The Pubcast - Interviews with online publishing professionals: Recent Episodes
Emerson College
Lauren Mitchell chats with Margot Wood, the director of sales at comic-book publishing house Oni Press. In this podcast interview, Wood reflects on her past experiences in a digital-heavy role at "Big Five" publisher HarperCollins, where she was community manager for Epic Reads, as well as her current role at Oni Press.
This podcast interview was recorded on March 30, 2019.
Desiree DeMarco chats with Laura Brady, director of cross media at Canadian publishing house Anansi Press, about her work with e-book conversion and the technical skills and technologies needed to stay current in the electronic publishing industry.
This podcast interview was recorded on April 2, 2019.
Alice Barry chats with Caroline DeTore, freelance content writer for such outlets as Cortex, Marketmuse, Levitate Music Fest, and Press Junkie PR. The highlight of their conversation is the innovations of artificial intelligence (AI) and its effect on writing and marketing.
This podcast interview was recorded on March 31, 2019.
Rachel Sparks chats with Emily Turner, digital editor for the Improper Bostonian, about work-life balance, social media, and diversity in digital publishing during our current political climate. This podcast interview was recorded on March 28, 2019, prior to the Improper Bostonian closing its doors on April 25.
Marissa Massey chats with Kelly Jensen, an editor and former community manager at Book Riot. Along with a former grad school classmate, Kelly also manages the website StackedBooks, which has existed for over a decade, having recently migrated from Blogger to WordPress. In this interview, Kelly shares the current and future trends in online publishing and how listeners can keep abreast.
This podcast interview was recorded on Apr 3, 2019.
In the debut episode of The Pubcast's eighth season, Lillian Dunaj interviews Chef Catherine Gleeson of The Cook Nook, a recipe blog that also offers personal chef and catering services. Gleeson shares how her passion for cooking drove her to turn her hobby into a full-time business; what the right social media outlets are to target food enthusiasts; why she chose WordPress as her blogging platform and how she went about monetizing her content; and what her current favorite recipes are.
This podcast interview was recorded on Apr 5, 2019.
Dana Guth offers this enlightening chat with Cat Richardson, the editor-in-chief of Bodega Magazine, a digital-only literary journal, in which they discuss online vs. offline publication and consumption habits.
This interview was recorded on April 2, 2018.
Jackie Kolgraf chats with Verity Harris, a web content coordinator for Live Nation UK, a music concert ticket and tour news site. Verity discusses her current job, what the role involves, and the current and future state of the music industry.
This interview was recorded on March 25, 2018.
Leigh Badrigian chats with Krista Madden, founder & CEO of Beauty And The Dirt, to dish on blogging in the beauty and fashion industry, and shares her tips and strategies on how to build a successful website and use the right social media networks to match your content and audience.
This interview was recorded on March 30, 2018.
Cassidy Sulaiman chats with Thomas Steffon, the creator, writer, contributor, and creative director of The Creative Extreme. In this episode, they discuss Project365, a massive multimedia publishing venture that started with creating a new character every day in 2016.
This interview was recorded on Apr 3, 2018.
Danielle Raymond chats with Ksandra Unangst, a YouTube content creator whose channel, KasFire, focuses on books and literature, making her part of the Booktube community.
This interview was recorded on April 3, 2017.
Carrie O'Brien chats with Tom Hoeler, assistant editor at Del Rey Spectra, about social media moderating and new types of ebooks on the market.
This interview was recorded on April 5, 2017.
Palak Patel chats with Kelly Stout, senior editor at Gizmodo Media Group. In this podcast interview, Stout talks about her time with Gawker, the pace of covering politics online, the pros and cons of a digital platform in modern journalism, and online comment moderation.
This interview was recorded on April 5, 2017.
Megan Utterback chats with Lauren Ver Hage, Chief Design Officer at The Financial Diet, about how beautiful design can make talking about money less stressful and almost enjoyable; software skills that are useful in online design; and how The Financial Diet has blossomed in the last two years.
