Read the Acknowledgments – Details, episodes & analysis

Author and Temple University Assistant Professor of English Laura McGrath and Alia Hanna Habib, Vice President and Literary Agent at The Gernert Company join Randy to discuss what debut book sales say about the ever-changing landscape of book publishing, the agent-writer-editor relationship, and query letters.

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Highlights include building an audience beyond social media, the volume of queries agents receive, books to buy right now, and much more.

Storehouse Voices' Associate Publisher Porscha Burke and Yahdon Israel, Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster join Randy to discuss the how books are acquired, the author-editor relationship, how books are sold, and the acquisition to publication timeline.

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Highlights include how editors rest, books editors read for leisure, the power of stories and much more.

Thomas Gebremedhin, Vice President and Executive Editor at Doubleday, and Jackson Howard, Senior Editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and its imprints MCD and AUWA, join Randy to discuss all things discovery and editing.

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Highlights include what editors look for in authors and manuscripts, how editors find their next book, and much more.

Books mentioned in the episode:

STAY TRUE by Hua Hsu

DARK LABORATORY: ON COLUMBUS, THE CARIBBEAN, AND THE ORIGINS OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS by Tao Leigh Goffe

BEAUTIFUL DAYS by Zach Williams

Traci Thomas, Creator and Host of The Stacks, and Franklin Leonard, Founder and CEO of The Black List, join Randy to discuss The Black List's Inaugural Adaptation List. 

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Highlights include surprise titles on the list, titles that should have made the list, what makes for a great adaptation, and much more. 

Books mentioned in the episode: 

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe 

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon 

New People by Danzy Senna 

Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson 

See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw 

Frederick Douglas: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight 

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton 

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi 

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi 

Come & Get It by Kiley Reid

Book Scout Erin Edmison and Sterling Lord Literistic Foreign Rights Director and Author Szilvia Molnar. 

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Highlights include why book scouting is important for writers, things writers should know about foreign rights, what book scouts are looking for in a book, foreign rights advances and royalties, and much more. 

Books mentioned in the episode: 

The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar 

Middlemarch by George Eliot 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 

I Don’t Care by Ágota Kristóf

Author A.E Osworth and author and Electric Literature Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris join Randy to discuss education, writing groups, and staying true to who you are. 

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Highlights include the importance of writers advocating for writers, how writing instruction impacts writing, and much more.

Books mentioned in the episode: 

Awakened by A.E. Osworth 

When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris 

skin & bones by Renée Watson 

Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman by Harron Walker 

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters 

The Favorites by Layne Fargo 

Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses

Trellis Literary agents Stephanie Delman and Allison Hunter join Randy to discuss how discovery happens. 

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Highlights include why agents do what they do, the relationship between writers and agents, how agents find their writers, important questions writers should ask, and much more. 

Books mentioned in the episode:

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch

A Promise to Arlette by Serena Burdick

Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein

Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald

NY Times Bestselling authors Robert Jones Jr. and Mateo Askaripour join Randy to discuss community, love, and purpose. 

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Highlights include why Robert and Mateo write, how both guests found their purpose in writing, writing consistently, how Mateo and Robert dealt with the discovery of their debut novels, and much more. 

Books mentioned in the episode:

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour

Dutton Senior Editor at Dutton Pilar Garcia-Brown and Atria Books and Washington Square Press Senior Editor Jenny Xu join Randy to discuss what writers should know about book editors.

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Highlights include the relationship editors have with agents, how editors find the stories they want to publish, how acquiring a book works, book advances and much more.

Randy Winston, Read the Acknowledgments Host and Creative Director of Fiction, is joined by Franklin Leonard, The Black List Founder and CEO, to talk Fiction on The Black List website.

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Highlights from this episode include a brief history of The Black List, fiction writer profiles and benefits, how to host a project, fiction evaluations (how they work), fiction readers on The Black List website, and benefits for book industry members.