Advertise on podcast: Print Run Podcast

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★★★★★

4.8

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311 reviews

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Print Run is a podcast created and hosted by Laura Zats and Erik Hane. Its aim is simple: to have the conversations surrounding the book and writing industries that too often are glossed over by conventional wisdom, institutional optimism, and false seriousness. We’re book people, and we want to examine the questions that lie at the heart of that life: why do books, specifically, matter? In a digital world, what cultural ground does book publishing still occupy? Whether it’s trends in the queries from writers that hit our inboxes or the social ramifications of an industry that pays so little being based in Manhattan, we’re here for it. Probably to laugh at it and call it names, but here for it nonetheless. Print Run is the happy-hour conversation after a long day at a catalog launch; it’s the bottle of wine you drink most of on a Tuesday when the manuscripts are no good. We’re for writers, for publishers, for anyone who’s opened a book and wanted to know—really know—what goes into getting the damn thing made. Join us. We’ll talk about the worst sex scene we’ve ever read and wonder aloud about how millennials will affect the books of the future. We’ll figure out why Jonathan Franzen wants to replace your child with a penguin and whether or not that penguin will be buying hardcovers when he grows up.

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Episode 189—Scams! New York! Miscellany!

2026/08/21

This one… well folks we just got it all out there. We spend some time talking about publishing impersonation scams, about our upcoming trip to New York, about Dune, about the Green Bay Packers, about bad publishing advice, about god knows what else. Erik learned that some reality TV is scripted? He didn’t like that. Not at all.

Episode 188—The Red-flagisode

2026/07/13

This week, in response to a steady stream of questions about how to interface with literary agents either during the query process or once you’re actually working with them, we present to you: a list of Red Flags to look for with regard to agents! We get into communication styles, transparency, pressure, and much more as we try to work through whatever has you vexed about your interactions with agents. Let’s figure out what’s normal and what isn’t!

Episode 187—Goblins in the Source Code

2026/06/12

This week we catch up on two pieces that caught our eye: one on the modernization of older children’s literature to match contemporary culture, and another on how every LLM chatbot keeps telling stories featuring the same vaguely aggrieved fictional guy. It’s weird! The goblins are closing in!

Episode 186—Middlemen, featuring Laura B. McGrath

2026/05/06

This week we are thrilled to bring you an interview with Laura B. McGrath, whose new book MIDDLEMEN offers the largest-scale historical look at the field of literary agenting that we’ve ever seen. We talked to Laura about her experience talking to agents for the book, how being a debut writer herself has changed her view of publishing, and how what she has her eye on as publishing heads toward an uncertain future. This is one of our best conversations in the history of the show and we think you’ll love it. And be sure to buy MIDDLEMEN, available here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/middlemen-literary-agents-and-the-making-of-american-fiction-laura-b-mcgrath/df5cb73be04facb1?ean=9780691256160&next=t

Episode 185—Mahjong on the Telephone

2026/04/16

In light of the recent controversy around Helen DeWitt winning and then losing the lucrative Windham-Campbell Prize, we talk about the dying era of the true literary eccentric, the artistic costs of writers being online, and making room for genuine artistic and intellectual curiosity in an age when every idle moment is filled with an obligation to produce optimized digital marketing content. Which artists get to be offline weirdos, anymore? What happens when an “artist” is a marketing idea instead of an authentic pursuit?

Episode 184—The Hanger Games

2026/02/27

This week we talk about the shifting nature of the politics/culture nonfiction book market–who do publishers imagine their readers to be? How does the broader political horizon change which sorts of books become “sellable” in this category? And most importantly, how have the last few months of violent occupation in the Twin Cities changed the way we see what a “politics book” should even be or do? If you want to participate in our Query Drive to benefit Open Market at the Zion Community Commons, send $100 to us via Paypal ([email protected]) or Venmo (Laura-Zats) and (if not a gift slot), email your query to [email protected]. If you want to claim a gifted critique, email us to let us know!

Episode 183—The Only Genre Is My Feelings

2026/01/09

After checking for a few minutes about the ICE occupation of the Twin Cities, we answer a reader question about genre as relates to Karen Russell’s THE ANTIDOTE, a novel that has both historical AND fantasy elements but which usually only gets talked about as “literary.” Is that a slight to fantasy? Does it show us something about the creation and marketing of genre? Are Memory Witches real? All this and more! Join us.

Episode 182—Print Run Goes Nano

2025/10/24

Episode 182—Print Run Goes Nano by Erik Hane and Laura Zats

Episode 181—Tote Bag Mindset

2025/09/12

This week we evaluate the pervasive notion that “literary” or “challenging” fiction is going away, and what that means for our reading culture more broadly in age where the AI slop is only becoming more prevalent. It’s a convo about genre, category, selling versus writing categories, and much more. Join us!