This interview was recorded on March 29, 2017.
Anu Reddy chats with Jeff Moss, communications director at Blind Ferret, where he edits the webcomics Least I Could Do and Looking for Group. In this interview, Jeff discusses the challenge in distinguishing yourself in a crowded webcomic market; the value in reaching audiences both large and small; and the exciting opportunities in branching out into other media and merchandise.
This interview was recorded on March 30, 2017.
Jerrika L. Waller chats with Matt Nelson, creator of the popular Twitter account WeRateDogs. With nearly 2 million followers, the account has been used to quantitatively assess a variety of canines, as well as dismiss haters and occasionally advocate against the current political administration. In this interview, Jerrika and Matt discuss how the account was created, the celebrities whose shout-outs helped promote it, the importance of copyright and attribution, Matt's current studies in golf management, and more.
This interview was recorded on April 17, 2017.
Kaley Kiermayr chats with Erin Kuykendall, Editor in Chief of The Audacity zine, about the heart and perseverance behind putting together a publication that gives a voice to artists, activists, and storytellers.
This interview was recorded on March 30, 2017.
Adelia Humme chats with Kaila Hale-Stern, Senior Editor at The Mary Sue, about the rise of geek interests in popular culture, the challenges of comment moderation, and the future of online communities.
This interview was recorded on March 31, 2017.
Lauren Cepero chats with Emillie Marvel, a writer, junior editor, and programming assistant at Idobi Radio.
This interview was recorded on November 15, 2015.
Liz Agresta talks with Eric Grzymkowski, Marketing Project Manager at Barefoot Books, about what it takes to redesign a website for a dedicated customer base/workforce.
This interview was recorded on November 15, 2015.
Avi Gibson talks with Dana Simpson, cartoonist of comic strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn (formerly known as Heavenly Nostrils), about the contest that earned her comic syndication, just as she was retiring from webcomics; the different names the strip has carried and their SEO value; the formats that Universal Uclick's GoComics publishes the strip in; and more.
This interview was recorded on December 5, 2015.
Sarah Burke chats with Yiqing Shao, digital editor for Boston magazine, about her start in publishing, her Emerson background, and the future of the digital department at Boston Magazine.
This interview was recorded on November 24, 2015.
Amanda Weikel chats with Deanna Elliot, Founder of The Marble Collection Inc., a magazine that cultivates creativity and excellence in the arts by engaging teen artists and writers in a publication process that affirms their voices and deepens their learning.
This interview was recorded on December 2, 2015.
Brittany Mytnik chats with Amaryah Ornstein, literary agent at GO Literary Agency, about e-rights, e-books, and publishing in a tech-savvy era.
This interview was recorded on November 19, 2015.
Tracy Campbell chats with Amanda Nelson, Managing Editor at Book Riot, about books, podcasts, and the state of blogging in a crowded sphere.
This interview was recorded on November 23, 2015.
Lauren Clairmont talks with Ziv Navoth, CEO of Paragraph, a company that helps people discover, tell, and experience great stories. Ziv talks about why Paragraph Shorts is an app and not a website; how Paragraph has opted to complement written short stories with other media; and their latest app, launched just last week: Crave, "a new app that matches bestselling authors with the hottest actors to offer romance fans an entirely new reading experience".
This interview was recorded on November 24, 2015.
Ariana Colozzo interviews Ryan Bradley, features editor and editor-in-chief emeritus at Words Apart, an online magazine that addresses issues such as social privilege, mental health, cultural feminism, and more. How do the editors choose which topic to theme each issue around? And how do they address these issues in ways that are respectful, diverse, and engaging? Find out in this week's podcast.
This interview was recorded on April 13, 2015.
Patrick Prendergast chats with Tau Zaman about what to keep in mind when starting a freelance career as a graphic designer.
This interview was recorded on April 13, 2015.
