Emily Einolander 
Lori Carroll on owning, running, and loving a used bookstore in Portland. In this episode, we talk to Lori Carroll, owner of Jan’s, an indie used bookstore outside of Portland, Oregon. She’s a lifelong lover of romance books who majored in women’s studies—and she wants you to know that being a feminist and loving bodice … Read more
Ardi Alspach, an editor at Sterling Publishing, talks with us about her multi-directional career. She has the unique experience of having attended both NYU and the Denver Publishing Institute, worked in both publicity and editorial, and moved from a career in teaching to book publishing mid-career. Turns out that’s possible, even in NYC. Take that, … Read more
Today we chat with Adam O’Brien, an editor at Sterling Publishing. Adam specializes in editing nonfiction of many kinds, particularly memoirs and essay collections—we’ve linked several of them below. While editing is his ultimate passion, Adam’s background is a journey through different aspects of the publishing and bookselling industry. This has included detours into production … Read more
Today we continue Maple Leaf May by interviewing Erin Klassen. She’s a writer, founder, and Editor in Chief of With/out Pretend. (What, you think we’d just leave Canada without lingering?) With/out Pretend is an independent Toronto-based publisher focused on producing, promoting and distributing works by women and non-binary writers and artists. They also host storytelling … Read more
“In order to really have traveled, I think we have to come full circle and come back to ourselves, back to our homes, and really reflect on what we’ve been through.” Erin Pehlivan is the founding editor of Return Trip, a zine that explores how travel makes us feel. She is a freelance writer and … Read more
Michelle McCann is even more optimistic about publishing than she was 20 years ago. And we’ve gotta say, her energy is pretty infectious! Since starting as an intern at Beyond Words Publishing in 1991, Michelle’s done pretty much every publishing job. From reading the slush pile she moved up to running a children’s book department … Read more
Traditional, self-pub…the hybrid author says: “Why not both!” Frances Kingsley joins us to talk about her experience writing for both sides of the shelf. We also talk about our Great British Baking Show reverse-harems in the least creepy way possible (i.e., who is dreamy AND would make the most beautiful cake on our birthdays). Frances … Read more
Does self-published YA literary fiction have a place? Can a self-published book be nominated for a book award usually reserved for traditional authors? Yes AND yes! Today’s guest Shelley Pearson proves it. Shelley Pearson self-published her first zine when she was sixteen. She grew up making art and crafts and, despite being an adult, has … Read more
Get good and cranky with us as we talk about power structures, money and centralization in academic publishing, and how similar some of those structures are to what we deal with in trade. Jahed Momand is a former scientist (biophysics) who went into industry (data science), specifically charged with deriving effect sizes for medical interventions … Read more
You would be hard pressed to find any contingent of the book world that has purer or more noble intentions than librarians. The job combines providing and filtering information to the public with a dash of social service. We talk with library assistant Chris Curran about daily life in the public library, what it’s like … Read more
