The Hybrid Pub Scout Podcast

As I’ve been working to get Yellow Bike Press off the ground, I keep returning to a fantastic resource: the Hybrid Pub Scout podcast, hosted by Emily Einolander and Corinne Kolasky.  

I didn’t start listening to podcasts until quarantine hit last year. Introvert that I am, I was surprised to discover how much I missed heated, engaging conversations, like we once had in coffeeshops and bars. Podcasts can’t replace such conversations, of course—but they can mimic them, in a way that has made social isolation more bearable. 

And how much better when those heated, engaging conversations are relevant to your creative endeavors! Working my way back through the HPS archives, high points so far have included episode 42 (featuring literary agent DongWon Song’s insights on the “diversity” tagline, and how we can keep working to overcome the injustices of the publishing industry), episode 50 (featuring design entrepreneur Nellie McKesson, who created the InDesign alternative Hederis, and editor Liz Gorinsky, who heads the independent speculative fiction publisher Erewhon—their collective and individual publishing innovations are nothing short of inspiring), and episode 55 (featuring Dr. Rachel Noorda and Dr. Kathy Berens, whose compelling recent research on book and media consumption habits and practices, published by the Panorama Project, is a must-read). 

Books have existed for centuries, but the industry around them has always seemed to involve a complex and dynamic synergy of business models, technologies, personalities, opinions, and lexicons. Emily and Corinne’s interviews, which are typically informed by a spirit of inquiry and fun (and bookended by a cool theme song), made me realize that getting to know the people who create and sell books is a great way to demystify that industry a little. And even to make it a tad less intimidating. Especially on the cusp of this new project, I’m grateful for that. Wherever you are in your publishing journey, I bet you’ll appreciate it, too.