In Episode 118, Caroline Zancan, Senior Editor at Henry Holt, joins me for another episode in the Genre 101 series — this time with a twist. Caroline answers behind-the-scenes questions about editing literary fiction, as well as a deep dive into the genre itself.

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Announcements

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Highlights

• How Caroline got into editing: right place, right time, and Craigslist.
• The varying college degrees, the wide range of colleagues' previous careers, and whether there's a typical career path to becoming an editor.
• The je ne sais quoi factor and determining if a book is for Henry Holt.
• The entire process of book acquisition at Henry Holt — from determining what books to pursue and bidding on manuscripts to the approval process.
• Caroline's preference for dealing with an author's agent.
• The execution of a compatible vision for the editor-author relationship.
• The "right" length for a book and editing big-name authors.
• What the heck is 'literary fiction' and why there seems to be a lack of consensus about this question.
• Current trends in the literary fiction world.

Caroline's Book Recommendations [39:19]

Two OLD Books She Loves

• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:33]
• Trust Exercise by Susan Choi | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:25]

Two NEW Books She Loves

• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:33]
• Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:14]

The Series of Books She DIDN'T Love

• Elena Ferrante Titles [45:46]

One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About

• All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (August 2, 2022) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:32]

Last 5-Star Book Caroline Read

• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:40]

Other Books Mentioned

• We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan [2:00]
• Happiness by Heather Harpham [2:17]
• The Parking Lot Attendant by Nafkote Tamirat [2:21]
• Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon [2:29]
• Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach [2:34]
• On Writing by Stephen King [29:08]
• Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett [40:48]
• I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley [44:58]
• Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley [45:00]

About Caroline Zancan

On Twitter

Caroline Zancan is a Senior Editor at Holt, acquiring literary and upmarket fiction and memoir, and the author of We Wish You Luck and Local Girls. She is a graduate of Kenyon College and holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Caroline lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their children.