What is licensing and how do publishers do it?

September 23, 2021 — by Elly Blue

Today on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly tackle the topic of licensing. This is the key business concept for any publisher to understand and consider. Licensing is sort of the engine fuel that makes the industry and your piece of it work; publishers license work from authors to put out as books and then sometimes go on to license different editions and formats. Here it is broken down in a way that will help you see your part in that ecosystem a little more clearly.

This one is part of a 3-part series – you can also check out our episode from last week on intellectual property.

What do book publishers need to know about intellectual property?

September 16, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly talk about intellectual property, what it means for authors and publishers, how to manage it, how to increase its value, and how to protect it. We definitely don’t make any juvenile jokes in this episode.

What is an “Indie Author”?

September 10, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast / vlogcast, Joe and Elly consider the term “indie author” and how various forces have tried to co-opt the meaning of independence when it comes to writing and creative work. No punches are pulled as we encourage you to think critically about what you value about independence and whether or not you actually are getting that from the company selling it to you.

What We Learned at the Las Vegas Market Gift Show

September 02, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly report back from Las Vegas Market—a giant trade show for the gift market. We talk about what “gift” means, why book publishers might attend such an event, what it was like, and some of the logistics and costs involved. Not mentioned, but deserving of a shout-out are Vegas’s bikeshare system and Tacotarian, two discoveries that turned our trip from a slog to a delight.

Hachette buys Workman: What does it mean?

August 26, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly consider the recent news that giant publishing conglomerate Hachette is buying one of the last of the large independents, Workman. We talk about what the acquisition means for the companies involved, for other publishers, and for people who buy books.

An interview with Women on Wheels author April Streeter

August 19, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the podcast, we invite a guest into our studio for the first time in almost two years! April Streeter, author of the new feminist bicycle history Women on Wheels, joined us to talk about the untold histories of women cyclists since the 1880s, share fascinating tidbits of archival research and costumery, and revisit a bit of shop talk about what it was like to publish with us (and how we handled all those amazing illustrations).

You can find this and over 100 other episodes of the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast wherever podcasts are served.

Should Publishers Try to Compete with Amazon on Price?

August 05, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly answer a reader question from a bookseller wondering if they should try to match the prices in their store to the prices they find online, which are often much lower (but sometimes much higher) than the cover price.

Of course we legally can’t advise any publishers on how to price their books, and we don’t do that here, but we do discuss some strategies and perspectives for managing your business in a market where price is problematic.

New zines we have published!

August 05, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly show off our newest zines!

Here we introduce you to:

Corking, about using bicycles as a protest tool, by some rad cyclists

Autism FAQ by Joe Biel

Imprisoned with COVID-19 by Tim Spock

White Riot / Black Massacre, about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, by Kris Rose

What Does a Publisher Do with a Bad First Draft?

July 22, 2021 — by Elly Blue

This week on the podcast, Joe and Elly tackle a very familiar situation—what do you do when the author turns in their manuscript and it’s really not anywhere near what it needs to be?

(Spoiler: The first draft is always bad. We just happen to be privileged to see a whole lot of them.)

What Happened with Audiobook Sales in 2020?

July 01, 2021 — by Elly Blue

On today’s episode of A People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly look at the Audio Publishers Association report on 2020 audiobook sales and listening habits. How many of us are switching to audio? Who is making the switch? What are we listening to? And how? And what does this mean for print and ebooks? Listen or watch for hot takes on all this and more.