Lauren Milne talks with Sarah Platanitis, a producer, editor, writer, and blogger for MassLive, about story selection, coordination, and scheduling. On her own time, Platanitis also manages the the Women & Food Project, an interactive storytelling exhibit that combines food with photography.
This interview was recorded on April 14, 2015.
Marissa Fritz talks with Heather Butterfield, editor at BenBella Books, about publishing vegan cookbooks, running a website in WordPress, email marketing with MailChimp, and more.
This interview was recorded on April 16, 2015.
Megan Shuffleton chats with Quinn Cohane, Product Manager at Her Campus Media, about the career path that led her to Her Campus; online publications and the technical side of the online publishing industry; and how Her Campus uses such tools as Drupal, Pantheon, GitHub, a knowledge base (KB), and more.
This interview was recorded on April 2, 2015.
Rachelle Martin chats with Curtis Perdue, editor and creator of the online art journal inter|rupture, which publishes poetry that "aims to startle and assault the current by providing readers with emerging and established artists who crave discovery". In this interview, they discuss the nature of publishing art online, adapting online art to print editions while remaining free online, the interaction with reading series, and more.
This interview was recorded on April 15, 2015.
Jared Ettinger chats with Caitlin Cooke, recruiter for GitHub and writer for Destructoid.com, about games writing, joining an online game community, using visuals accurately and effectively, how she switches between the different kinds of writing her two jobs require, and the aesthetic that defines her writing styles.
This interview was recorded on April 7, 2015.
Brittany Santos chats with Farah Joan, intellectual property manager at Cengage Learning, about e-books, content licensing, and the unique properties of e-books in a world adjusting to the potential of this technology.
This interview was recorded on April 20, 2015.
Natalie Hamil talks with Katie Sherman, a production assistant at non-profit book publisher Beacon Press. In this interview, Sherman discusses how an education at Emerson College prepared her for e-book production how an e-book's design and production is decided to be outsourced or produced in-house at Beacon Press and MIT Press; and the value of having a companion website dedicated to individual books.
This interview was recorded on April 1, 2015.
Molly Ostertag and Brennan Lee Mulligan are the artist and writer of Strong Female Protagonist, a webcomic that follows the adventures of a young middle-class American with super-strength, invincibility, and a crippling sense of social injustice. Dubbed by io9 one of the best webcomics of 2012, Strong Female Protagonist recently held a successful Kickstarter, achieving 762% of the requested funding needed to turn the webcomic into a trade paperback, which has since earned a distribution deal with Top Shelf.
In this interview, Mulligan and Ostertag share their secret origin, how they use the superhero genre to address social issues, why they turned to Kickstarter to fund a dead tree edition of SFP, and how they're reclaiming the term "social justice warrior".
This interview was recorded on November 7, 2014.
Rob Walch is the VP of podcaster relations for Libsyn, the largest leading podcast network. Audio podcasting is currently in vogue, but has it always been that way? As one of the first podcasters from 2004, Walch reflects on the evolution of the platform and the benefits that an audio-only show offers its producers in editing, engagement, and monetization. Walch — who literally wrote the book on podcasting — also goes on record with advice for what hardware and software are available to an aspiring podcaster and the hosting and distribution benefits offered by Libsyn's premium service.
This interview was recorded on September 12, 2014. Click past the jump for resources mentioned in this episode.
Podcast411 podcastToday in iOS podcastKansasFestIsometric podcast on the 5by5 networkCustom smartphone apps for your podcast, courtesy Libsyn (requires Apple Developer and Google Play Developer accounts)Other hosting, publishing, and statistics services:
Blubrry Stitcher Spreaker Soundcloud TuneIn Overcast Pocket Casts by Shifty Jelly
Equipment:
Blue Yeti multi-pattern USB microphone Audio Technica ATR2100 microphone bossjock iOS app GarageBand Audacity
Podcast101 free e-book by Rob WalchThe Feed, the official podcast of Libsyn
Lorien Green of Transparent Language is an inbound marketer, using social media and original content to draw customers to the company's three dozen Facebook pages. Tools such as HubSpot and BundlePost make the job easier, but it's still necessary to craft the message to your audience. Lorien discusses how she uses and advertises on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ and also the importance of building a personal brand. Using such tools as Hustream and Kickstarter, Lorien has produced the documentaries Going Cardboard and the upcoming Shoot Again: The Resurgence of Pinball.
