#95: Book Country




The Lit Show show

Summary: This episode features Brandi Larsen, Director of Book Country, a website run by the publisher Penguin Random House. Book Country is an online community where writers connect, workshop, and publish original work. Imagine a LinkedIn for publishing-minded people: alongside credentials and publication credits, writers can read and critique one another’s works-in-progress. Book Country also helps writers with the publication process, with a free service that makes a finished manuscript available through all the major e-retailers, or paid services that include proofreading, formatting, and cover design. Finally, the site helps book professionals discover new voices: on Book Country, agents and editors look for promising manuscripts to publish traditionally. Self-published E-books have become a big business, as anyone who’s heard of Fifty Shades of Grey knows. This hour, we talk about self-publishing, Book Country’s place in the e-book landscape, and what the site's growth might mean for readers and writers.