Shows
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 62: Publishers Without Borders Director Discusses London Book FairPrashant Pathak is the Co-Founder and Director of Publishers Without Borders, a global and non-commercial community supporting publishing professionals through collaboration and knowledge-sharing. With 20 years of experience across publishing, licensing, printing, EdTech, and gaming, Prashant brings a cross-sector perspective to building content, partnerships, and global markets.Prashant joined us on the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss how the London Book Fair has evolved—from 2010's concerns regarding ebooks to today's focus on AI and new technology. He also shares practical advice on turning a busy three days into real outcomes, and explains how Publishers Without Borders fosters genuine hu...
2026-02-1726 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 61: The Role of Fixed-Layout EPUBs in Publishing with Ken JonesKen Jones is an experienced book publishing software expert. Before founding Circular Software, he served as the Technical Production Manager, software trainer, and automation developer at Penguin. Circular Software is a UK company that specializes in software, training, and strategic guidance for publishers—including Quarto Group, Bonnier Books, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Pan Macmillan—helping them get the most from their print and digital workflows.Ken joined us on the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss the role of fixed-layout EPUBs in modern publishing exploring how they differ from reflowable ebooks and PDFs, along with their design, content, and acce...
2026-01-2027 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 60: CoreSource & the Future of Book Distribution with Marit VagstadMarit Vagstad has worked in the book publishing industry for more than 20 years in marketing, sales, and product management roles. She currently is the Director of CoreSource, Ingram Content Group’s digital distribution solution and manages teams responsible for Key Account Management and Product Success.She joined us on the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss the pivotal role CoreSource plays in data distribution, the evolving challenges in metadata management, and how Ingram is leveraging technology to help publishers thrive amid rapid changes in discoverability and accessibility. To learn more about Ingram CoreSource, visit their website.
2025-11-1728 min
Pastors Unfiltered#129: Ephesians 3 with Joshua TallentThis week on Pastors Unfiltered, Pastors Brandon and Tony sit down with Joshua Tallent, who teaches adult discipleship classes at Venture Church, for a deeper dive into Ephesians 3. Together they unpack Paul's vision of God's boundless love, the mystery of the gospel, and what it means for the church today. It's honest, practical, and rooted in real-life discipleship.
2025-11-1454 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 59: AI, Discoverability & GEO: Transforming Book Marketing with Shimmr AIBrooke Dobson is Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Shimmr AI, a fully automated platform for publishers that creates automated advertising for discovery and sales of books. With expertise in economic forecasting, marketing analytics, and AI technologies, Brooke brings a unique view into AI applications in publishing.She joined us on the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss how advancements in AI are transforming book marketing, as well as the importance of metadata and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and practical strategies publishers can use to boost discoverability, connect with readers, and enhance their marketing through automation. Learn...
2025-10-2127 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 58: Gavin Marcus & Jeremy Esekow on Storywise—AI, Development, and Publishing InnovationGavin Marcus is the CEO and co-founder of Storywise. He spent 10 years running an indie book publishing and distribution business before launching Storywise. Jeremy Esekow is Storywise's Chief Product Officer and co-founder. He has a Doctorate in Behavioral Psychology and an extensive background in business and finance.They joined us on the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss the creation and importance of Storywise, their platform that helps publishers and authors manage submissions, discover stories, and improve manuscripts for both fiction and nonfiction titles. Learn more about Storywise on LinkedIn or at storywisepublishers.com.
2025-09-2927 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 57: Phil Madans on Book Publishing Next and the Importance of MetadataPhil Madans is a seasoned publishing executive with over 42 years of experience in trade publishing, including more than a decade as Executive Director of Digital Publishing Technology at Hachette Book Group.Throughout his career, Phil has championed the use of technology to enhance—not complicate—the publishing process, bringing deep expertise in publishing systems, metadata, workflow optimization, and digital strategy. He has led major enterprise system implementations, overseen the integration of large-scale acquisitions, and played a pivotal role in developing and promoting industry standards. Phil has been an active member of the publishing community, particularly the Book Indu...
2025-08-1927 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 56: Ann Kjellberg on the Importance and Future of Book ReviewingAnn Kjellberg is the Founding Editor of the Book Post book review, an innovative newsletter-based book review service which delivers thoughtful, in-depth literary criticism from distinguished writers directly to subscribers' inboxes.With nearly 30 years of experience at the New York Review of Books, Kjellberg brings a wealth of expertise to the evolving world of literary journalism. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast to explore the changing landscape of book reviewing, offering a unique perspective on the challenges facing book reviews in the digital age. This episode delves into the decline of traditional book reviews, the limitations of short-form...
2025-07-2223 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 55: The Future of eReaders with Len EdgerlyLen Edgerly is the host of the Kindle Chronicles podcast, a long-running show dedicated to exploring digital reading technologies and publishing innovations.He joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss the evolving landscape of e-reader technology, sharing insights from his 15 years of covering Kindle and digital reading developments. Len offers a unique perspective on the future of reading, including potential AI integrations and the importance of maintaining a focused reading experience. If you're interested in following Len's work, check out his Morning Journal on Alexa flash briefings or his Substack newsletter at lenedgerly.substack.com. Find...
