See You on the Bookshelf Jack Cheng

A few updates from 2021 and a sample of my new podcast, BookSmitten.

Full Transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/epilogue-and-a-new-podcast/

Listen to BookSmitten: https://booksmitten.us

There’s the publisher—the publishing house, a company that puts out books—and then there’s the publisher—a specific person and role within that company. In this our final episode of See You on the Bookshelf, we speak to Lauri Hornik, President and Publisher of Dial Books for Young Readers, and we reflect on the overall journey of See You in the Cosmos from manuscript to printed book.

Full transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/15-the-publisher/

This week we talk once again with our Penguin Young Readers publicists Lindsay Boggs and Kaitlin Kneafsey, and with our sales rep John Dennany, about putting together the book tour—one that, for a debut Middle Grade author like me, involves fewer bookstore events and more school visits and dinners with booksellers.

Full transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/14-the-book-tour/

We’ve talked a bit about marketing in past episodes; this week we go more in depth with Julia Teece from Penguin Random House (UK) and Alexis Watts from Penguin Young Readers (US). We talk about how Marketing works with Publicity on a campaign, about selling into Schools and Libraries through both in-person events and the online Penguin Sneak Peek (such as this video for Spring 2017 featuring See You in the Cosmos), and about awards and the longer sales cycle for children’s books.

Full transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/13-the-marketing/

See You in the Cosmos is on the shelves of most bookstores in the English-speaking world. But it doesn’t get there automatically. Booksellers have to decide to stock it. And convincing them to stock it is in large part the responsibility of the publisher sales rep. This week we talk to John Dennany of Penguin Random House Books for Young Readers about the on-the-ground work of traveling to bookstores, giving sales presentations, and about how he knows when a book might be poised to take off.

Full transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/12-the-sales/

See You in the Cosmos has been reviewed in newspapers and magazines like The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and TIME for Kids. But media coverage around this book and others like it don’t happen by accident; they come as a result of the persistent efforts of the book publicist. This week, we speak with not one but three publicists: Lindsay T. Boggs and Kaitlin Kneafsey of Penguin Young Readers (US), and Sophia Rubie of Penguin Random House Children’s (UK). We learn about their paths in the industry, about crafting pitches that cut through the noise, and about the challenges and merits of doing publicity for children’s books.

Full transcript: https://jackcheng.com/podcasts/see-you-on-the-bookshelf/11-the-publicity/