Read the Acknowledgments

Executive Director of the National Book Foundation and author Ruth Dickey and Rob Arnold, essayist, poet, and Executive Director of Poets House, join Randy to discuss the National Book Foundation and its annual awards ceremony and benefit, Poets House, deciding on the next book to read, and writers as leaders.Subscribe to the podcast via Apple, Spotify,  and Substack.Highlights include why book award lists matter, executive role misconceptions, writing while supporting writers, the importance of book readers, and much more.

Author, filmmaker, and artist Jade Song and Ling Ling Huang, author and Grammy award-winning violinist, join Randy to discuss the origin story of I LOVE YOU DON'T DIE, the beginnings of IMMACULATE CONCEPTIONS, writers finding agents, and the collaborative nature of book publishing.Subscribe to the podcast via Apple, Spotify,  and Substack.Highlights include why Jade and Ling Ling write, various elements of the writing process, writing a screenplay v writing a novel, and much more.

Zando Project's Publishing Director and Deputy Director of Marketing, Nancy Trypuc joins Randy to discuss The Black List's new fiction initiative with Evil Twin. The Evil Twin Manuscript Initiative is a new partnership created to identify an unpublished or self-published horror novel to enter into a $25,000 publishing deal with Zando imprint Evil Twin. Deadline is November 20, 2026.Subscribe to the podcast via Apple, Spotify,  and Substack.Highlights include tips for writers interested in participating in the new fiction program, upcoming titles from Evil Twin, industry thoughts for emerging writers and published authors, and much more.

Founder of Debutiful, Adam Vitcavage and Emma Copley Eisenberg, nationally bestselling author, join Randy to discuss Emma's new collection FAT SWIM, writing community support, writer career moves, and book industry business surprises.Subscribe to the podcast via Apple, Spotify,  and Substack.Highlights include dungeons and dragons, the impact of Debutiful, what Emma's learned over the course of writing three books, and much more.

Author Isabel Booth and Marcia Markland, Crooked Lane Books' Editor-at-Large, join Randy to discuss how the unpublished manuscript THEN HE WAS GONE was discovered on The Black List platform, why an editor uses The Black List, writing with empathy, the impact writing has on community, and how to celebrate a win. Subscribe to the podcast via Apple, Spotify,  and Substack.Highlights include books that inspire more writing, what an editor is looking for in a manuscript, deciding what to write next, book recommendations, and much more.