This interview was recorded August 16, 2014.
Morgan Metz interviews Walter Galler, vice president of marketing at e-ZASSI, an innovation software company, about using the Internet to crowdsource innovation.
This interview was recorded on April 12, 2014.
Louis Roe interviews Delany Martinez, freelance writer. Making a living as a online freelance writer means you're competing in a global market, but it's still a small world, and reputations can be easily built — and ruined — with online tools like WriterAccess. Martinez discusses the challenges and benefits of working for a variety of clients as a freelance writer in today's economy.
This interview was recorded on April 21, 2014.
Christine Theophel interviews Sara Benincasa — Emerson graduate, comedian, popular Internet personality, and author of the young adult novel Great and the memoir Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom. Benincasa talks about online writing, the inspiration for her books, traditional publishing versus self-publishing, managing multiple platforms, and dealing with critics and trolls. Check out her Kickstarter, This Tour Is So Gay!
This interview was recorded on April 10, 2014.
Claire Paschal interviews Breanna Locke, a books editorial intern at Wiley-Blackwell and editorial consultant at Vegan Publishers. Working with both big and small publishers, Locke gives her perspective on the unique environments for each, how they can use crowdfunding, where she'd like to end up, and how her Emerson College education prepared her for these roles.
This interview was recorded on April 23, 2014.
Brady Detwiler interviews music journalist and editor Nina Corcoran of DigBoston and WERS on the intersection between music journalism and Web publishing.
This interview was recorded on April 21, 2014.
Hannah Brown of Simmer Magazine interviews Dave Tytell, formerly of America's Test Kitchen. With so many recipes online for free, why should consumers pay for ATK's premium services — and how effective is this strategy? Tytell reflects on these matters, as well as successful and failed ventures, during his time at America's Test Kitchen (2008–2012).
This interview was recorded on April 22, 2014.
Miriam Avila chats with Anjali Prasertong, contributing editor at The Kitchn and founder of Eat Your Greens, about creating a personal blog, bringing humor to food blogging, and the online tools necessary to build an online community.
This interview was recorded on April 21, 2014.
Briana Loewen interviews Chris Brock, manager of digital vendor operations at Constellation Digital Services. E-books are soaring in popularity and sales, yet the process for creating them and the platforms that support their more advanced features stand room for improvement. Brock discusses where the medium can go from here and the skills and resources necessary to get us there.
This interview was recorded on April 18, 2014.
Ashleigh Heaton interviews Sarah Rodriguez, director of network development at Geek and Sundry as well as creator and editor-in-chief of Nerdy But Flirty. As these two geek empires expand, it's important that they remain connected with their audience and not lose focus of their founding mission. Rodriguez discusses the approaches and tools she uses and the future of media platforms such as YouTube.
This interview was recorded on April 17, 2014.
Ken Gagné and the class of PB403 interviews Lon Seidman, co-founder of the Independent Media Network and LocalOnlineNews.TV and host of CT News Junkie. The democratization of publishing heralded by the Internet has disrupted the traditional model of editor and publisher, giving independent content creators unprecedented opportunity to build their own brands. Seidman discusses how to leverage one's personality, monetize content, and create unique channels of news and YouTube videos.
This interview was recorded before a live studio audience on March 13, 2014, and is available in both audio and video.
Sev Gorucu interviews Nisreen Galloway, editor-in-chief Simmer Magazine. A student at Emerson College, Galloway has already launched an online magazine with a full staff of writers beneath her. Here, she discusses the resources needed to get a new publication off the ground and how it feels to be in an editorial/management role while still an undergraduate.
