S4 Ep. 18: In the Soup: Sean McDonald and Monica West On Publishing During, and After, a Pandemic

fiction/non/fiction

Editor and publisher Sean McDonald and novelist Monica West join co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss how the “reopening” of the country is affecting authors and the publishing industry. First, McDonald, founder of MCD Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, talks about publishing in the pandemic, and how that experience may shape the industry going forward. Then, West reads from her debut novel, Revival Season, and shares what it’s been like to launch a book during (fingers crossed!) the pandemic’s waning days.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video excerpts from our interviews at LitHub’s Virtual Book Channel and Fiction/Non/Fiction’s YouTube Channel, and don't miss our brand-new website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Andrea Tudhope.

Selected readings:

Sean McDonald

• MCD x FSG
• The Electric Eel newsletter

Monica West

• Revival Season

Others:

• “FSG Names McDonald Head of Experimental Imprint,” Publishers Weekly
• Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
• Until Proven Safe by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley
• The Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and Pau Gasol
• Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
• Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
• F/N/F Season 3, Episode 10: Coronavirus and Contagion: Laurie Chen and Richard Preston on Writing About the Spread of Disease
• F/N/F Season 4, Episode 3: Monsters for President: Maria Dahvana Headley on Modern Mythmaking
• F/N/F Episode 26: Garrard Conley and SJ Sindu on the Mainstreaming of Queer Identity
• F/N/F Season 3, Episode 6: Rene Denfeld and Megan Phelps-Roper on Isolating the Language of Abuse in Politics, Gender Relations, and Sexual Abuse
• F/N/F Season 3, Episode 24: Summer Books Extravaganza: Margot Livesey and Jaswinder Bolina on Beach Reading When the Beach is Closed

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