Monthly Meeting – Literary Podcasts – July 2024

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Speakers:

  • Joel Golby, Joel Golby’s Book Club
  • Mark Heywood, Behind the Spine
  • Jess & Lauren, Book Reccos

Joel Golby, Joel Golby’s Book Club

  • Podcast comprises of Joel’s personal reading list, with 15-20 minutes of his reviews and thoughts
  • Covers contemporary fiction
  • Joel is a writer so there are also episodes on the writing process
  • As a side note, he’s interested in speaking to authors at the moment pre-promotion and in the middle of their writing process
  • Joel usually doesn’t review books when they’re in hardback
  • An ideal pitch is an author who recommends a book Joel hasn’t read and they discuss it together
  • Two weeks is a good lead time
  • Prefers fiction
  • He’s also interested in re-issues for the podcasts – the industry process – interested in industry guests as well
  • Likes a collaborative review rather than talking about a book they’ve just published
  • Prefers honest chat
  • Really intrigued by other people’s writing process
  • Personal touches in pitching are always better – ‘you might be interested in this’ rather than a sales pitch, ‘here’s someone who’d be up for something’
  • Always pays more attention to a subject line that is either blank or has his name in
  • Usually up for breakfast
  • Prefers an email over unsolicited book mail
  • Usually doesn’t like to cover books the year they’re out – likes them to be a bit removed from the promotional window
  • Doesn’t cover YA

Mark Heywood, Behind the Spine

  • Tenth series now in planning
  • They will consider any fiction/non-fiction – anything with a narrative
  • Booked 6-9 months in advance
  • 24 episodes a year
  • Mark likes a debut author
  • Audience is made up of wannabe authors and then other creatives – but around 70% novelists
  • Behind the Spine is part of Mark’s commitment to nature debut novelists
  • Debuts and interesting author stories are prioritised
  • In-person residencies – private, ticketed event where Mark can facilitate the conversation – he also chairs panels
  • Pitch as early as you can – happy to receive catalogues and do go in with a personal approach
  • Mark will send emails around when he’s receiving pitches for the next series
  • Mark will send questions in advance and let the guest listen to the episode in advance to ensure guests are happy
  • Unsolicited books are great – just make sure you include contact details
  • Covers YA

Jess & Lauren, Book Reccos

  • Instagram, blog and podcast that is dedicated to reviewing books for their audience – around 20,000 people
  • Keep it a space for positive reviews only
  • They host reading retreats to discuss books in person
  • Instagram is where they started – their bread and butter and all reviews and recommendations are saved here
  • Work with brands on an ad basis
  • The podcast has really grown the audience and sells out the reading retreats
  • Podcasts are weekly – been running for 3 years, 44 episodes a year
  • Episodes are all spoiler-free and good reccos and this is what really drives audiences to buy
  • Previous guests – Mike Gayle, Coco Mellors, Bonnie Garmus
  • They try and theme the episodes and jump on cultural trends – try and make it fun
  • They take sponsors in monthly blocks (for ads)
  • Always open to guests – they’ve previously worked with publishers in the past on a paid basis for one whole episode dedicated to the title
  • They’re also open to promoting a series of books/catalogues
  • They’re passionate about supporting indie bookshops – they’re very open to receiving speaking briefs
  • They love catalogues
  • If the proof cover has the final copy/title on, that get a lot more traction on social – anything as close to the final cover on the proof gets much better engagement
  • They like to run episodes in publication month so listeners can buy – not so effective for pre-order
  • Audio books – they love to receive books this way
  • They do both fiction and non-fiction
  • They’ll never agree to speak to an author without having read the book first so they’ll usually put an interview request in publication month
  • Lauren doesn’t like unsolicited books, Jess does
  • Covers YA
  • Around 2000 downloads per episode
  • Audience demographic is around 25-35, mostly millennials