What it takes to get a book published
4/7/202622 min
Writing and publishing a book is just as much about money as it is about creativity. Planet Money co-host Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi walks us through how publishing works. He also explains the differences between publishing fiction and nonfiction, the chain of people that help get a book from rough draft to hard copy, and when self-publishing is a good option.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAaliyah Hannah Habib· Soundbite0:00
This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant turn. And it did take me a while to realize it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right. Because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week wherever you get your podcasts.
Marielle Segarra· Host0:23
You're listening to Life Kit [upbeat music] from NPR. Hey, it's Marielle. Have you ever wanted to publish a book? Fiction, nonfiction, a mystery, a thriller, maybe a romance novel? That's what my friend Alexi wants to do.
Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi· Guest0:43
I really want to start a new genre of, like, financial romantasy, so I've been pushing us to try to get into the game by, like, writing Fifty Shades of Green as, like, Planet Money's new kind of entrance into this world.
Marielle Segarra· Host0:54
This, by the way, is Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, cohost of the NPR podcast Planet Money. Now, not only do I want to read this, but I also think Alexi can make it happen because he's become something of an expert on book publishing. Planet Money just published a book called Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. It's packed with narrative stories that'll help you understand things like how banks really work and why our money is worth less every year.
Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi· Guest1:21
And as part of that, I kind of was voluntold to [laughs] go explore how it actually got made, and what it told us about the publishing