2025-06-1726 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 54: Booktrovert - a Brand New Consumer Marketing PlatformKristina Radke is the Senior Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement at NetGalley. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast to launch of Booktrovert, a new consumer marketing platform for publishers and authors. Booktrovert allows for easy creation of marketing campaigns with digital giveaways and interactive tools for readers, designed to complement the existing NetGalley platform. If you're interested in becoming a Booktrovert publisher, reach out to concierge@netgalley.com. Find Kristina Radke on LinkedIn and click here to sign up for Booktrovert today!Learn about Booktrovert: What is Booktrovert?Types...
2025-05-1921 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 53: Advertising Strategies for Publishers and AuthorsDaniel Berkowitz is the Ad Sales Director for Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. He is also the founder of AuthorPop, a one-stop shop for every author's digital needs.He joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss the importance of book advertising for both publishers and authors. He has worked with authors at all stages of their careers to help build their audience and increase discoverability, and previously spent several years at Open Road Integrated Media as Executive Director of Paid Marketing, where he worked with both authors and publishers...
2025-04-2128 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 52: Bryan Heathman on How AI Is Shaping the Audiobook IndustryBryan Heathman is the CEO of Made for Success Publishing, a book publishing company that specializes in selling audiobooks. .He joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss how AI technology is transforming the audiobook industry, specifically regarding AI narration for audiobooks. We discuss the future of audiobooks and the benefits of using AI narration vs. traditional narrators, as well as common misconceptions and consumer hesitations regarding AI narration, and technological advancements with AI and audiobooks. Bryan discussed this topic in detail at the 2024 Publishing Innovation Forum. To learn more and request a PDF of his presentation...
2025-03-1728 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 51: Margaux Weisman on The Value of Foreign Rights for PublishersMargaux Weisman is the former Director of Business Development at DropCap Inc., a tech-enabled rights agency and a global rights marketplace used by rights agents and acquisitions around the world to find great books.She joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss the importance & process of foreign rights for independent authors and small publishers. We discuss why foreign rights are a valuable source of revenue for authors and publishers, how DropCap helps indie authors and smaller publishers navigate foreign rights deals, markets that show the biggest demand for U.S. books, and the typical advance ranges...
2025-02-1821 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 50: Rebecca Burgoyne on Lean Six Sigma for Knowledge WorkRebecca Burgoyne is the Executive Director of Business Systems Integrations for the United Methodist Publishing House. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast discuss what Lean Six Sigma is and why book publishers should be incorporating this type of knowledge work, along with the importance of understanding workflows, reducing waste, and more!
Rebecca discussed Lean Six Sigma for Knowledge Work at the 2024 Publishing Innovation Forum. To learn more, feel free to reach out to her on LinkedIn or Twitter. You can also look into articles she's written on medium, including Lean Six Sigma for Knowledge Work!
2025-01-2124 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 49: David Hetherington on Building Resilient Business Practices
David Hetherington is the Vice President of Global Business Development at Books International, a leading provider of US and International book manufacturing, print and digital distribution services for the book publishing industry. With over 40 years of experience in the book publishing industry, David has served as a Board Member for the Book Industry Study Group, Book Manufacturers Institute, and PubWest, along with the Pace University Graduate School of Publishing.
As a publishing veteran, David joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss how to establish practices that ensure your business is more resilient in times of crisis...
2024-11-1321 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 48: Jason Brockwell on "Distribution in the Digital Age"
Jason Brockwell is the President of National Book Network, one of the largest independent book distributors in the United States. With titles in nearly every bookstore category, NBN has helped a broad variety of publishers with their distribution needs since its founding in 1986. Before becoming an executive at the company, Jason was a national account manager calling on several large customers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble for NBN and also worked as a field sales rep in the the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
This episode of the BookSmarts Podcast was recorded live at the 2024 Publishing Innovation Forum...
2024-10-2133 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 47: Benetech's Michael Johnson on Accessible EbooksMichael Johnson is the Vice President of Content at Benetech. In this role, he works directly with publishers, conversion houses, technology platforms, retailers, and educational institutions to help them understand and implement processes that allow for fully accessible content to get from authors all the way through to the end reader. He also has a long-time relationship to publishing standards having sat on several ISO, NISO, BISG, and MARC standards committees throughout his career and currently sits on the Board of Directors for DAISY.
With almost 40 years of experience in the technology, publishing, and distribution markets...
2024-09-1623 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 46: Kristina Radke on Audiobooks with NetGalley
Kristina Radke is the Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement at NetGalley, a service that helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies and audiobooks to book advocates and industry professionals, including reviewers, booksellers, librarians, educators, media/journalists, and other book trade professionals. With over 15 years of experience in book marketing, publicity, and client relationships, Kristina joins us on the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss NetGalley's expansion into the audiobook market, along with trends and strategies for publishers to be aware of when uploading audiobooks to NetGalley.
Kristina will be providing training for NetGalley users and publishers...
2024-08-1928 min
Turek Books PodcastOne Love Live Laugh with Allen Strickland Williams (Finding My Audience Podcast)Comedy Central Half Hour Comedian and Finding My Audience podcast host, Allen Strickland Williams joins Joshua to discuss books written by his friends including one he calls the best book about comedy since Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up". They get into the best French Dip sandwich in downtown Los Angeles, a little Mike Davis per usual for Joshua, and how Allen's favorite Kurt Vonnegut book seems to be no one elses.Books talked about include:Running the Light by Sam TallentDriven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey...
