WritersCast

When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy – David Margolick – Shocken Books – Hardcover – 9780805242553 – 400 pages – $35.00 – November 11, 2025 – ebook edition available at lower cost, audio book also available. I am almost the same age as author David Margolick, so was born too late […] The post David Margolick: When Caesar Was King...

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It has been an ongoing education talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. […] The post Publishing Talks: Ra...

Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero — Thomas W. Gilbert — David Godine — Hardcover — 978-1-56792-759-7 — 192 pages — $27.95 — March 24th, 2026 – ebook edition available at lower cost As most of my listeners probably know by now, I love baseball and I really love […] The post Thomas W. Gilbert: Death in the Strike Zone first appeared on WritersCast .

Authors Voices gives writers and poets a platform for reading their work. It’s been too infrequent a series in the past. Starting in 2026, inaugurated by this wonderful reading by Los Angeles poet Kim Dower, we will be presenting a monthly reading series with a representation of poets I feel have not received enough attention […] The post Kim Dower reading her poems for National Poetry...

Attention: Writing on Life, Art, and the World — Anne Enright — W.W. Norton — Hardcover — 978-1-324-12413-9 — 288 pages — $29.99 — April 7, 2026 — ebook and audio book versions available, prices vary Anne Enright has quickly become one of my favorite writers over the past several years. Her fiction is superb, […] The post Anne Enright: Attention: Writing on Life, Art, and the World first app...

I discovered the very interesting Luke Palder by accident one day when I saw an ad he ran for his memoir writing and publishing business, MemoirGhostWriting.com. It sounded really interesting, and similar enough to some of my own work that I wanted to find out more about his work. Luke is a serial entrepreneur in […] The post Publishing Talks Interview: Luke Palder of MemoirGhostWriting.com...

The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII — Jack El-Hai — PublicAffairs — 9781610394635 — 304 pages — Published September 2, 2014 — Paperback — $21.99 (ebook available at lower prices; audiobook download also available) The Nazi and the Psychiatrist […] The post Jack El-Hai: The Nazi and the Psychiatrist first appear...

I started Publishing Talks as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It has been great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. […] The post Publishing Talks Interview: K...

Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, a Writer’s Life — Todd Goddard — 9781799902362 – Blackstone Publishing — Hardcover — 558 pages — $29.99 — November 4, 2025 Jim Harrison was for so many readers – and other writers – one of the central voices of American literature for the last half century. When Harrison began writing, […] The post Todd Goddard: Devouring Time: Jim Harris...

Echoes of Our Origins: Baboons, Humans, and Nature — Shirley C. Strum, with Cassandra Phillips — Johns Hopkins University Press — Hardcover — 978-1-4214-5203-6 — 376 pages — $32.95 — September 9, 2025 — ebook edition available. This book was a fantastic discovery for me. I consider myself fairly well read; I’ve studied anthropology extensively […] The post Shirley C. Strum: Echoes of O...

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It has been great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. Today’s […] The post Publishing Talks...

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It was great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. In the […] The post Publishing Talks Interviews T...

Playback (A Novel) — Carla Malden — 9781644284872 — Hardcover — 216 pages — Rare Bird Books — Published August 12, 2025 — $28 — ebook versions available at lower prices Time travel fiction is among my favorite literary genres. I’ve been reading time travel novels avidly since I was a kid. I am sure […] The post Carla Malden: Playback (a novel) first appeared on WritersCast .

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations I had with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It was great fun discussing the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. More recently, I’ve also had conversations with a […] The post Publishing Talks Interv...

Just Willa (a novel)—Helen Sheehy—Cave Hollow Press—978-2-7342678-3-9—paperback—428 pages—$21.95—April 13, 2025—ebook versions available at varying lower prices As many Writerscast listeners know, I only interview writers about books I like and enjoyed reading enough to want to share with my listeners. So every episode of this podcast does represent a certain “best of” approach to my [...

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It was great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. In the past […] The post Publishing Talks Intervi...

Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless – Tamara Dean – University of Minnesota Press – 9781517918569 – Paperback – 224 pages – April 22, 2025 – $19.95 -ebook editions available at lower prices Books like Shelter and Storm are all too often errantly categorized as “regional,” both by publishers and reviewers alike. That’s […] Th...

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It was great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. In the […] The post Publishing Talks Interview wi...

Automatic Noodle – Annalee Newitz – Tordotcom – 9781250357465 – Hardcover – 176 pages – August 5, 2025 – $24.99 – ebook versions available at lower prices Annalee Newitz is one of the best and most original science fiction writers I have read in a long time. I read their last novel, The Future of […] The post Annalee Newitz: Automatic Noodle fi...

Publishing Talks began as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It was great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. During the […] The post Publishing Talks Interview...

Rewriting Hisstory: A Fifty-Year Journey to Uncover the Truth About Alger Hiss – Jeff Kisseloff – 9780700638338 – Hardcover – 392 pages – University of Kansas Press – April 19th, 2025 – $34.99 -ebook versions available at lower prices I’ve known about the Alger Hiss case since I was a kid,  growing up in the […] The post Jeff Kisseloff: Rewriti...

Between the Floods: A History of the Arikaras — Mark van de Logt — University of Oklahoma Press —Paperback — 9780806194905 — 384 pages — $29.95 – October 1, 2024 – ebook versions available at lower prices During the past couple of years, I’ve read several really good books that recast the history of indigenous […] The post Mark van de Logt: Between the Floods: A History of...

Authors Voices gives writers a platform for reading their work. It’s an honor for me to be able to present poet and literary critic Rachel Blau DuPlessis reading from her extraordinary long poem, Drafts, which she began in 1986 and completed in 2012. Now the great Minneapolis-based independent literary publisher Coffee House Press is publishing […] The post Rachel Blau DuPlessis reading from...

Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found — Nikkya Hargrove — Algonquin Books — 9781643751580 — Hardcover – 240 pages — October 15, 2024 — $29.00, ebook versions available at lower prices “The book is deeply moving and shows how one woman managed to differentiate herself from her mom, find […] The post Nikkya Hargrove: Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of...

How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses – Dennis James Sweeney – New World Library – Paperback – 9781608689361 – 216 pages – $18.95 – February 25, 2025 – ebook versions available at lower prices This book is described by its publisher as “A comprehensive guide to getting published […] The po...