your inbox — writing and creative roles front and center!
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Find your next writing job on 🛋️ COZYJOBS — thousands of jobs on a board updated daily, writing and creative roles front and center. ✨ The application tracker is free (basic CozyApply autofill is too), and paid plans start at $25/month with daily job matches straight to your inbox. Real writers are landing real work—don’t miss out.
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MY NEW BOOK: WRITE FOR MONEY & POWER
The anti-starving-artist's guide to becoming a seven-figure writer.
MY NEW NOVEL: LET ME BE YOUR GHOST
My romantic thriller arrives November 2026 — a ghostwriter with secrets, a billionaire CEO with more. Preorder one book, get two. Claim your bonus here →
MY ROMANTASY NOVEL: THE ASH TRIALS
The deadliest game is remembering who you are.
MY DETECTIVE NOVEL: THE NOMAD DETECTIVE
Crime crosses borders, but so does this detective.
MY HOW-TO BOOK: SIX-FIGURE FREELANCE WRITER
Work smarter, not harder — without the burnout.
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