Print Run Podcast

We’re back! In our first episode since going on leave in late 2020, we talk about how our approach and views toward the industry may have shifted since our time of last recording. This transitions into a conversation about the public performance of “working” on social media, and leads to a conversation about the interplay between social media posturing and power in the industry--spoiler alert: that power dynamic needs some fixing. It’s great to be back, and we’re so glad you’re joining us again!

After updating our discussion on the ethics of “news” books in light of Bob Woodward’s new controversial book, we use the occasion of Headwater’s first birthday to talk about the state of modern publishing, where boutique presses and agencies fit in, how the industry could survive and sustain itself moving forward, and much more. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about how, contrary to common wisdom, publishing may need to “think smaller” in order to be the most effective version of itself.

It’s great to be back! This week we catch up on some recent discussions in the book world, by way of first talking through why IP projects can be so beneficial for everyone involved, and then about various events that all revolve around the faulty ways that publishing sees gender. Join us!

This week we talk about the open letter published in Harper’s that supposedly advocates for free speech and open debate--we think it’s actually an argument for something far more pernicious, and on this episode we talk through why. It’s a conversation on power, platform, censorship, and related issues, and we think you’ll find it useful! Special episodes for the month coming soon. You can submit work for those or just write to us at [email protected]. Thanks as always for your support!

Well, it’s summer. Typically that’s a slow period in publishing, but this year feels different for a variety of reasons we try to work through in our discussion, along with some thoughts on how our work might change when the supposed “busy season” hits this fall. How has this pandemic changed the way we see our own working lives and those of our clients? All that and more, including an update on Erik’s new foray into science fiction, and a To Loon It May Concern.

This week, on the heels of what feels like a whole slew of notable publishing stories in response to heightened discussions on race and privilege in the industry, we talk about whiteness. This is a crucial moment in our industry (and of course in the country at large), and it is going to require white people being willing to engage in substantive self-criticism and action that gets beyond the usual expressions of allyship or “correct opinion.” We talk through the need to not shy away from discomfort, to do the necessary work even when it doesn’t rake in social media engagement, and finish with a submitted question about the possibility of getting “canceled” for a bad piece of writing in one’s past. Join us!

This week, we’re talking about a fascinating copyright case involving two authors working within a larger fanfiction universe known as the Omegaverse. It’s . . . a lot, as you’ll soon find out, but it’s also potentially a precursor for how large media corporations could move in on lucrative open-source writing projects. Then we have a quick discussion about shmagencies, and draw a key distinction: agencies that are bad for writers, and agencies that are bad for the agents working at them. Join us!

This week we are excited to have an interview with Genay Jackson and Wynne Kontos, two booksellers who are a part of the Bookstore at the End of the World. They tell us about their experience being laid off at the start of the pandemic, how publishing can treat its booksellers with the respect and value they deserve, and how bookselling is about people and community more than any physical location.

This week, with the announcement of Stephenie Meyer’s forthcoming book, we take on a question as old as time itself: are vampires back? It’s a conversation about how trends are formed, what they mean, and how publishing responds to them, and it ends up transitioning into a discussion on switching categories as a writer too. Join us! Also, we realize that the audio quality is worse now that we are recording remotely during quarantine. Thank you for bearing with us as we work on a better solution, hopefully implemented for this coming week!

As a means of trying to be more uplifting than recent weeks, we take on that everpresent fear all writers have: in relation to publishing, are you good enough? Obviously craft and skill matter, but here we reframe the question to one of constantly changing conditions and markets, rather than anything you can control--this should feel liberating, because no one has a good prediction for what’s “on trend” or will be, or how acquisitions might look even a few months from now. Just write!

This week, we talk about the ways in which publishing has, has not, and could respond to the new conditions presented by the pandemic, and why certain choices made well before 2020 have set up current difficulties. We also take a look at a very topical coronavirus book, and debate whether this sort of quick, reactive publishing is a good strategy in a time like this.

From our own respective isolations, we do a nice little wellness check on each other, and talk about how coronavirus has affected our work, the publishing industry, and even how we and other book people might view concepts like “productivity” moving forward. How will such a massive disruption affect the industry? No one knows, but we talk through a few ideas and in general just catch up.

