We got a little bored of the standard literary award categories, so we decided to make up some new ones and hand out some hardware. Along with our fake award show, we also ended up litigating a copyright fight about baseball books, and recap a recent author reading Erik attended.

It’s awards season in the book world, so this week we break down the longlists for the four National Book Award categories, as well as the shortlist for the Man Booker. What do award lists say about the year of publishing, in retrospect? We sift through all of it, and also point out that awards season means Print Run turns one year old! Thanks, dear listener, for joining us in our first year.

Most writers think of their book titles as a craft element, but is that how the publishing industry treats the names of its books? We talk about the many considerations that go into picking and tweaking book titles, many of which have nothing to do with what’s in the book itself. Trends play a factor; so do genres/categories, cover designs, and lots more. Join us!

This week’s show takes a look at one of the zanier schemes the book world has seen in a while, in which a book almost no one had ever heard of debuted at number one on the NYT bestseller list. How’d she do it, how did the scheme get discovered as fraudulent? There’s plenty to laugh at there, and same with our other featured grift of the week, the YA writer who faked nearly everything about his life including his ancestry, his writing credentials, and even the existence of agent.

We recently heard it said as advice for writers: “be careful with your opinions online.” It raised our eyebrows, and so on this week’s show we debate whether or not this is a truth writers should take to heart, or whether it reveals certain political attitudes held by the publishing industry that need to be unpacked. We discuss why this sort of advice often gets delivered to writers, and why it can often be problematic. Also included is a quick discussion about a recent trip to New York and the geographic dynamics of American publishing.

This week, we walk through the many junctures in the publishing process—both within a publisher’s control and not—that lead to a book becoming a breakout bestseller. Every book is different, of course, but what are the necessary steps to having a book reach true commercial success? Beyond that, we cover the strange case of a Russian publisher cutting an LGBTQ plotline in their edition of an American book, and a very, very special JP book of the week.

In light of Michiko Kakutani leaving the New York Times, we discuss the changing roles of print book reviews and the literary critical establishment in the modern age. We also talk about that time she roasted Jonathan Franzen, which is very cathartic. Also included: the new Comey memoir, a Fiction Author Under FBI Investigation of the Week, and more!

This week, Laura walks us through the history of Young Adult literature in an attempt to answer a question that seems to never go away: what, exactly, is YA? We discuss why the category is so often under attack from others in the book world, its unique features, and much more. Plus: a JP book of the week, a word on the most recent wave of writer layoffs, and some thoughts on Keanu Reeves starting a publishing company.

With the return of Game of Thrones to TV, it’s the right time to talk about the many fascinating writing and publishing aspects of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. How has the series managed to become such a phenomenon, and what about it is innovative or truly special, from a writing standpoint? We look at George’s (slow) history of writing books, his relationship with the HBO TV series (and his fans), and the strange dynamics of having your story told by someone else.

This episode has it all: a recap of Laura’s time at a SF/F convention; a bad article about old-school publishing; a Fiction Author Under FBI Investigation, of the Week; and a discussion on prison literature, focusing on the newly released collection of stories The Graybar Hotel, written by Curtis Dawkins. Join us!