Glenn Boozan: On the Funny Side of Parenting
Emmy nominated comedy writer Glenn Boozan discusses how a funny piece of perspective turned into her new humor book, There Are Moms Way Worse Than You.
Emmy nominated Glenn Boozan recently took home a 2022 Writers Guild Award winner for her work on CONAN. Most recently a writer on Comedy Central’s Lights Out with David Spade and the Hulu talk show from Sarah Silverman I Love You, America, she has also written for the TruTV series Adam Ruins Everything starring Adam Conover, as well as Go90’s Mr. Student Body President.
She was also a senior writer at Above Average, and the writer’s assistant on FX’s Man Seeking Woman. She's written for The New Yorker, The Onion, Comedy Central, and MTV, and a comedy sketch show she co-wrote, This is Going to Hurt, was a New York Times Critics' Pick. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
In this post, Glenn discusses how a funny piece of perspective turned into her new humor book, There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, her advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Glenn Boozan
Literary agent: Brandi Bowles, UTA
Book title: There Are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent
Publisher: Workman
Release date: March 2022
Genre/category: Humor/Parenting
Elevator pitch for the book: There Are Moms Way Worse Than You is a humorous compilation of terrible moms in the animal kingdom that will prove to you, a human mother, how you're actually doing a great job.
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What prompted you to write this book?
A while ago my sister was having a "parent panic" moment where she was being self-critical of her parenting skills. This shocked me because to me, she's the perfect mother. I wanted to comfort her, but I don't have kids myself. So, I just blurted out, "Well, hamster moms eat their kids. So at least you're not doing that."
She laughed and it made her feel better. So, I wrote that sentiment into a Mother's Day card for her, and then that turned into the book.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
About a year? The idea didn't change but my incredible editor Megan added some animals and made the whole thing better overall. We also added an appendix in the back, which took about a month to complete the research and writing.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I didn't realize how long making a book takes! Authors have to be patient people.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I had to do some scientific research which was a new experience for me, a comedy writer. There were a ton of gnarly animal facts we included in the book that surprised me (which I won't spoil for you) but I'll just say the koala's was the most... interesting.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope Moms (and all parents!) read the book and it brings them a little bit of joy and relief. The world needs to go easier on Moms, dammit!!
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Write about something you're passionate about, that you could discuss for hours. And, when looking for publishing, don't let the "nos" deter you!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
