How Publishing Works: From Caxton to Kindle

In the last episode of this series of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with two booksellers, Janet Brakspear adn Helen Simmons from The Corsham Bookshop in Wiltshire.We talked about how Corsham being used as a film set (it is very picturesque Olde England) brings both customers and books and how the bookshop best serves its customers. Helen and Janet talk us through a typical day in the shop, consider the embargo question, talk a lot about children's bookselling, and admit which of their favourite books are always in stock.Titles and bookshops mentioned that you may find interesting are:Secret Underground Corsham, by Nick McCamley (Folly Books)The Rebetsky March by Joseph RothDiary of a Provincial Lady by E M DelafieldLittle Toller Books in Bridport, Dorset and The Folde Bookshop, in Shaftesbury, Dorset are both groovy and curated independent bookshops that specialise in nature books.You can find The Corsham Bookshop on Facebook, otherwise at 16 Martingate, High Street, Corsham, Wiltshire, UK, and you can email them at info@corshambookshop.co.uk.For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk. This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening. 

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with audiobook producer Arran Dutton from Audiofactory, an audio studio in Somerset.The conversation roams from the rise of the audiobook, how an audio studio works, how an audiobook is made, whether an author should narrator their own book, and why fantasy fiction costs more to narrate. Arran talks a lot about No Dig by Charles Dowding. You can find him and the audiofactory team at audiofactory.co.uk.For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk. This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening. 

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with Nick Parker, Director of Two Rivers, a subsidiary of Ingram Publisher Services, possibly the biggest books distributor on the planet.Warehousing, consignment, wholesalers, shipping, carton sizes, and the sad, sad story of the books that get hurt. Discover the mysteries of book distribution, probably the most invisible but also the biggest component of the book trade network.You can find out more about Nick and the Two Rivers team: https://www.tworiversdistribution.com/about/meet-the-team.For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk.This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening.

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with printer Mark Couch of Short Run Press, a traditional printer based in Exeter, Devon.What does a printer do with the words given to them? This quite technical episode is packed with explanations, with the very faint sound of factory noises drifting in on Mark's audio for very sharp-eared listener. Do yu choose gloss or silk? Sewn or perect bound? We hear about cyan and magenta, litho printing and FSC paper, foil blocking and spot UV.'No book is without errors.' 'Once we start printing there's no going back.' You can find Short Run Press at https://www.shortrunpress.co.uk/For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk. This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening. 

This episode of How Publishing Works is for the book historians who need a bit more medieval in their listening. Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with Dennis Duncan of University College London, author of Index, A History of the..What is an index? When was the first index created? When did page numbers come in? Did fairy spellbooks have indexes? Have indexes always been at the back of a book? And what is the attack index?You can find out more about Dennis's research at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english/people/academic-staff/dr-dennis-duncan.For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk. This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening.

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with editor Simon Spanton, formerly of Gollancx and Unbound, now editor at large for Angry Robot Books and Black + White Publishing.What is editing? How does an editor work? How can an author find an editor who will consider their book? How is a book decided on by a publishing company? And hear some uncomfortable truths about publishing as a business ...You can contact Simon at simon@angryrobotbooks.com, and simon@blackandwhitepublishing.com.For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk.This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening.

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with Lisa Dowdeswell, Head of Literary Estates at the Society of Authors in London, the oldest trade union for writers.This episode is for anyone who has ever published a book, or who is writing one, and doesn't realise what treasure they own, and the rights they ought to be careful about bequeathing unto the next generation.Caveat: as an added bonus we specially recorded the sounds of breezes, passing traffic and the soundscape of Bedford Square in London to add to the ambient effect of Lisa's office.Links to some of the organisations Lisa mentions:The WATCH file for Writers, Artists and their Copyright Holders: https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/watch/index.cfmALCS, the Artists' Licensing and Collecting Society (they collect and distribute writers' borrowing fees from libraries and other users): https://www.alcs.co.uk/The Society of Authors: https://www.societyofauthors.org/about-usFor more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk. This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening.

In this episode of How Publishing Works Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with another publisher - Eloise Millar from Galley Beggar Press, a British independent publishing house.How does a publisher know that the manuscript they’re reading is The One? What are the first stages after the contract has been signed? How do you juggle marketing and editorial? And what awful thing happened in 2019 thatgave Galley Beggar renewed faith in the generosity of the book trade? You may need tissues for this one.The books that Eloise mentions are:Lucy Ellman’s Ducks, Newburyport (2019)Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho (2021)Adam Biles, Beasts of England (2023)Alex Pheby’s Mordew (2019)You can find all Galley Beggar’s books at https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk.This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.If you like this podcast, please leave a review on your podcast provider! And tell your friends: word of mouth is the best way to get new folk listening.