Show Notes
After another RWA mess surrounding their recent issuing of the Vivian Award, we use the occasion to ask a fundamental question: what’s the point of these organizations, and how can we make them do what we actually want them to do? We talk about how institutions like RWA--or really any big literary collective--could be used to do what we actually need: supporting writers who wouldn’t otherwise have the networks they need, get its members useful information and opportunities, and push publishing in a more inclusive and egalitarian direction.
More from Print Run Podcast
This one… well folks we just got it all out there. We spend some time talking about publishing impersonation scams, about our upcoming trip to New York, about Dune, about the Green Bay Packers, about bad publishing advice, about god knows what else. Erik learned that some reality TV is scripted? He didn’t like that. Not at all.
This week, in response to a steady stream of questions about how to interface with literary agents either during the query process or once you’re actually working with them, we present to you: a list of Red Flags to look for with regard to agents! We get into communication styles, transparency, pressure, and much more as we try to work through whatever has you vexed about your interactions with agents. Let’s figure out what’s normal and what isn’t!
This week we catch up on two pieces that caught our eye: one on the modernization of older children’s literature to match contemporary culture, and another on how every LLM chatbot keeps telling stories featuring the same vaguely aggrieved fictional guy. It’s weird! The goblins are closing in!
This week we are thrilled to bring you an interview with Laura B. McGrath, whose new book MIDDLEMEN offers the largest-scale historical look at the field of literary agenting that we’ve ever seen. We talked to Laura about her experience talking to agents for the book, how being a debut writer herself has changed her view of publishing, and how what she has her eye on as publishing heads toward an uncertain future. This is one of our best conversations in the history of the show and we think you’ll love it.
In light of the recent controversy around Helen DeWitt winning and then losing the lucrative Windham-Campbell Prize, we talk about the dying era of the true literary eccentric, the artistic costs of writers being online, and making room for genuine artistic and intellectual curiosity in an age when every idle moment is filled with an obligation to produce optimized digital marketing content. Which artists get to be offline weirdos, anymore? What happens when an “artist” is a marketing idea instead of an authentic pursuit?