Welcome to the inaugural episode of Write the Book, Play the Game, a podcast about the business of being an author!

We’re authors Andrea Bartz & Gretchen Schreiber, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be pulling back the curtain on our own experiences in decades of trad publishing, sharing everything we’ve learned about building sustainable careers.

There are plenty of great podcasts out there addressing writing craft and sharing book recs and author interviews, but we’re here to do something different: provide candid insights and actionable advice for authors navigating a career with the Big 5.

In this episode, we discuss…

* Why the business side of the industry feels so murky and opaque

* One of the most important factors publishers consider when deciding whether or not to publish your next book (hint: It’s not your sales!)

* True or false: publishers can “make” a bestseller if they really want to

* Why publishing a “dud” doesn’t mean your career is over

* The biggest question you must ask yourself before investing in self-promo

* What “success” means to your publisher (and why that can’t be your only metric)

* The mistake so many authors make on social media (and in group chats!)

* The hurtful feedback that forever lives rent-free in our brains—and what we’ve learned from it

…and more. You can listen to or watch the convo in a browser or the Substack app, or listen via your favorite podcast player (instructions here). Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Next week, we’ll dive into the surprising way the C-suite views publishing, with strategies for understanding and navigating this black box of a field. Thanks for listening, and use the comments to let us know what you think.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit writethebookplaythegame.substack.com