This week’s episode is a recording of our live show from last week at Subtext Books here in Saint Paul, where we talked with Eric Smith about his new novel DON’T READ THE COMMENTS, how he balances agent and author life, being a positive internet presence in an age of cynicism, and much more.

We talk about the announced deal for the novel The Other Black Girl, a great-sounding book set within the publishing industry that will surely generate all sorts of discussion. We then discuss how publishers themselves might do a better job of investing in indie bookstores, and other infrastructure they rely on to succeed. This week’s To Loon It May Concern centers on deciding between experienced agents versus newer ones. Join us!

We’re back! Laura recently transitioned to agenting full time, and now that the dust has cleared it gives us the chance to talk about the strange calculations in work-life balance nearly everyone in publishing is making, why so many agents have second jobs (and why that’s not something often discussed), and how this culture of broadcasting how busy we all are creates a paradox with the fact that we never talk about our work outside the field.

This week, in addition to singing some sweet 90s pop, we talk through the many facets of the mess surrounding the novel American Dirt. What does this whole saga reveal about publishing’s biases, how review coverage intersects with promotion, or what gets prioritized by publishers in media at the expense of other projects? We discuss all that and more. Join us!

After a quick RWA update, we try to do a segment on resolutions and predictions for 2020, and while we do end up getting there after some deft transition work, we somehow end up talking about the St. Paul cafe scene? Anyway, we talk about interrogating one’s own taste, why SF/F might become more “literary” this year, a new outlook on reading submissions, and a lot more. Join us!

In the wake of the still-unfolding RWA mess, we share our perspectives on what’s gone so badly wrong, and why we feel these problems are--at least in part--intrinsic to the sort of writing institution that RWA has become. From there, we talk about what large writing associations should pay careful attention to as they build, so as to root out the sorts of problems we’re seeing now.

It’s a pretty loose one this week. We talk about where we’re at as we draw toward the end of the year, share some memories from the year, give a delicious recipe for Oreo balls, it’s a whole thing. Come hang out; pretty easy listening today.

This week we talk through the reason for the season, in this stretch after National Novel Writing Month--self-editing and evaluation, and how to decide when something is ready to show others and progress in the publishing process. Join us for a conversation on how we make those calls in our own work, and ways you can see your own writing in that more detached, professional light.

This episode covers an interesting recent piece on the continual publishing of right-wing garbage books, how best to design a contest or grant for marginalized creators (and how that project can go awry), and a To Loon It May Concern about how authors with big platforms should behave online. Join us!

After checking in on #NaNoWriMo, we talk about the recent PW article that wondered aloud whether publishing is “too top-heavy.” It is, but not for the reasons the article suggests! Then we debut our rousing new segment titled “Laura’s Tinfoil Hat,” which is exactly what you think it is, and close with a To Loon It May Concern.

This week we talk about the new California law that’s supposedly designed to help freelancers, but in practice will further devalue their work and the work of staff writers at publications. From there, we talk about a discussion about Netflix that stemmed out of the Frankfurt Book Fair—are they competitors or allies in publishing? As ever, you can submit materials to our special shows at [email protected]. New Patreon shows coming soon!

After a quick response to the Booker award announcement and a note on censorship, today we talk about the unique dynamic of people in publishing also being creators who get published. What can be learned from people who work in publishing and also write? What does it show us about the industry? Finally, we close the week with a TLIMC about how conscientious book-buying. Join us!

This week’s discussion is centered on the idea of long versus short-term expectations in artistic careers, the pressures that make thinking about both difficult, and the role agents play in helping writers see beyond the most immediate project. Also included: a check-in on the Audible case, layoffs at Sports Illustrated, and a thought on EU tariffs and books.

We’re back from Nashville, where we attended the Digital Book World conference! We talk about what we saw at the conference and recap the evening in which we were lucky enough to walk away with a podcasting award. It’s a convo about the state of political nonfiction, brown drinks, the internet, and the publishing job market. Join us!

After quickly running through the publishing news of the past few weeks and deciding whether each thing is Good or Bad, we talk about some news of our own: as of today, we’ve launched our own agency and are open for business. We talk a little about our new agenting home, and then get into a To Loon It May Concern about power dynamics, respect, and agent etiquette online. Join us!

