Publishing Rodeo: The Good, The Bad, and the Bloody Ugly27 Feb 2024

S2 Ep 34 - Challenging Tradpub's 'Culture of Defeatism', with Mark Stay of THE BESTSELLER EXPERIMENT

In addition to writing bestselling novels and cofounding a viral podcast (THE BESTSELLER EXPERIMENT), Mark Stay also spent many years working with bookstores and publishers, gaining great insight to all sides of the industry. We chat to Mark about his varied experiences, and reflect back on the seven years he spent recording his groundbreaking podcast. This one is fun and quite eye-opening for behind-the-scenes stuff.

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Origins
01:09 Mark Stay's Background and Bestseller Experiment
02:45 The Impact and Pressure of Bestseller Experiment
03:10 The Success and Community of Bestseller Experiment
04:05 Lessons Learned from Bestseller Experiment
05:17 Disillusionment and Quitting While Ahead
06:12 Finding the Right Tone for Bestseller Experiment
07:31 Defeatism in Traditional Publishing
08:12 The Empathy and Doom Scrolling of Creatives
09:25 The Challenges of Self-Publishing
10:34 The Importance of Loving the Process
11:49 Mark Stay's Journey from Bookseller to Author
13:35 The Experience of Traditional Publishing
15:49 The Unconventional Paths in Publishing
19:00 Self-Publishing the Bestseller Experiment Book
20:33 The Challenges of Selling a Genre-Bending Book
22:44 Takeaways for Authors to Give Their Books a Good Shot
28:29 The Impact of the Podcast on Scott Drakeford's Publishing Journey
32:42 The Reception and Impact of the Podcast
35:16 Challenges Faced by Publishers
37:06 Focus on Brand Authors
38:04 Neglecting Growing Authors
39:03 Ineffective Advertising Campaigns
40:00 The Mistake of Becoming Bigger
42:21 Digital Publishers and Genre Preferences
43:18 Preference for Tangible Books
44:09 The Importance of Book Covers
45:37 Amazon's Dominance and Publishers' Reliance
46:31 Amazon's Control and Negotiations
47:02 Amazon's Focus on Other Ventures
48:31 Visibility and Impact of Amazon on Authors
49:28 The Influence of Nielsen BookScan
53:41 Diversity in Publishing
55:05 The Future of Publishing and Concerns
56:02 American Cultural Imperialism
01:03:19 Smallest Hill to Die On: Americanization of British English
01:09:06 Plugs: Bestseller Experiment, Witches of Woodville

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Avsnitt(49)

Ep 46: Honesty, Hostility, and Misinformation in Trad Publishing (with Donyae Coles)

Social media is beset by a tidal wave of publishing misinformation, fuelled by bots and platform-farming and algorithms that favour outrage. With special guest Donyae Coles, Sunyi and Scott talk about...

4 Apr 1h 9min

S2 E45: Post-Debut Blues & Bookish Longevity, ft. "Drake Scottford"

Are we really back? Were we ever truly gone? Who is special guest Drake Scottford, and why is he joining us today? These questions and more will be answered in episode 45.On a more serious note, we co...

26 Okt 202558min

E44: More Than The Text Of Our Book, ft. Greatest Author Chuck Tingle

Famed for his highly unique fiction, and for the the pink mask that conceals his secret identity, Chuck Tingle (pseudonymous name) is a much-beloved icon in the SFF book world and beyond. Today he joi...

28 Nov 20241h 35min

S2 Ep 43: Momentum, Worldcon, and Arguing on the Internet (ft Sunyi and Scott)

Catch-up episode after a long gap! Sunyi and Scott both discuss career momentum, cheerfully losing at the Hugos, and the pushback they've had from Reddit / the internet. Sunyi explains why she'd turn ...

7 Okt 202446min

SPECIAL EPISODE: The Grim World Predatory Publishers (ft. James MacDonald)

Ever heard the phrase "Money flows to the author"? James "Jim" MacDonald is the one who coined it.Jim is a long-time author and anti-vanity press advocate who, along with many others, has dedicated ye...

12 Juli 202442min

S2 E42: Managing Your 'Author Bandwidth', ft Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Authors are expected to juggle many different demands on their time and energy--from social media and self-promotion, to side projects and live events. How do we decide what is or isn't worth our effo...

11 Juli 20241h 4min

S2 E41: Write-to-market & the Rise of Romantasy, ft. Nisha J. Tuli

After years of mostly existing in indie space, Romantasy has finally burst onto the trad pub scene where it now reigns supreme, especially in SFF. Today, we talk to Nisha J Tuli, who spotted romantasy...

6 Juni 202442min

S2 E39: The State of the Industry, ft. Kristina Perez

Kristina Perez has lived all over the world, working alternately as a journalist, an author, and now as top literary agent. In this episode we cover a number of different topics, putting forward a com...

26 Maj 202455min