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Print Run Podcast - Podcast

Print Run Podcast

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.

Literature Writing Arts Books
Update frequency
every 18 days
Average duration
53 minutes
Episodes
185
Years Active
2016 - 2025
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Episode 140—Speculation on the Speculative

Episode 140—Speculation on the Speculative

This week we take on a term we all love but can never quite pin down: speculative fiction. What do industry people--and readers--mean when they say “speculative,” and what does the distinction betwee…
00:53:10  |   Tue 06 Apr 2021
Episode 139— Taste and Agency

Episode 139— Taste and Agency

This week we take a look at Laura McGrath’s fascinating paper on how literary agents shape the acquisitions landscape. It’s got a lot of insights we agree with and some things we push back on a bit, …
01:00:17  |   Mon 15 Mar 2021
Episode 138—Literary Survival

Episode 138—Literary Survival

This week, we unpack a fascinating essay about the ways in which Philip Roth managed his authorial image and career, and the various questions it raises about what “success” is, how to be a good lite…
00:53:03  |   Tue 09 Mar 2021
Episode 137—THE BACKISODE

Episode 137—THE BACKISODE

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 in…
00:43:53  |   Mon 22 Feb 2021
Episode 136—Thinking Small

Episode 136—Thinking Small

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 publ…
00:55:36  |   Tue 15 Sep 2020
Episode 135—The Publishing Binary

Episode 135—The Publishing Binary

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 v…
00:54:13  |   Wed 26 Aug 2020
Episode 134—The Letter

Episode 134—The Letter

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 t…
01:00:46  |   Tue 14 Jul 2020
Episode 133—Weird, Weird Summer

Episode 133—Weird, Weird Summer

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 w…
00:51:28  |   Tue 23 Jun 2020
Episode 132—Pressure Points

Episode 132—Pressure Points

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 c…
00:56:28  |   Wed 10 Jun 2020
Episode 131—Welcome to the OmergerdVerse

Episode 131—Welcome to the OmergerdVerse

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 i…
00:47:13  |   Wed 27 May 2020
Episode 130—The Bookstore at the End of the World, featuring Genay Jackson and Wynne Kontos

Episode 130—The Bookstore at the End of the World, featuring Genay Jackson and Wynne Kontos

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 l…
00:50:43  |   Tue 12 May 2020
Episode 129—VAMPIRES BACK

Episode 129—VAMPIRES BACK

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…
00:42:22  |   Tue 05 May 2020
Episode 128—“Am I Good Enough?”

Episode 128—“Am I Good Enough?”

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 h…
00:46:35  |   Tue 21 Apr 2020
Episode 127—Publishing’s Pandemic Response

Episode 127—Publishing’s Pandemic Response

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 curren…
00:56:59  |   Tue 07 Apr 2020
Episode 126—Socially Distanced

Episode 126—Socially Distanced

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 peo…
00:56:52  |   Tue 24 Mar 2020
Episode 125—Print Run Live, featuring Eric Smith!

Episode 125—Print Run Live, featuring Eric Smith!

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 ag…
00:55:45  |   Tue 10 Mar 2020
Episode 124—Publishing About Publishing

Episode 124—Publishing About Publishing

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 pu…
00:57:45  |   Tue 25 Feb 2020
Episode 123—Work Life

Episode 123—Work Life

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 …
00:58:59  |   Tue 18 Feb 2020
Episode 122—American Dirt

Episode 122—American Dirt

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 …
01:03:57  |   Tue 28 Jan 2020
Episode 121—Every Item on the Menu

Episode 121—Every Item on the Menu

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.…
00:47:24  |   Tue 14 Jan 2020
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