Episode 180—Can Agents Read?

2025/08/01

This week we took a look at a substack piece (link below!) that argued that literary agents can’t or don’t read well, as a jumping-off point to discuss the big picture of the query process, the ways we sort through a high volume of submissions, when art becomes boring business emails, and much more. We can read, we promise! The piece in question is here: https://antipodes.substack.com/p/literary-agents-dont-read-how-i-proved

Episode 179—The Psychologisode

2025/06/27

This week, Laura got mad enough at Erik’s approach to his creative life that she’s devoting an episode to psychoanalyzing him and his writing practices. What could go wrong!

Episode 178—The One About (Un)bound(less)

2025/06/06

In light of the recent revelations about Unbound/Boundless’s failure to pay their debts to their authors, we talked about what went wrong, what flawed publishing impulse these mistakes come from, and the importance of publishing companies not pursuing growth at all costs. We also yell a little bit about AI. Come unpack the horrors with us!

Episode 177—The Jimmies, The Rock, The Tariffs

2025/04/03

This week…. Well folks there’s not much to say other than that we were pretty loose, given the general state of things in both publishing and beyond. We talk about MrBeast getting eight figures for a book, Dwayne The Rock Johnson being a True Crime Girlie, and the tariffs that promise to upend the publishing industry. Come hang out and blow off some steam with us.

Episode 176—Co-ops as the Way Forward

2025/03/20

This week we look at the announcement of a fascinating new agreement between eight small publishers that revolves around sharing shipping costs as a way to discuss the concept of cooperation in our industry; what do co-op initiatives like this do for the survival of independent publishing–or agenting, or writing, or anything else outside the industry’s largest corporate structures? We talk about how cooperation actually exists in opposition to consolidation, and the ways moves like this can actually free up the ability to take editorial and artistic risks.

Episode 175—What We Owe Each Other

2025/02/20

In response to an excellent listener question, today we’re talking about how writers can approach asking potential agents about how they might handle specific aspects of their lives–whether that’s gender or sexual identity, disability, pregnancy or possible pregnancy, and much more–that could affect their publishing journey. We are in an age where all of us are growing increasingly vulnerable in different ways to what feels like a genuine fascist cultural backslide–this means that we all owe each other more solidarity, that our publishing relationships must account for the different ways in which we could become exposed to risk or harm. This is a big episode on “what we owe each other”: what agents owe writers, what publishers owe writers, what anyone who works in publishing owes anyone else in terms of helping all of us stay safe and protected from an increasingly dangerous world.

Podcast reviews

Read Print Run Podcast podcast reviews

4.8 out of 5

311 reviews

★★★☆☆

Amuletmood 2026/10/09

Wish Laura would let someone else talk

Was excited about the interview with the author of middlemen but the host talked over her the entire time.

★☆☆☆☆

Kateria22 2025/02/04

More politics than publishing

I tuned in to this podcast for the first time because I wanted to learn about the publishing industry. What I learned was about the political opinions...

★★★★★

dundagas pils 2025/02/02

the best (publishing) podcast

This is probably my fave podcast of all time. I binged 40 episodes during a solo weekend trip a few years ago, and whenever a new episode drops I list...

★★★★★

mspassell 2023/09/04

45656 stars!!

I appreiate this insider look into publishing. The hosts are so smart. I left publishing years ago and am always dying to hear what they have to say.

★★★★★

kim smuga 2023/03/09

Learning so much

The conversations in this podcast are intelligent and compassionent. Laura and Erik are able to address the problems and issues with the publishing in...

★★★★★

ggyivfrryuuhsas 2023/01/31

Phenomenal podcast

I get so excited whenever a new episode drops, because Erik and Laura are just so funny and very open about the publishing industry, no matter how wei...

★★★★★

Valuryyyyyyyyyy 2022/06/03

My favorite podcast!

Funny, interesting, educational — this is my absolute favorite podcast right now!

★★☆☆☆

Trader Jenny 2022/03/08

Is it insightful?

Recently listened to the newest episode and found it really repetitive. They self proclaimed to be critics of the industry but that’s it. They critici...

★★★★★

Autumnd. 2021/10/23

Honest & hilarious

I genuinely can’t wait for something buckwild to happen in the book world, just to hear Laura and Erik’s take on it. Thanks for the honest— and hilari...

★★★★★

Alexstrath1 2021/06/09

Hello Laura

Erik and Laura have great chemistry as they give it to you as it is on various topics related to the author life.

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