#123: The Challenges of Selling Books

This week's podcast opens with the sad news of Harry Mathews's passing, then goes deep on Winter Institute, and a couple really long essays Chad wrote for Three Percent. There's a lot that gets unpacked in this episode, from anticipatory lists and market acceleration, to the way that bookstores choose which titles to stock and how comp titles work.

 

Here are links to specific things covered in this podcast:

 

• Harry Mathews in the Paris Review
• List of Winter Institute programs and authors
• Reader Selection and Market Acceleration and The Structural Inequality of Comp Titles
• The Millions Great 2017 Book Preview

 

This week's music is "I'm Gonna Live Forever (If it Kills Me)" by William Tyler.

 

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