2024-07-1657 min2024-07-1522 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 44: Tyler Carey on the Modern Challenges of Publisher Workflows
2024-06-1724 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 43: Beat Barblan on the Role of Bowker in the IndustryBeat Barblan is the General Manager of Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the United States and Australia. As a senior level publishing technology and international standards executive, Beat joins us on the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss Bowker's evolving role in the publishing industry and their efforts to support authors and publishers, as well as the important of metadata in book discoverability.
To learn more about Bowker or to get in touch with Beat, visit myidentifiers.com.
2024-05-2030 min
City Cast DenverA Concert Ticket Fix, Road Rage, and Jamal Murray’s TantrumA new bill could require concert ticket sellers to show the actual price of tickets upfront. But data shows that might not be the root of the problem. Plus, a recent study found that Colorado ranks in the top five for road rage, including a higher than national average for gun violence-related incidents. Local music industry veteran Bruce Trujillo and award-winning comedian Joshua Emerson join host Bree Davies to break down the biggest stories of the week, including the Nuggets’ bad playoffs behavior, a certain concert to avoid, and more.Bruce shouted out Girls Rock Denver! She al...
2024-05-1045 min2024-04-1527 minPastors UnfilteredPastors Unfiltered #45: What is PassoverJoin Dr. Brandon Beals and Pastor Tony Mattar as they are join with special guest Joshua Tallent as they talk about what is Passover!2:25 Barkbox3:30 Samson lives in Wedgewood7:55 Joshua Tallent intro8:50 Joshua’s background10:32 Through the Bible12:30 Palm Sunday14:15 Fact Checking about Passover18:50 history of Easter21:40 Jewish roots of our faith22:20 What are we celebrating with Easter25:02 foreshadowing what Jesus did26:00 timeline of Jesus Death in correlation with Passover29:40 Unique rules of Passover32:22 When God answers prayer41:39 What are you listening to, what ar...
2024-03-2246 min
Pastors UnfilteredPastors Unfiltered #45: Understanding Passover with Joshua TallentJoin Dr. Brandon Beals and Pastor Tony Mattar as they are join with special guest Joshua Tallent as they talk about what is Passover!2:15 Kate Middleton Scandal 4:26 Barkbox5:25 Samson lives in Wedgewood10:15 Joshua Tallent intro 10:38 Joshua’s background 14:35 Palm Sunday 16:16 Fact Checking about Passover20:30 history of Easter23:35 Jewish roots of our faith 24:01 What are we celebrating with Easter 26:34 foreshadowing what Jesus did
2024-03-2248 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 41: Jane Friedman on Spotify Audiobooks and Author Earnings
2024-03-1820 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 40: Tom Richardson on ONIX Best Practices & Standards
Tom Richardson has been the Bibliographic Manager for BookNet Canada since 2008 and currently serves on the BISG Metadata Committee. As BookNet Canada’s ONIX subject specialist, Tom joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss ONIX best practices in detail, as well as some of the issues seen with how sales rights and market data is being delivered from a Canadian perspective.BookNet Canada is a non-profit organization comparable to BISG or BIC that develops technology, standards, and education to serve the Canadian book industry. They also represent the ONIX/Thema National Group for Canada and are heavily involved in the in...
2024-02-2024 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 39: Kathi Inman Berens, Ph.D. & Rachel Noorda, Ph.D. on Gen Z and Millennial SurveyAccording to a report released by the American Library Association, Gen Z and Millennials are visiting public libraries at higher rates than previous generations, and also prefer print books over other formats. Dr. Kathi Inman Berens and Dr. Rachel Noorda from Portland State University authored this annual survey to capture how these younger generations read and discover books. They joined the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss their findings in detail and talk about what some of the results mean for book publishers.
The survey is titled: Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through M...
2024-01-2930 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 38: Miriam Warren on International Mergers & AcquisitionsMiriam Warren is a Director at The Fisher Company, which provides international mergers and acquisition services for print and digital publishing media and technology sectors. Her eleven years in academic publishing give her a comprehensive knowledge of a publisher’s specific needs, from acquisition and peer review process through print and ebook production.
Miriam also served as President of the Board of Directors for PubWest for nearly six years. She joins the Booksmarts Podcast to discuss the process of The Fisher’s Company’s mergers and acquisitions and gives advice to publishers thinking about selling their company or acq...
2023-11-2016 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 37: Victoria Sutherland on Reviews and Opportunities for Independent Publishers
Victoria Sutherland is the Founder and Publisher of Foreword Magazine, Inc., and Director of Children’s Books USA. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss how Foreword Magazine can help smaller, independent publishers with their marketing endeavors.
The mission of Foreword Magazine, Inc. is to help booksellers and librarians discover great books from indie presses through an artistic magazine dedicated to book reviewing. Victoria has spent many years of her career focusing on independent publishers and small press authors, and currently serves as Treasurer of the Independent Book Publishers Association. She discusses marketing trends that she’s disc...
2023-10-1622 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 36: Klaus Krogh on Sustainable Typesetting and Bible DesignKlaus Krogh is the President, CEO, and co-founder of 2K/Denmark, a graphic design, typesetting, and type design company that earlier this year launched the Sustainable Typesetting brand of services. He joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss the importance of Sustainable Typesetting for publishers and the complicated process of creating bibles.
Klaus also serves as the President of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, in partnership with the Museum of the Bible, a global network of publishers, producers, and suppliers who aim to nurture and highlight excellence in Bible craftsmanship.
If you have questions or comments...
