In a 50-year publishing career, Michael Jacobs has been at the center of a number of explosive worldwide publishing phenomena, including Harry Potter and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He talks about the lessons of blockbuster publishing, the joys of poetry, finishing his college career at 67, his new venture, Galpón Press, and its first book, The Woodcutter's Christmas.

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Dominique Raccah founded Sourcebooks in Chicago in 1987 and has turned it into the fastest growing, and now the largest, independent book publisher in the United States. This episode covers how she built an innovative company and a culture that seems to uniquely balance supporting authors, understanding readers, and using data to make decisions.

A writer and an editor join us to discuss a new book set in the world of publishing. Hot Desk — the debut novel from Laura Dickerman (with input from her editor brother Colin) — is a genre-spanning story. It is part rom-com, part publishing satire and part upscale book club fiction. The book spans a shared post-covid desk and two distinct eras in the book business from the heyday of the 80’s to the current industry as two sparring colleagues chase the same coveted assignment. Both the book and our episode give a peek behind the curtain of publishing.