This week we talk about how the new emphasis on preorders for book sales has changed the way books are purchased, discussed, marketed, and evaluated by publishers. It’s a self-reinforcing feedback loop between publishers and book buyers, and it’s a trend with weird ramifications. Then, we talk through the idea of “crossover” books--who creates them, publishers or readerships? In all, it’s an episode about the interactions between the people selling and the people buying books, and how that interaction ends up changing the books themselves.

After a rousing conversation about 1) pie and 2) the joys of novels that can’t be made into good movies, we talk about Macmillan’s new decision to restrict library purchases of ebooks. The (questionable) choice leads to some fundamental questions about the publishing and reading landscape: do libraries help or hurt publisher sales? How does an ebook differ from a print book, in terms of library usage and even just as a product bought and sold?

That classic online book retailer / Pentagon contract candidate is at it again, folks. With the announcement of Audible’s new audiobook feature called “Captions,” we talk about how it mostly amounts to an audacious rights infringement, one that fits perfectly in line with Amazon’s larger cohesive project of devaluing books as a means of swallowing the industry whole. We discuss the possible strategies behind rolling out something as nakedly infringing as this feature, and then look at another news item this week--Dean Koontz signing a five-book deal with Amazon as his publisher--to talk about where everything is at and where we go from here.

It’s hot and muggy out, and we use that as an opportunity to examine one of publishing’s oldest pieces of conventional wisdom, that the industry grinds to a halt in the summer. We discuss how, rather than truly slowing down, the work over summer in books changes; we talk about soft pitching, research, conferences, and the other things that make publishing not a seasonal industry but one with a rhythm we’ve all come to rely on. Also, Laura is hopelessly hooked on a phone game and we try to Work Through That.

Hello from the recording studio, where a large paint job is in progress--but it’s only making the takes stronger. Today we talk about the recent New York Times article about the rampant fraud and counterfeit problem on Amazon, and then contrast it with a GOOD publishing thing, the success of Minotaur Books and their fascinating approach to achieving it. Plus a To Loon It May Concern at the end. Join us! Special episodes for June are out already, and July’s are on the way. As always, you can send us stuff at [email protected].

...It’s a big, open-ended question, but it’s one we ask ourselves this week with regard to how the role of agents and agencies could shift to meet the needs of modern publishing. We talk through some big ideas and some small tweaks, and have a wide-ranging conversation on how agenting could look different--for both agents themselves and the authors they work with.

This week, in light of the Natasha Tynes story, we discuss the trend of books being canceled by publishers due to bad behavior online by their authors. In a time when authors often find themselves harassed online with the intent of driving them off platforms or costing them opportunities, how can we make sure that decisions in response to internet outrage are made properly and based on the right reasons? Do publishers really have a track record that should make us trust them in some of these values judgments? Also included is a quick conversation about the recent sale of Barnes and Noble.

This week we’re joined by literary critic and editor Nathan Goldman to talk about the current state of book discourse, and the role literary criticism plays in the broader publishing ecosystem, especially in the age of Goodreads and Amazon consumer reviews. We discuss blurbs, boosterism, book twitter, the importance of “negative” or nuanced reviews, and how editors decide what gets reviewed and when. It’s a fun conversation that takes good stock of the patterns of contemporary book discussion, so be sure to tune in!

After a few weeks of covering various bits of doom and gloom in the publishing world, people asked us: “why would you or anyone want to take part in this industry?” That’s actually a very good question, and in this episode, which fixates on what we find hopeful about the book world as it currently exists, we try to answer it. We get into why we stick around, what motivates us in the book world, what points of light we see on the horizon. Join us and hopefully you’ll feel good too.

We recorded in the morning this time, and the results… the results are something. In light of publishers turning down Woody Allen’s memoir, we talk about the publisher role as tastemaker--and how far too often and increasingly frequently, they choose to abdicate that responsibility. We also talk about a new interesting copyright protection act for small creators, as well as a new troubling shakeup in the book-distribution landscape. Join us!

We’ve made it to our 100th episode! Mostly this week we spend a little time reflecting on where the show has been, how it’s changed itself and us, and how the book world we’ve been talking about since late 2016 has progressed. Come hang out--it’s a fun, reflective episode that gives us all a chance to take stock of the last 100 Weeks Of Books!