2023-09-2524 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 35: Mary Carlomagno on Book VisibilityMary Carlomagno is a publishing veteran with experience on all sides of the business including marketing positions at Barnes & Noble and Random House. She is a nationally recognized organizing expert and author whose books have appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Program, The Today Show, and CBS News.
Currently, she is the Director of Sales and Business Development for Bowker bringing their wealth of services to the traditional publisher market. She joins us on the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss how publishers can expand the visibility of their titles.Follow Mary Carlomagno on LinkedIn to learn more about her wo...
2023-08-0820 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 34: Laura Brady on AccessibilityLaura Brady is an inclusive publishing expert whose priority is always to put users first. She has more than 25 years of publishing experience creating and converting eBooks, training publishers on accessible workflows, and consulting for service organizations about how to publish inclusively while worrying about everyone’s reading experience.
Currently, she serves on the board of the Accessible Books Consortium, is a lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University, and is the Accessibility Training Manager at eBOUND Canada. Laura joins the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss what accessibility in book publishing means and how to effectively practice inclusivity so readers of...
2023-07-1322 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 33: Michele Cobb on Publishing Associations and Awards ProgramsMichele Cobb is the Executive Director of Audio Publishers Association and PubWest, publisher of AudioFile Magazine and MMB media, and a partner at Forte Business Consulting. Needless to say, she is a very busy woman and joins us at the BookSmarts Podcast to discuss what it’s like juggling so many hats at once.
The Coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench in many areas of the publishing industry. Michele shares how significantly the pandemic impacted how her associations handle publishing conferences and award ceremonies. Michele also discusses the transition from online back to in-person conferences as well as th...
2023-03-0821 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 32: Thad McIlroy on Publishing StartupsThad McIlroy, an electronic publishing analyst and author who writes about publishing technology at his site, The Future of Publishing, joins me to talk about publishing startups. Thad has been working for many years on a database that provides interesting details on these companies, and the list has now been published by Publishers Weekly.
Thad describes how he got started with the list, and how he defines what a startup is for the purposes of the list. The list includes key information about each startup, including a mission statement or description about what the startup does, and a...
2023-01-1024 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 31: David Marlin on Royalty Management and Company SecurityIn this final episode of 2022, we are joined by David Marlin, President of MetaComet Systems. David has been working in the publishing industry for the last 24 years, and is an expert in royalty automation. We discuss his background and how he got into publishing, the recent move to paying author royalties through electronic payment services, and more.
David shared how MetaComet has recently become SOC 2 Type 2 certified, and we discussed the process they had to go through to get that level of security certification. We also talked about how some publishers are moving toward outsourcing their royalty m...
2022-11-2824 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 30: Emma Watson on Subscription Ebook Sales ModelsEbook piracy is a constant struggle for some publishers, especially when their books are used in academic settings. In many cases, this can be due to the availability of the content, not an inability or lack of desire to pay for it. In this episode of the BookSmarts podcast, Joshua talks with Emma Watson, the Account Manager at Perlego, a UK-based book subscription service, about how subscription models can help alleviate piracy issues.
The two talk about how solid SEO can help redirect readers who are looking for free content to subscriptions that legally provide what they n...
2022-08-2423 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 29: Angela Bole on Independent PublishingThis episode features a conversation with Angela Bole, the current CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association, about the role of independent publishing and the work of IBPA in that community. Angela's background is deeply rooted in publishing. She worked in a bookstore in college, then went on to complete the New York University graduate program in Book Publishing. After that she worked for the Book Industry Study Group before taking on her current role as CEO of IBPA 9 years ago.
IBPA's mission is "to lead and serve independent publishers through advocacy, education, and tools for success," a...
2022-08-1023 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 28: Charles Watkinson on Open AccessIn this episode, Charles Watkinson, the Director of University of Michigan Press and the Associate University Librarian for Publishing at University of Michigan Library, joins us to discuss Open Access ebooks and their role in the publishing community. Open Access ebooks are essentially freely available ebooks, usually for scholarly monographs, that are released under a license that allows reuse (most commonly a Creative Commons license).
University of Michigan Press has experimented with Open Access since the 1990's, but developed their current program starting in the mid-2000's. Their goal, under their Fund to Mission program, is to get...
2022-07-1221 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 27: Kevin Franco on Book Marketing StrategiesKevin Franco is a Product Manager at Firebrand Technologies with a background in digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and direct-to-consumer ebook sales. He is leading the development of some new technologies at Firebrand, and has been doing a lot of thinking about book marketing strategies that can help increase book sales.
We talked about the book marketing funnel from discovery through conversion, with an emphasis on strategies you can use to increase your Book Exposure Optimization (BEO) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). These strategies include metadata changes and enhancements, advertising campaigns, and data analytics, but the specific strategies you...
2022-06-1319 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 26: Pete Larson on the Current Supply Chain SituationIn this episode we are joined by Pete Larson. Pete is the President and CEO of Bethany Press (https://www.bethanypress.com/), a printer based in Bloomington, Minnesota. He has been in the printing side of the publishing business for over 25 years, and has some interesting thoughts to share with us about the current supply chain issues that we are experiencing as an industry.
Pete looks back at changes that have been happening to book printing since the early 2000's, and traces some of the issues we are seeing now to overall trends and changes in printing p...