This interview was recorded on November 14, 2013.
Anna Caron interviews Catherine Laudone, editorial assistant for Simon & Schuster specializing in books for young readers. Laudone discusses the tension between print and e-book editions, the persistent value of a traditional blog, the role of publishers in a world of self-publishing, and the distinct responsibilities of the marketing and publicity teams.
This interview was recorded on November 21, 2013.
Ali Antonucci interviews Nick Cox, calendar editor for Scout Magazines, which "blends the depth and vibrancy of a national magazine with the immediacy of hyperlocal journalism". In this podcast, Cox discusses how to tell what events are worth promoting; what features he uses in The Events Calendar for WordPress; and what additional skills he's taught himself in Codecademy.
This interview was recorded on November 19, 2013.
Heather Mulhern interviews Christa Seid-Graham, web publishing specialist for JSH Online, a publication of Boston's Christian Science Publishing Society. Seid-Graham discusses how online publishing has become accessible editors without requiring extraordinary IT specialization, the value of offering content in a variety of formats to make it more accessible, and the role analytics plays in identifying one's audience.
This interview was recorded on November 17, 2013.
Bridget Hess-Mahan interviews Christine Allen, co-founder of digital literary journal the catharsis. Allen discusses how online underground publishing has exploded in the last five years, thanks in part to how social media has made it easier to get the word out about new ventures. By day, Allen is also a creative associate and project manager at Providence Word & Thought Company, a two-person ghostwriting, editing, creative writing, and consulting firm.
Tanya Wlodarczyk interviews Arjan de Raaf, CEO, CTO, and founder of Totally.Me, a news aggregator for your social network profiles. In this discussion, de Raaf outlines the problems of big data, the challenges of founding a social media company, and how judicious prioritization can make a small company nimble enough to go up against corporate juggernauts.
This interview was recorded on November 20, 2013.
Talia Rochmann interviews Chris Lackey, director of user interface and user experience at Apptopia, a marketplace for the buying and selling of mobile apps. Chris discusses the value of UI & UX, the difference between frontend and backend coding, the role freelancers play in the industry, and how to get one's foot in the door.
This interview was recorded on December 11, 2013.
Becca Pollock interviews Chad Redden, managing editor of online poetry and literary publication NAP. Redden discusses why he uses Tumblr instead of WordPress; how social media is used to promote new posts and authors; why NAP currently exists as an online-only publication and what it would take to change that; and the limitations of e-books: "The Kindle is really good for prose and fiction, but for poetry, it messes up the line breaks. PDF lets me lock [the text] into a form."
This interview was recorded on November 18, 2013.
Michelle Paniagua interviews Lyssa Goldberg, online managing editor for DigBoston, a guide to Boston's nightlife, opinion, and events. In providing the community with a social outlet, it's important to be engaged with that audience. Goldberg discusses how the website serves as that community hub, the roles social media and mobile play, and the need for the current site to be designed, possibly moving away from WordPress.
This interview was recorded on November 19, 2013.
Maria Murray chats with Michael James Murray, co-founder of Out of Town Films, a film collective based in Philadelphia. He discusses publishing music and videos online and bringing innovation to music journalism.
This interview was recorded on April 20, 2013.
Nicole Kempster interviews Joshua Hamel, video game section editor for Hypable.com and intern at Avant Strategies. Hamel launched Hypable's video game section and saw it through a redesign of the WordPress site and how tagging and search engine optimization (SEO) have changed the creation and packaging of online content; for PR firm Avant, he is a content curator and social media inbound marketer. In this interview, Hamel discusses how to be an online freelance writer and the future of video games and video game journalism.
This interview was recorded on April 6, 2013. Since then, Hamel has left Hypable to focus on his internship at Avant Strategies.
Samantha DiMauro interviews Gillia Olson, assistant editorial director Capstone. ePub v3.0 was approved in October 2011, yet its adoption by major e-book publishers remains slow. Olson discusses the potential and challenges of the format, especially in education; what genres of book are best-suited to e-readers; how to balance investment with the potential for return; projects Capstone has coming down the pipeline; and what the future of publishing holds.