Our main conversation this week is about the recent decision by the Writers Guild of America to push forward in encouraging its members to fire their agents, despite mounting pressure and uncertainty for the writers in their ranks. It’s a really noteworthy (and brave!) step that cuts to the heart of so many issues of how entertainment and publishing treat their creators. Join us as we try to make sense of it.

After some lighter conversation about Laura’s recent Wisconsin book trip, what we’re reading, and who the writerly voice of the millennial generation might be, we talk about Stacey Abrams’s romance-novel-themed appearance on Colbert, a recent discussion about whether the Bad Sex Awards are reflections of America’s latent puritanism, and the larger question of how sex writing intersects with notions of prestige and acclaim in the literary world. It’s warm out, we’re wearing shorts, come hang out.

In light of another RITA award controversy, we discuss the different ways that the literary world hands out prizes, and discuss the interplay between readers, writers, and critics when it comes to shaping the awards landscape. Plus, a discussion about a very good publishing op-ed in the Guardian in a new edition of “What’s Going On Down There?”, and a To Loon It May Concern about what to do when the Writer Internet becomes counterproductive to your work.

We’re back, with a recap of our time at the London Book Fair! It was a trip that reminded us of where we sit in the vast constellation of publishing as an industry, and we got to see how the rubber meets the road in foreign-rights sales too. Come hang out for one of our chattier episodes, full of some Publishing Truths and also just some trip recap as well. It’s good to be back!

This week’s episode is all about comp titles--far from being just something you put in a query letter, comps are how the whole industry talks to itself, and in many ways that practice has come to shape publishing in significant ways. If every book’s prospects exist in relation to a different, preexisting book, how does that change what gets published, and how?

This week’s show features a discussion on the tricky nature of writing fiction about real historical figures, and the heavy responsibility a writer carries in managing source material, historical gaps, and power dynamics. Then, separately, we talk about how agents and authors might balance the much-justified desire for industry transparency with the fact that the author-agent relationship is, well, human and complicated; how can both parties work together to find a place where everyone’s comfortable? Plus, a great To Loon It May Concern about blurbs!

In this week’s show, we discuss everyone’s favorite topic: grammar. How do certain conventions in grammar, syntax, and punctuation end up as class signifiers or tools for enforcing other systems of power? We talk style guides, copy editing, the new book on grammar by Benjamin Dreyer, and plenty else. Also: the horrors of magazine submission fees, and a new letter to the Loon.

We survived the cold! This week we take a look at Wattpad’s new plan to create a full-service publisher and “revolutionize” the media industry (lol), especially in light of further traditional imprint closures and consolidations. Then, we examine that bonkers New Yorker story about Dan Mallory, and discuss how and why some people in the publishing world are allowed to be eccentric liars and self-mythologizers while others never even get a chance to tell the truth. And a To Loon It May Concern at the end. Join us!

In light of the NYT’s critical response to the debut story collection from Kristen Roupenian (author of “Cat Person”), we trace the publishing route from the initial story’s viral success to where the collection is at now, and talk fairly extensively about how publishing handles and responds to viral success. We see a connection between that response and publishing’s newfound desire for first-person narratives readers can “see themselves” in--so much so that a whole imprint has started to publish exclusively first-person projects. This is one of our better and deeper conversations, in our opinion, and we’re excited to hear what you think!

This week, we take stock of three bizarre and unsettling publishing stories: the apparent missteps in the reporting and fact-checking in Jill Abramson’s new book, the author Sherrilyn Kenyon filing a lawsuit over having been poisoned, and to top it all off, Kathleen Hale getting another book deal that strangely seems to celebrate the fact that she tracked down a Goodreads reviewer to her home. It’s a mix of the weird, and we try to draw some larger lessons for publishing out of the mess. Join us!

Happy new year, everyone! On the first Print Run of 2019, We take a look at the year ahead by going through what we’re excited about in the book world, what we’re scared of, predictions, and resolutions. We’ll make it a great year in which certainly nothing will ever happen that makes us mad at all!

Folks, it’s that time of year again. After a riveting new edition of everyone’s favorite Australia-themed segment What’s Going On Down There, we get into some gift suggestions for the Print Run fan in your life. This obviously ranges from the genuinely useful (electric tea kettle!) to the—uh, less so. Anyway, join us for a loose and fun episode that’s sure to warm the cold recesses of your frozen heart.