The BookSmarts Podcast, with Joshua Tallent

Episode 63: Nurturing Christian Publishers at ECPA with Jeff Crosby

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jeff Crosby is the president and CEO of ECPA, the trade association of Christian publishers and has worked in bookselling and publishing roles for mor...

Episode 62: Publishers Without Borders Director Discusses London Book Fair

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Prashant Pathak is the Co-Founder and Director of Publishers Without Borders, a global and non-commercial community supporting publishing professional...

Episode 61: The Role of Fixed-Layout EPUBs in Publishing with Ken Jones

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ken Jones is an experienced book publishing software expert. Before founding Circular Software, he served as the Technical Production Manager, softwar...

Episode 60: CoreSource & the Future of Book Distribution with Marit Vagstad

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Marit Vagstad has worked in the book publishing industry for more than 20 years in marketing, sales, and product management roles. She currently is th...

Episode 59: AI, Discoverability & GEO: Transforming Book Marketing with Shimmr AI

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brooke Dobson is Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Shimmr AI, a fully automated platform for publishers that creates automated advertising for d...

Episode 58: Gavin Marcus & Jeremy Esekow on Storywise—AI, Development, and Publishing Innovation

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gavin Marcus is the CEO and co-founder of Storywise. He spent 10 years running an indie book publishing and distribution business before launching Sto...

Episode 57: Phil Madans on Book Publishing Next and the Importance of Metadata

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Madans is a seasoned publishing executive with over 42 years of experience in trade publishing, including more than a decade as Executive Directo...

Episode 56: Ann Kjellberg on the Importance and Future of Book Reviewing

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ann Kjellberg is the Founding Editor of the Book Post book review, an innovative newsletter-based book review service which delivers thoughtful, in-de...

Episode 55: The Future of eReaders with Len Edgerly

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Len Edgerly is the host of the Kindle Chronicles podcast, a long-running show dedicated to exploring digital reading technologies and publishing innov...

Episode 54: Booktrovert - a Brand New Consumer Marketing Platform

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kristina Radke is the Senior Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement at NetGalley. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast to launch of Booktrovert,...

Episode 53: Advertising Strategies for Publishers and Authors

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Berkowitz is the Ad Sales Director for Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. H...

Episode 52: Bryan Heathman on How AI Is Shaping the Audiobook Industry

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bryan Heathman is the CEO of Made for Success Publishing, a book publishing company that specializes in selling audiobooks. .He joins the BookSmarts P...

Episode 51: Margaux Weisman on The Value of Foreign Rights for Publishers

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Margaux Weisman is the former Director of Business Development at DropCap Inc., a tech-enabled rights agency and a global rights marketplace used by r...

Episode 50: Rebecca Burgoyne on Lean Six Sigma for Knowledge Work

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Burgoyne is the Executive Director of Business Systems Integrations for the United Methodist Publishing House. She joins the BookSmarts Podcas...

Episode 49: David Hetherington on Building Resilient Business Practices

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

David Hetherington is the Vice President of Global Business Development at Books International, a leading provider of US and International book manu...

Episode 48: Jason Brockwell on "Distribution in the Digital Age"

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Brockwell is the President of National Book Network, one of the largest independent book distributors in the United States. With titles in near...

Episode 47: Benetech's Michael Johnson on Accessible Ebooks

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Johnson is the Vice President of Content at Benetech. In this role, he works directly with publishers, conversion houses, technology platforms...

Episode 46: Kristina Radke on Audiobooks with NetGalley

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kristina Radke is the Vice President of Business Growth and Engagement at NetGalley, a service that helps publishers and authors promote digital revi...

Episode 45: Emily Lyman on Building Brand Trust

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 44: Tyler Carey on the Modern Challenges of Publisher Workflows

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 43: Beat Barblan on the Role of Bowker in the Industry

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Beat Barblan is the General Manager of Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the United States and Australia. As a senior level publishing technology a...

Episode 42: Marika Flatt on Book Publicity

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 41: Jane Friedman on Spotify Audiobooks and Author Earnings

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 40: Tom Richardson on ONIX Best Practices & Standards

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Richardson has been the Bibliographic Manager for BookNet Canada since 2008 and currently serves on the BISG Metadata Committee. As BookNet Canad...

Episode 39: Kathi Inman Berens, Ph.D. & Rachel Noorda, Ph.D. on Gen Z and Millennial Survey

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

According to a report released by the American Library Association, Gen Z and Millennials are visiting public libraries at higher rates than previous ...

Episode 38: Miriam Warren on International Mergers & Acquisitions

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Miriam Warren is a Director at The Fisher Company, which provides international mergers and acquisition services for print and digital publishing medi...

Episode 37: Victoria Sutherland on Reviews and Opportunities for Independent Publishers

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria Sutherland is the Founder and Publisher of Foreword Magazine, Inc., and Director of Children’s Books USA. She joins the BookSmarts Podcast...

Episode 36: Klaus Krogh on Sustainable Typesetting and Bible Design

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Klaus Krogh is the President, CEO, and co-founder of 2K/Denmark, a graphic design, typesetting, and type design company that earlier this year launche...

Episode 35: Mary Carlomagno on Book Visibility

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Carlomagno is a publishing veteran with experience on all sides of the business including marketing positions at Barnes & Noble and Random Ho...

Episode 34: Laura Brady on Accessibility

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Laura Brady is an inclusive publishing expert whose priority is always to put users first. She has more than 25 years of publishing experience creatin...