This interview was recorded on April 16, 2013.
Bobby O'Neil interviews Andy Swift, entertainment director at Hollywood Life, about the move from print to digital in journalism, how to build a personal portfolio, and how to collaborate with fan blogs and feed the Internet's frenzy for celebrity news.
This interview was recorded on April 10, 2013.
Katelyn Eelman interviews Amira Silver-Swartz, an order fulfillment representative at Hachette Book Group. As e-books and audiobooks proliferate the industry, the skills necessary to distribute and track these products and provide customer service has changed. Silver-Swartz discusses how to navigate this transition.
This interview was recorded on April 12, 2013.
Rose Pleuler interviews Anna Pollock-Nelson, senior digital production coordinator for MIT Press about the publishing company's digital initiatives group. Pollock-Nelson ensures electronic vendors receive not only different e-book formats, but also the unique metadata necessary for a book to be properly catalogued, marketed, and sold. She is also involved in the composition of the e-book files as well, especially image-intensive or complex layouts. She discusses with Pleuler the pace of the e-book business, what qualifies as a well-designed website, and her involvement in the art and design work of the poetry journal site Interrupture.
This interview was recorded on April 18, 2013.
Allison Racicot interviews Jeff Ullrich, the co-founder and CEO of Earwolf Media, which creates and produces original audio comedy content. Publisher of dozens of podcasts, Ullrich discusses the unique nature of podcasting, the qualities that make a good show, and how new sponsors are found. "Talk radio is disposable," says Ullrich; "With our podcasts, we try to create more evergreen content."
This interview was recorded on March 26, 2013.
Hillary Kody interviews Patrick Mehr, co-founder of Plunkett Lake Press, publisher of literary non-fiction, including biographies, memoirs, essays and first-hand accounts of historical events. The move from traditional to electronic publishing offers an opportunity to re-examine the rights and royalties processes, which Mehr as Plunkett's rights, digitization, and marketing manager navigates with both original works and the conversion and redistribution of print books for Amazon, Apple, Kobo, and Nook platforms.
This interview was recorded on April 8, 2013.
Rachel Goodman interviews Ian Lamont, founder of i30media and publisher of the In 30 Minutes technology guides. Lamont has held a variety of roles in his decades in the publishing industry, from scriptwriter for Taiwan's China Television Company to senior editor for Computerworld.com to CEO of mobile startup Invantory. In this interview, he reflects on lessons learned and how they have informed the principles he has adapted for the "lean media" publishing model he has brought to his line of e-books, as well as what has worked and not worked in marketing his latest ventures on Amazon.com.
This interview was recorded on March 28, 2013.
Nisreen Galloway interviews Tim Riley — Emerson College professor, NPR critic, and creator of the Riley Rock Index, a site he built in Dreamweaver instead of one of the more popular content management systems like WordPress or Movable Type. In this episode, he ponders how publishing tools are being redesigned from the ground up and how more content developers need to learn from Google as an advertising platform and Huffington Post as a publishing platform.
This interview was recorded on April 10, 2013.
In this week's episode of the Pubcast, Michaela Weglinski interviews Alex Pearlman, digital product manager for Boston.com at the Boston Globe. Historically a print publication, the Globe is leading the way with responsive design, user engagement, and a variety of media, including the alt-rock online streaming radio station, RadioBDC. In this interview, Pearlman reflects on the evolving importance of bloggers, the role readers play in consuming the news, and the future of print news.
This interview was recorded on April 4, 2013.
Welcome to the debut episode of The Pubcast, featuring interviews with online publishing professionals. This week, Devan Norman interviews Lisa Olson, freelance magazine writer and wedding blogger for Something Pretty, about how to blog about such a visual topic, how social media can help, and copyright issues involved in acquiring media for her site.
This interview was recorded on April 18, 2013.