Behind the book deal: How a book goes from pitch to print, with Penguin Random House's Izzy Yates

Behind the book deal: How a book goes from pitch to print, with Penguin Random House's Izzy Yates

From How I Work by Amantha Imber

July 1, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

Amantha Imber and Izzy Yates discuss the journey of a book from proposal to publication, including insights into the publishing process.

**  Grab tickets for The Energy Game Melbourne launch (29 July, 6:30pm)  here  and pre-order The Energy Game book  here .**   Writing a book is hard. But getting a publisher to say yes to your book? That is an entirely different challenge, and one that most aspiring authors know almost nothing about.  What actually happens when a proposal lands on a publisher's desk? Who else needs to sign off before an offer is made? And in a world where anyone can ask AI to explain any topic, why has "great content" stopped being enough on its own?  This one is a little different from my usual episodes. It's a recording from a live webinar I did with Izzy Yates, head of Penguin Publishing Lab at Penguin Random House Australia, who has published my last three books, including my newest one, The Energy Game.   We unpack the full journey of a book, from proposal to bookshelf, including how Penguin's internal acquisitions process works, why pre-orders matter far more than most people realise, what actually gets retailers excited, and whether you can land a deal without a big platform.  If you have ever…

People in this episode

Host: Amantha Imber

Guest: Izzy Yates

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Penguin Random House

Books & works: The Energy Game

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