How Publishing Works: From Caxton to Kindle is a new podcast series from independent publisher Handheld Press, launching Friday 1 September, 2023. Guests will include Eloise Millar of Galley Beggar Press and Nick Parker, Director of Two Rivers Distribution for Ingram Publishing Content. Hosted by Handheld Press’s Founder, Kate Macdonald, the eleven episodes unpack the mysteries of modern publishing, following the journey of a book from a twinkle in an author’s eye to the bookstore shelf.
The episodes follow the path of a book as it evolves from the spark of an idea in an author’s mind, to being a physical book on the physical or digital shelf of a retailer.
Guests across the series will include: author Alice Jolly; Eli Keren of United Agents; Publisher Eloise Millar of Galley Beggar Press; Rights Expert Lisa Dowdeswell of the Society of Authors; Nick Parker of Ingram Publishing Services; and the booksellers of the Corsham Bookshop. The series will also feature an editor, a marketer, a printer, an audiobook producer and many more, all lined up to chat about their job in publishing.
The podcast is distributed by Acast and is available on Apple, Spotify, and many other podcasting platforms.
“It’s an explainer podcast. I’ve learned a lot since returning to publishing six years ago but I still had a lot of questions, so what better way to answer these than by asking the experts? Publishing is a continually evolving industry, but it’s always had some constants,’ Kate said. ‘I wanted to connect aspects of the modern industry to what William Caxton did with the first printing press in Britain, back in the fourteenth century. He might not understand some of the episodes about marketing and agenting, but he’d be very comfortable listening to my conversations with a printer and a publisher. My guests gave us some great stories about publishing today.”
“I’m hoping the series will be useful for authors and for people wanting to work in the industry today: explaining what the jargon means, and poking around in the dark parts that no-one teaches you about on a publishing course.”
Some dates for your diary for the upcoming episodes:
1 September: 1.1 The Author, Alice Jolly
8 September: 1.2 The Agent, Eli Keren from United Agents
15 September: 1.3 The Publisher, Eloise Millar of Galley Beggar Press
22 September: 1.4 Rights, Lisa Dowdeswell of The Society of Authors
29 September: 1.5 The Editor, Simon Spanton, ex Gollancz and Unbound, now Angry Robot and B+W Publishing
6 October: 1.6 The Index, History of the, with Dennis Duncan, author of a book of the same name
13 October: 1.7 Marketing, Ceris Jones, formerly of Sandstone Press
20 October: 1.8 The Printer, Mark Couch from Short Run Press
27 October: 1.9 The Distributor, Nick Parker, Director of Two Rivers Distribution, part of Ingram Publishing Content
3 November: 1.10 The Audiobook, Arran Dutton of Audiofactory
10 November: 1.11 The Booksellers, Janet Brakspear and Helen Simmons from the Corsham Bookshop, Wiltshire
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