Episode 33: Michele Cobb on Publishing Associations and Awards Programs

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Michele Cobb is the Executive Director of Audio Publishers Association and PubWest, publisher of AudioFile Magazine and MMB media, and a partner at Fo...

Episode 32: Thad McIlroy on Publishing Startups

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Thad McIlroy, an electronic publishing analyst and author who writes about publishing technology at his site, The Future of Publishing, joins me ...

Episode 31: David Marlin on Royalty Management and Company Security

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this final episode of 2022, we are joined by David Marlin, President of MetaComet Systems. David has been working in the publishing industry f...

Episode 30: Emma Watson on Subscription Ebook Sales Models

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ebook 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 ...

Episode 29: Angela Bole on Independent Publishing

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode features a conversation with Angela Bole, the current CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association, about the role of independent p...

Episode 28: Charles Watkinson on Open Access

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Charles Watkinson, the Director of University of Michigan Press and the Associate University Librarian for Publishing at Univers...

Episode 27: Kevin Franco on Book Marketing Strategies

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Franco is a Product Manager at Firebrand Technologies with a background in digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and direct-to-consumer ebook sal...

Episode 26: Pete Larson on the Current Supply Chain Situation

26 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 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 ...

Episode 25: BISG - Future Proofing Your Workflow

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode features a recording of a panel discussion I led with Mary McAveney, Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road Integrated Media, at the B...

Episode 24: Cory Verner on the Growth of Audiobooks

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Cory Verner is the CEO of ONE Audiobooks, a publisher of audiobooks and a turnkey audio services provider. Cory has been working in the audiobooks ind...

Episode 23: Mark Herschberg How Books Might Escape the Page

02 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we are joined by Mark Herschberg, publisher at Cognosco Media, author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success Th...

Episode 22: George Slowik, Jr. on the 150th Anniversary of Publishers Weekly

09 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This 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 mag...

Episode 21: Thad McIlroy on Metadata Quality, the Backlist, and more

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I am joined by Thad McIlroy, an electronic publishing analyst and author based in San Francisco. Thad writes in-depth articles on publ...

Episode 20: Todd Sattersten on The Magic Number

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of 2022, Todd Sattersten, Publisher at Bard Press, discusses his research on The Magic Number: the number of units a title h...

Episode 19: Scott Miller on Publishing at FranklinCovey

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In our last episode for 2021, we are joined by Scott Miller, Former CMO and EVP of Business Development at the FranklinCovey Company, and now the...

Episode 18: Robin Whitten on Audiobook Demographics and Quality

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Robin Whitten, editor & founder of AudioFile Magazine, joins us to discuss audiobook listener demographics and performance qualit...

Episode 17: Fran Toolan on Cybersecurity

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fran Toolan, CEO of Firebrand Technologies, joins me to continue the conversation about cybersecurity in the publishing industry. Fran pulls back the ...

Episode 16: Nick Espinosa on Cybersecurity

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The month of October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this week's podcast features Nick Espinosa, an expert in cybersecurity and network infrastr...

Episode 15: Updates on Keywords and Reviews

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There 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...

Episode 14: Mary McAveney on Book Discovery

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mary McAveney, Chief Marketing Officer at Open Road Integrated Media joins us this week on the BookSmarts Podcast. Mary has extensive expertise in mar...

Episode 13: Alessandra Torre on Indie Author Strategies that Publishers Can Use

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Alessandra Torre, CEO of Authors A.I. and BingeBooks and a NY Times bestselling Psychological Thriller and Romance author, joins Joshua to talk about ...

Episode 12: Michael Cader on Challenges and Opportunities in Publishing

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Michael Cader, Founder of Publisher's Lunch and PublishersMarketplace.com, joins me to talk about some of the challenges and opp...

Episode 11: Recent Kindle Changes: A+ Pages and the Death of the MOBI Format

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon 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 fi...

Episode 10: The Need for Standards

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Standards are an important driving force in every civilization. Standards help us all agree on how we define things, and provide opportunities for us ...

Episode 9: Erik Nelson on Branding and Marketing

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Joshua talks with Erik Nelson, a friend and marketing consultant, about how publishers can approach rethinking their own branding, an...

Episode 8: Everything You Wanted to Know About Keywords

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Keywords 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 ...

Episode 7: Andy Hunter on the Role of Independent Bookstores and the Need for Innovation

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Joshua talks with Andy Hunter, Founder & CEO of BookShop.org. Andy started BookShop out of a concern for the future of indep...

Episode 6: Clay Tablets and Metadata Overwriting

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This 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 o...

Episode 5: Ian Lamont on Advertising and Direct-to-Consumer Sales

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the BookSmarts Podcast, Joshua talks with Ian Lamont, founder of i30 Media Corporation, about advertising on Amazon and Facebo...

Episode 4: Drs. Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens on Book Discovery

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Joshua speaks with Dr. Rachel Noorda (@rachellynchase), Director of Book Publishing and Assistant Professor in English, and Dr. K...

Episode 3: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez on Being Data-Informed

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Joshua talks with Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Chief Content Officer at LibraryPass, about how publishers can become more data-informed and avoi...

Episode 2: Brian O'Leary on the Future of Publishing

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the BookSmarts Podcast, Joshua interviews Brian O'Leary, Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the US book in...

Episode 1: Publishers Are in a Moneyball Situation

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 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...

Episode 0: Introduction to the BookSmarts Podcast

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This short episode will give you some information on my background, why I started the BookSmarts Podcast, and what you can expect from future episodes...