2022-05-2626 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 25: BISG - Future Proofing Your WorkflowThis episode features a recording of a panel discussion I led with Mary McAveney, Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road Integrated Media, at the BISG 2022 Annual Meeting. The discussion, titled "Future Proofing Your Workflow," aimed to cover some open questions about the process of becoming more prepared for the future of publishing, whatever that might look like: Where do we start? How do we know what the future might look like? And will this ever end?
My main takeaway from the conversation, and what I hope you also are able to glean from it as you listen, i...
2022-05-1828 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 24: Cory Verner on the Growth of AudiobooksCory Verner is the CEO of ONE Audiobooks, a publisher of audiobooks and a turnkey audio services provider. Cory has been working in the audiobooks industry for over 20 years, and has seen the changes in technology, the changes in focus, and the growth in sales as the format has taken off in 6-7 years. Cory and I talk about some of the reasons for that growth, the demographics of listeners, and some specific differences between the Inspirational Books market that he is closely connected to compared to the general audiobooks market.
We also talk about how the...
2022-03-2323 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 23: Mark Herschberg How Books Might Escape the PageIn this episode we are joined by Mark Herschberg, publisher at Cognosco Media, author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You, and the developer of a new app that is attempting to promote a new take on reader interaction with book content.
I was a bit skeptical of Mark's approach from the offset, having seen so many ebook apps and new ideas about digital engagement flame out over the years. However, Mark and I had a great conversation about how the relevant content in a book might be more or less th...
2022-03-0221 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 22: George Slowik, Jr. on the 150th Anniversary of Publishers WeeklyThis week's guest is George Slowik, Jr., the Chairman and Owner of PWxyz LLC, the parent company of Publishers Weekly, who joins us to discuss the magazine's history, the digital archive, and more.
Publishers Weekly was launched in 1872 as a bibliographic source for all publishers to list forthcoming titles. Over its 150 year history, the magazine has continued to provide news and features about the publishing industry, and has even expanded to provide over 9,000 new book reviews every year.
George gives a brief overview of the magazine's history, discusses the development of the digital archive, the s...
2022-02-0923 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 21: Thad McIlroy on Metadata Quality, the Backlist, and moreIn this episode I am joined by Thad McIlroy, an electronic publishing analyst and author based in San Francisco. Thad writes in-depth articles on publishing topics for his own website, The Future of Publishing, as well as for Publishers Weekly. We started off the conversation talking about the need to understand metadata from a strategic perspective, not just from a clerical or practical perspective, even as far up the food chain as the publisher or CEO.
With that strategic understanding in place, the next step for any publishing company is to experiment with your metadata and find...
2022-01-2422 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 20: Todd Sattersten on The Magic NumberIn the first episode of 2022, Todd Sattersten, Publisher at Bard Press, discusses his research on The Magic Number: the number of units a title has to sell in the first year in order to go on to be a greater success. This conversation was inspired by Todd's insightful blog post from April 2021 on this topic, which I highly recommend you read.
Todd's research into self-help and business books shows that if a title does not sell 10,000 copies in the first year after publication, there is only 11% chance that that title will ever sell more than 10,000 copies. However, if...
2022-01-1226 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 19: Scott Miller on Publishing at FranklinCoveyIn our last episode for 2021, we are joined by Scott Miller, Former CMO and EVP of Business Development at the FranklinCovey Company, and now their senior advisor on thought leadership and publishing strategy. In addition to running the publishing program at FranklinCovey, Scott is a best-selling author in his own right, as well as the host of the "On Leadership" podcast (https://resources.franklincovey.com/on-leadership-with-scott-miller), which has between 6 and 7 million listeners every week.
Scott talks with me about the publishing process at FranklinCovey, including how authors are chosen, how book topics are refined, and the general d...
2021-12-0725 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 18: Robin Whitten on Audiobook Demographics and QualityIn this episode, Robin Whitten, editor & founder of AudioFile Magazine, joins us to discuss audiobook listener demographics and performance quality. Audiobook sales have grown significantly in a short amount of time. With that growth, we have also seen an increase in the number of available audiobooks and a revolution in audiobook production.
Robin expounds on some of the major advances in the audiobook world, how the demographics of audiobook listeners are changing, and the genres that are the most popular. She also talks about how important the sound design and narration are to the success of an...
2021-11-2322 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 17: Fran Toolan on CybersecurityFran Toolan, CEO of Firebrand Technologies, joins me to continue the conversation about cybersecurity in the publishing industry. Fran pulls back the covers a bit on this topic, revealing that Firebrand has had four security incidents in the last two years, including two ransomware attacks. And Firebrand is not alone; there have been a number of other breaches in the industry, too, so Fran is not the only executive losing sleep over this issue.
We discuss phishing attacks, environment and server checks, the NIST framework, monitoring, two factor authentication, and more, and offer some advice for individual...
2021-11-1019 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 16: Nick Espinosa on CybersecurityThe month of October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this week's podcast features Nick Espinosa, an expert in cybersecurity and network infrastructure. Nick has consulted with clients ranging from small businesses up to the fortune 500 level for decades, and he's the Chief Security Fanatic at Security Fanatics, a cybersecurity and cyber warfare firm that's dedicated to designing custom cyber defense strategies for medium to large enterprise corporations. Nick is also a TEDx speaker, a regular columnist for Forbes, an award winning co-author of the best selling book Easy Prey, and he's also the host of The Deep Dive, a...
2021-10-2720 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 15: Updates on Keywords and ReviewsThere are some changes happening around keywords and reviews at Amazon, so we take a few minutes this week to talk about them.
