This week, we tackle a pretty big, speculative question: if you were to start a publishing company, what would it look like? We discuss a wide range of facets to this, from editorial vision, publishing models, acquisitions strategies, building a brand, how to cut costs, and more. It's a fun episode; our hope is that more than just making some hypotheticals, we also do some spotlighting of where we feel publishing is really working, where it isn't, and what we would change. Tell us what you think!

Episode 13 — Build-a-Press

This week, we look at the strange and often hilarious ways that women's bodies get described in fiction, and talk about how that descriptive tradition weighs on writers even today. Then, Erik decides to apply to be James Patterson's coauthor, and his sample chapter is ... well, it's really something.

Episode 16 — The Birds and the Boats

This week we're joined by Carly Silver, an assistant editor at Harlequin Books! We talk about what it's like to work as an editor at a romance publisher, whether any of the meetings get a little awkward, and the ins and outs (um, phrasing) of how romance novels are acquired and discussed in house. Plus, we discuss commissioning books as agents, and how that approach differs from the query process.

Episode 19 — The Romance Biz

This week, we discuss what it means to engage in honest critical discussions about writing, why it’s difficult, and how it’s essential to the advancement of the good-faith publishing conversation. Why do people, especially authors, have such a hard time criticizing other books? What does it mean to read critically, versus reading for enjoyment, and has the digital age changed the way books are reviewed? We also talk about why certain books draw criticism and why others seem immune. We also recap this year’s Pulitzer announcements, as well as this weird thing where a guy claims all old Penguin books smell like biscuits. … You tell us, man.

Episode 25 — Fresh Rusk Biscuits

In light of NYC’s new law forbidding employers from asking job candidates their previous salaries, we talk to editor Allyson Rudolph (@allysonrudolph) about the many issues surrounding pay in the publishing industry. Spoiler alert: there are tons, and it ends up hurting people AND the books. Allyson and Erik also tell a couple stories from their time on an editorial staff together and … hoo, boy. It’s a fun, honest, and wide-ranging interview we think you’ll like!

Episode 26 — And Then There Were Hoots

Just the two of us again this week. We discuss the supposed reader experience known as “escapism”—what does it mean, why do people seek it out, and are people actually “escaping” like they think they are when they pick up a good book? Also included is a brief discussion on Henry Holt’s decision to stick with Bill O’Reilly as his publisher, and the debut of a new segment, The Only Good Books!

Episode 27 — The Great Escape

It’s time. This week, we discuss by far the most influential entity in the book industry: Amazon. Bigger than everyone else, more ruthless than everyone else, and yet, completely indispensable to modern book culture. We go through Amazon’s history as it relates to publishing, highlighting its many innovations and its fights with publishers throughout the last decade, and try to get a handle on what Amazon could mean for books, publishing, and the written word.

Episode 31 — Amazon vs. Everyone

Summer Fridays: they’re fun, people love them, and they’re a well-established publishing tradition. But where do they come from, and why does publishing slow down in the summers? We get into the history of the summer Friday, and how it might tie into book culture far more than you might think. We also discuss author estates, in light of the new Harper Lee graphic novel, and apparently PRH bought a shirt company? Anyway, join us!

Episode 34 — Summer Friday

This week, we’re thrilled to have an interview with New York Times bestselling author Shea Serrano. We ask him about his experience with the book-publishing process this time through, whether “experience” and “exposure” can pay bills for emerging writers or unpaid publishing interns (lol no), and of course, about his famous connection with his readers, the FOH Army. Separately, we also lead the show with a quick convo about TSA’s new policy of examining books in carry-on luggage.

Episode 36 — Shoot Your Shot (featuring Shea Serrano)

With the return of Game of Thrones to TV, it’s the right time to talk about the many fascinating writing and publishing aspects of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. How has the series managed to become such a phenomenon, and what about it is innovative or truly special, from a writing standpoint? We look at George’s (slow) history of writing books, his relationship with the HBO TV series (and his fans), and the strange dynamics of having your story told by someone else.

Episode 39 — Write the Book, George

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!

Episode 137—THE BACKISODE

Print Run is a podcast created and hosted by Laura Zats and Erik Hane. Its aim is simple: to have the conversations surrounding the book and writing industries that too often are glossed over by conventional wisdom, institutional optimism, and false seriousness.
 
We’re book people, and we want to examine the questions that lie at the heart of that life: why do books, specifically, matter? In a digital world, what cultural ground does book publishing still occupy?
 
Whether it’s trends in the queries from writers that hit our inboxes or the social ramifications of an industry that pays so little being based in Manhattan, we’re here for it. Probably to laugh at it and call it names, but here for it nonetheless.
 
Print Run is the happy-hour conversation after a long day at a catalog launch; it’s the bottle of wine you drink most of on a Tuesday when the manuscripts are no good. We’re for writers, for publishers, for anyone who’s opened a book and wanted to know—really know—what goes into getting the damn thing made.
 
Join us. We’ll talk about the worst sex scene we’ve ever read and wonder aloud about how millennials will affect the books of the future. We’ll figure out why Jonathan Franzen wants to replace your child with a penguin and whether or not that penguin will be buying hardcovers when he grows up.

Episode 137—THE BACKISODE

Print Run

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