Print Run is a podcast created and hosted by Laura Zats and Erik Hane. Its aim is simple: to have the conversations surrounding the book and writing industries that too often are glossed over by conventional wisdom, institutional optimism, and false seriousness. We’re book people, and we want to examine the questions that lie at the heart of that life: why do books, specifically, matter? In a digital world, what cultural ground does book publishing still occupy? Whether it’s trends in the qu ...
…
continue reading
1
Episode 171—Summer, Again
43:26
43:26
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
43:26
It’s time for the annual Print Run Summer Check-In, where we list out all the ways we’re both keeping it together and losing our marbles. Summer is strange time in publishing, and it leads us to a conversation on deep work versus shallow, frenetic work, how we manage our interior creative selves in relation to the job, and the chaos that is sure to…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 170—A Culture of Mistrust
56:32
56:32
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
56:32
On the heels of some recent discourse on the trust between querying writers and agents managing submission piles, we go long on the culture of trust–or lack thereof–that exists between these two parts of the publishing industry, why it occurs, and what could fix it. We talk about the nature of ideas and copyright, the structures of the modern liter…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 169—We’re Just a Bunch of Guys
48:38
48:38
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
48:38
In light of yet another round of agent chaos over the weekend, we got together to talk about the information climate in publishing at large, the ways in which even well-intentioned agents can contribute to gatekeeping and access issues for writers. In an age when there are more agents, writers, and information about agents and writers than ever bef…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 168—You Don’t Have To Sit There
44:52
44:52
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
44:52
This week we get a little bit mad at the Forced Waiting that publishing imposes on all of us, and it builds to a call to arms: you–writers, agents, editors, whoever–don’t just have to wait quietly for progress to happen to you. No matter your situation in publishing, you can get out there and make something happen as a person with agency and the ow…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 167—Dread, But Make It Fashion
53:29
53:29
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
53:29
In our first episode of 2024, we take a look at the publishing landscape for the year ahead. We believe that there could be several culminating moments of rupture or change in the near future, in everything from AI’s implementation in the industry to how workers in publishing choose to respond to their own working conditions. We get a little rowdy …
…
continue reading
1
Episode 166—Give ‘Em What They’re Owed
56:10
56:10
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
56:10
This week’s theme, across multiple topics, is that workers in publishing deserve to be paid and supported in all the ways required for them to live well and do their jobs to the best of their abilities. We start with a chat about the Half Price Books Union’s contract negotiations, and finish with a look at the recent survey data from AALA. Join us!…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 165—Private Equity, AI, and the Techification of Publishing
48:58
48:58
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
48:58
This week we use two recent stories–the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by the investment firm KKR and the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence usage in various book-related shenanigans–as a way of talking about something big and broad: publishing looking more and more like the tech world each day. Why might the Silicon Valley approach to busin…
…
continue reading
In the wake of what feels like an endless round of layoffs, restructurings, consolidations, and any other corporate terms for “good people losing their jobs,” we talk about how this constant reshuffling affects the industry as a whole and specifically our jobs as agents. Spoiler alert: it’s not great! But we talk through it and let the feelings out…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 163—The Annual Summer Vibe-isode
34:43
34:43
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
34:43
We’ve had a lot of Serious Content lately and it’s a summer Friday, so come take a break with us while we chat about what we’ve got going on this summer, in terms of book stuff and otherwise. One of our more vibey episodes rather than a big heavy topic, so come hang out!Door Erik Hane and Laura Zats
…
continue reading
1
Episode 162—Turning Over the Same Leaf
48:37
48:37
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
48:37
This week in the wake of a LOT of agency shakeups, we asked an extremely basic question: what if the publishing world treated writers like they were professionals? This frame lets us talk about the discourse from the past few weeks, all which shares the common theme of “treating writers really poorly.” Come vent with us, come laugh with us, come im…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 161—Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
1:00:43
1:00:43
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
1:00:43
This week we talk about everyone’s favorite publishing topic that never gives anyone anxiety: gatekeeping and access! We explore how agents can do better jobs of creating an equitable and open playing field for writers trying to break into publishing, even while inherently positioned as a “gate” between the writers and the publishers. The conversat…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 160—What is Love
46:16
46:16
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
46:16
We’ve heard it so many times in so many places: editors falling in love with books, agents loving manuscripts from the first page, deal announcements centered on how much every party involved LOVES the book and working with each other. To put it lightly, “love” as a publishing concept in acquisitions can be crazy-making to try to understand, antici…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 159—All the Strange Silences
51:51
51:51
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
51:51
At many different moments in the publishing process, we are asked to stay quiet about news, or keep certain developments secret, or not post the thing we’re dying to share on social media. How come? This week we talk about the different silences in publishing–everything from etiquette during the query process to not doing a cover reveal before mark…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 158—The Books That Made Us
54:45
54:45
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
54:45
This week we gave each other a prompt: which books have been the most transformative or influential in shaping our book careers? It’s an open-ended question and we took it that way–in this episode we talk about books we worked on, books that changed our working categories, books we loved, hated, and more. It’s a wide-ranging show that gets into all…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 157—Fresh Off the Picket Line with Rachel Kambury
1:04:35
1:04:35
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
1:04:35
This week we were lucky enough to have HarperCollins associate editor Rachel Kambury on the show, and we talked to her all about her union’s strike, what about their working conditions led them to this historic moment, and how the industry might change in light of this watershed moment in publishing-worker solidarity. We thought it was important fo…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 156—Welcome to Decembo
41:39
41:39
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
41:39
Folks, it is that time of year once again. As we set off on our yearly month of holiday memes and other nonsense, we’re adding in some real reflection on the truths that a strange, volatile year of publishing and (and life) has taught us. This episode we get a little personal and talk about the year that was, and set us off on a month of taking sto…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 155—Tweets and Strikes
46:16
46:16
Later Afspelen
Later Afspelen
Lijsten
Vind ik leuk
Leuk
46:16
This week we take a look at the HarperCollins Union’s strike for better working conditions, discuss the possible destruction of Twitter, and in general share how we navigate the strangest part of the book calendar–the holidays. It’s a lively grab-bag with a healthy dose of pro-labor sentiment to get your Thanksgiving week started right.…
…
continue reading