Amazon recently changed their keyword requirements again. It is unclear how broad this change is, and whether it will even stay in place, but Amazon started restricting the Keywords field to 350 characters a few weeks ago for some titles at some publishers. Because this is such a new change, I recommend publishers who send ONIX to Amazon take a look at recently updated titles and make sure the changes they sent were not suppressed.
2021-10-1510 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 14: Mary McAveney on Book DiscoveryMary McAveney, Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road Integrated Media joins us this week on the BookSmarts Podcast. Mary has extensive expertise in marketing, strategy, and branding in the publishing industry, and now helps the Open Road team tackle marketing and discovery with data-driven tactics and a comprehensive understanding of direct-to-consumer marketing.
In this episode, Mary and Joshua discuss the opportunities and challenges around book discovery. As sales have moved online, publishers have increasingly become more responsible for their own book discovery, and that can be a real challenge for publishers who have not tackled book discovery b...
2021-09-2923 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 13: Alessandra Torre on Indie Author Strategies that Publishers Can UseAlessandra Torre, CEO of Authors A.I. and BingeBooks and a NY Times bestselling Psychological Thriller and Romance author, joins Joshua to talk about various strategies independent authors utilize when marketing and selling their books, and how publishers can take advantage of these strategies.
Alessandra's suggestions cover a wide range of topics. Being flexible in pricing, testing new prices periodically, and setting affordable ebook prices can be a great way to see what price the market will bear for specific products. Cover reveals can be a great opportunity to get the word out about a new title...
2021-09-1522 min
The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 12: Michael Cader on Challenges and Opportunities in PublishingIn this episode, Michael Cader, Founder of Publisher's Lunch and PublishersMarketplace.com, joins me to talk about some of the challenges and opportunities publishers are encountering. Publishers are doing great right now, with record sales and profit margins, and larger year-over-year growth than anyone could have expected. Meanwhile, the people who work in publishing, including booksellers, authors, and many others, are feeling stressed and are not necessarily seeing the personal benefits that come from this extraordinary growth.
Michael talks about what he sees as a reset: a reassessment of what publishing does and how it does it, an...
2021-09-0117 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 11: Recent Kindle Changes: A+ Pages and the Death of the MOBI FormatAmazon has recently made two big changes to their publishing systems, and both of these changes will have an impact on publishers of all sizes.
The first change is that Amazon now allows publishers using the Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP) platform to set up A+ Content for their book product pages. The A+ program has historically only been available to companies who are signed up for the Brand Registry, so this change opens the door for many more A+ pages to be made. Joshua discusses the impact this change will have on discoverability and sales, as well...
2021-08-1825 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 10: The Need for StandardsStandards are an important driving force in every civilization. Standards help us all agree on how we define things, and provide opportunities for us to more effectively engage with each other in trade and in other ways.
There is an interesting article in Science Magazine about how traders in the ancient Near East and Europe, during the Bronze Age, developed standardized weights and measures over time that allowed them to more easily trade goods with people from other parts of the world. The process of creating these standardized weights took place over a long period of time...
2021-07-2116 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 9: Erik Nelson on Branding and MarketingIn this episode, Joshua talks with Erik Nelson, a friend and marketing consultant, about how publishers can approach rethinking their own branding, and develop a more powerful approach to marketing based on their passion and mission.
Publishers, like other businesses, will fit broadly into three categories: 1) Those who are starting from scratch, have no major direct-to-consumer approach or marketing to speak of; 2) those who have a customer-facing brand, but know some things are broken and they don't know where to start on the repairs; and 3) those who already have some momentum on branding and direct-to-consumer, but want...
2021-07-0725 min
The Indy Author PodcastEpisode 086 - Inbetweenisode - Matty Overhauls Her KeywordsIn Episode 85 of The Indy Author Podcast, I interviewed Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur and creator of Publisher Rocket about keywords, and after that episode I got pretty obsessed about my own keywords, and played around a bit with Dave's four-column method. Of course, the devil's in the details, so as I was working on optimizing my keywords, I decided to tap into a couple of additional resources, including two previous guests of the podcast, and I'm going to share with you my "before" keywords, the process I went through, and my "after" keywords. I hope this will inspire you...
2021-07-0334 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 8: Everything You Wanted to Know About KeywordsKeywords are a popular topic among book metadata experts and book marketers, and publishers reach out to me all the time to ask for clarification and advice on how to effectively deal with them. So, in this episode of the podcast, we are going to break down the topic of keywords for you in depth.
Why do keywords matter? What are the best sources of keywords? How does Amazon's search engine use them, and how does it use other metadata you provide? How many keywords should you send out and how many are you allowed to send...
2021-06-2326 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 7: Andy Hunter on the Role of Independent Bookstores and the Need for InnovationIn this episode, Joshua talks with Andy Hunter, Founder & CEO of BookShop.org. Andy started BookShop out of a concern for the future of independent bookstores. As Amazon has grown and taken a larger share of the online book selling market, publishers have become more dependent on that one store. BookShop aims to give more power back to indie booksellers and to publishers, by providing a convenient platform both for bookstores and for consumers to use, and by providing access to an affiliate program that pays 10% of the sale price of a book.
Andy talks about his r...
2021-06-0928 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 6: Clay Tablets and Metadata OverwritingThis episode starts with a story about clay tablets and builds a connection all the way up to a modern metadata issue.
The story is about how a team of researchers utilized cutting edge mathematics to trace the trade itineraries and sales transactions left behind by Assyrian merchants 4,000 years ago. Using this information, the team was able to determine the location of cities that were hidden to time, and were able to find corollaries between the size of those ancient cities and those same cities today. This is a fascinating look at how data can change the...
2021-05-2619 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 5: Ian Lamont on Advertising and Direct-to-Consumer SalesIn this episode of the BookSmarts Podcast, Joshua talks with Ian Lamont, founder of i30 Media Corporation, about advertising on Amazon and Facebook, utilizing his website to build community, and building direct to consumer sales.
Amazon advertising offers some excellent opportunities to advertise your products and your brands, and has put a lot of thought into how products are discovered and displayed to consumers. However, there are some limitations that come with too much reliance on Amazon's advertising and sales, not the least of which is not being able to see more information about your customers and g...
2021-05-1225 min
Josh and Tom Devour the WorldEpisode Fifteen: Liz Whalen Tallent - The Orange Peel/Rabbit RabbitLiz Whalen Tallent's father called on her to help for a summer gig back in 2006 to help out around Asheville's iconic Live Music Venue, The Orange Peel. 15 years later, she's still managing the venue which has become synonymous with Asheville's Live Music scene - hosting legendary acts from the Smashing Pumpkins to the Beastie Boys and live comedy like Duncan Trussell, Tig Notaro, and Marc Maron. She's also launched downtown Asheville's newest outdoor venue - Rabbit Rabbit - a joint venture with Asheville Pizza. As if that wasn't enough, Liz has also been busy during the pandemic w...
2021-04-2850 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 4: Drs. Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens on Book DiscoveryIn this episode Joshua speaks with Dr. Rachel Noorda (@rachellynchase), Director of Book Publishing and Assistant Professor in English, and Dr. Kathi Inman Berens (@kathiiberens), Associate Professor of Book Publishing and Digital Humanities, at Portland State University. Rachel and Kathi are the lead researchers on Panorama Project's Immersive Media & Reading Consumer Survey, a survey-based consumer behavior study focused on how book discovery works and how libraries fit into the book discovery ecosystem. This cross-media study included representative samples from across U.S. population demographics and regions, and provides some important insights into how book consumers discover and purchase books.
2021-04-2822 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 3: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez on Being Data-InformedThis week, Joshua talks with Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Chief Content Officer at LibraryPass, about how publishers can become more data-informed and avoid the pitfalls of being too data-driven.
The data-driven approach to publishing can lead to myopic thinking and decision-making. When a publisher only makes decisions based on Amazon sales numbers, they are likely to miss some important data about where those consumers discovered their books. Being data-driven like that can actually lead to reduced sales if broader discovery mechanisms are ignored.
As Joshua discussed in Episode 1, backlist sales are of growing importance to publishers...
2021-04-1425 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 2: Brian O'Leary on the Future of PublishingIn this episode of the BookSmarts Podcast, Joshua interviews Brian O'Leary, Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the US book industry's trade organization. Brian and Joshua talk about three areas where Brian sees the industry struggling now and with space for continued growth in the future.
First, Book Publishing is a small industry, so it is important that we leverage our collective strengths to solve problems and become more forward-thinking, using standards and other technological investments to do so.
Second, we are seeing a growing emphasis on rights sales and information sharing...
2021-03-3121 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 1: Publishers Are in a Moneyball SituationIn this episode, Joshua discusses how he sees some similarities between the state of the publishing industry and the story of the Oakland A's baseball team as told in the movie Moneyball. Competition is fierce, and solid data practices can be the key factor between success and failure.
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
2021-03-1520 minThe BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua TallentEpisode 0: Introduction to the BookSmarts PodcastThis short episode will give you some information on my background, why I started the BookSmarts Podcast, and what you can expect from future episodes.
Music by Timmoor from Pixabay
2021-03-1207 minThe Indy Author PodcastEpisode 042 - The Importance of Metadata with Joshua TallentJoshua Tallent, acclaimed expert on the role of data in publishing, discusses changes Amazon has made to how it uses keywords, and how authors can capitalize on those changes; the value of the long tail search; and when authors need to focus on producing more content rather than on tweaking metadata. Joshua Tallent is a vocal advocate for high quality book metadata. He serves as the Director of Sales and Education at Firebrand Technologies, where his focus is on helping publishers of all sizes learn about, and find solutions to, their workflow and metadata problems. In his...
2020-09-0142 min
Novel MarketingHow to Use Metadata to Sell More BooksJoshua Tallent teaches authors how to create quality metadata to increase book sales. You can find the blogpost version of this episode HERE.The post How to Use Metadata to Sell More Books appeared first on Author Media.Support the show
2020-04-2731 min
The Kindle ChroniclesTKC 580 David Peach at Digital Book World Director of Deaf Ministries, Baptist International Outreach Note: I am very grateful to David Peach for covering Digital Book World on his own for The Kindle Chronicles this year, which enabled me to spend important time with my family. Links Baptist International Outreach Joshua Tallent of Firebrand Technologies Eda Gimenez of Buncee Paul Frank of The Bloom Library American Library Association's take on the Macmillan issue: Buncee Dave Gunn of the DAISY Consortium Bloom Library Na...
2019-09-1450 min
BookNet CanadaHighlights from Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018This month we're looking back at our biggest book-publishing-meets-technology conference ever. From March 21-23, 2018, hundreds of professionals from across the industry, from ebook developers to librarians, converged in Toronto for Tech Forum and ebookcraft to share, learn, and debate the future of the industry.
We've put together a highlight reel from some of our favourite talks (though they were all amazing), with insights on topics like metadata for ebooks, how retailers are bridging the digital divide, some great moments from our women in publishing panel, and lots more.
(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/20/podcast-highlights-from-tech-forum-ebookcraft-2018).
Talks highlighted:
1:00...
2018-04-1920 min
Positive on PublishingBuild a Foundation of Knowledge about Your Publishing Journey with Joshua TallentJoshua is the Director of Outreach and Education at Firebrand Technologies. He is an expert in metadata and eBook development and an acclaimed teacher and guide on digital publishing. In addition to heading up training and outreach efforts for Firebrand, Joshua serves on multiple industry committees and working groups and teaches in-depth workshops and sessions at publishing conferences throughout the year. He also leads the development of FlightDeck, a technology for ebook quality assurance that we cover during our interview.
2018-01-0350 min
Find Your Harmony RadioshowFind Your Harmony Radioshow #051Tracklist:
01. Tritonal x Cuebrick - Iceland (Viking Clap) (Original Mix) [Enhanced]
02. Feel & Two K - The End Is Near (Original Mix) [Suanda]
03. ID - Poweriser (Original Mix) [CDR]
04. Faruk Sabanci feat. Joshua Khane - The Other Side (Original Mix) [Metanoia]
05. Cosmic Gate & Eric Lumiere - Edge Of Life (Original Mix) [Black Hole]
06. Willem de Roo - Warrior (Original Mix) [ASOT]
07. DallasK - Powertrip (Original Mix) [Revealed]
08. Omnia - Mystique (Original Mix) [Armind]
09. Armin van Buuren - Old Skool (Vigel Remix) [Armind]
10. Afrojack pres. NLW - Home (Original Mix) [Wall]
11. Corti Organ - Zagreb (Original Mix) [ASOT]
12. Ashley Wallbridge feat...
2016-08-0400 min
Universe of Sound - Deep, Future, Progressive, Big Room House, Trance, Trap, DnB. FRESH HOT DANCE MIX.Universe of Sound ep.20Hello everyone! Glad u are like my work and i want to tell that there was more then 11k downloads for last episode through this week. So it's makes me happy and gives power to try my best making good vibes for all of you!
Tracklist:
1 TTD - House In My Heart (Club Mix)
2 Going Deeper feat. Joshua Khane – Breathin (Extended Mix)
3 Arno Cost feat. River – Coming Alive (Original)
4 Keanu Silva – Children (Extended Mix)
5 Gorgon City – All Four Walls (feat. Vaults)
6 Oliver Heldens – Melody (Original Mix)
7 SCRVP – Apache
8 LH4L – Bring Dat
9 Apashe feat. Lena – Skeleton Dance (Original)
10 ETC!ETC! & Bro S...
2016-03-1901 min
The Kindle ChroniclesTKC 321 Joshua TallentChief eBook Architect at Firebrand Technologies Interview starts at 14:14 I think that, because self-publishing has gotten easier, because the tools have gotten easier to use and there are so many more services available to self-published authors, you can compete directly with the work that's coming out of these major publishing houses. Show Notes […]
2014-09-2644 min
CraftLit - Serialized Classic Literature for Busy Book Lovers235: Ch 14 - DraculaORIGINAL AIRDATE Dec 16, 2011 19:55 Booktalk begins 30:34 Chapter 14 All of CraftLit's Catalogue can be found here All of CraftLit's Links can be found here CraftLit's Dracula playlist Chapter 14 of Dracula! Whoot! Then for Episodes 236, chapter 15, and 237 will get you Chapter 16! Again, many thanks to Maurice Mengel, Jon Scholes at Vaguenet, and Ehren Ziegler at Chop Bard for our audio this week! Thank you for your support, Audible! (now you go get your free book and start your trial by following this link) Updates The Lovely Stephanie Tallent of many patterns joins us! Happy Holidays | Carlson School of Management, the first chapter of...
2011-12-181h 24The Kindle Chronicles22 Joshua TallentNews - Rand McNally introduces a Road Atlas specifically designed for the Kindle. Featuring a brief telephone interview with Joel Minster, Rand McNally's senior vice president and chief cartographer. Tech Tip - Will DeLamater of EduKindle creates a sort of Kindle App - Notepad.Interview - Joshua Tallent of Kindle Formatting talks about how to format books for the Kindle, Digital Rights Management, and other e-topics. Josh will be teaching a session in February at the O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference. An example of his formatting work is Lost Sonnets of Cyrano de Bergerac. Th...
2008-12-2032 minThe Kindle Chronicles20 Will DeLamaterNews - Via Mike Elgan and HotelChatter.com , we learn that the famed Algonquin Hotel in New York City is loaning Kindles to guests. Jan Zlendich of The Kindle Reader blog notes that 46 of the 50 titles on Bookmarks Magazine's list of the 50 best books of 2008 are available for the Kindle.Tech Tip - Amazon Mobile on the iPhone/iPod Touch is pretty neat, but you can't use it yet to order a Kindle book. For the adventurous - how to update your customized photo screensavers on the Kindle. (Thanks to MobileRead forum member Phuocle for the steps.)
2008-12-0534 min