About this episode

Carly and CeCe discuss the impact of declining literacy and AI on the publishing industry, including insights on cookbook publishing and the importance of understanding the business model for authors.

In this week’s episode of Shooting the Shit, Carly and CeCe are back and here to unpack a thought-provoking article on the future of reading, discussing how declining literacy, AI, and changing media habits are reshaping the publishing world. They talk about the surprising economics of cookbook publishing, why big advances don't always mean big profits, and what authors should know about production costs. Finally, they explore why publishers prize debut novels, how publishing really makes decisions, and why understanding the industry's business model can help writers build longer, more resilient careers. As mentioned on the podcast: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/?gift=c3F7u4yogXDKCnni45_cPcJXaj52vcfsaRfC0PpnbrE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share https://open.substack.com/pub/amychan/p/i-spent-44000-launching-my-book-three?r=h5j0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web https://open.substack.com/pub/devonhalliday/p/why-publishers-prefer-debut-novels?r=h5j0&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d…

People in this episode

Hosts: Carly Watters, CeCe Lyra

Topics covered

• literacy
• AI
• publishing
• cookbook economics
• debut novels
• author careers

Keywords

• literacy
• AI
• publishing
• cookbook economics
• debut novels
• production costs
• author careers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wendy Sherman Associates, P.S. Literary Agency

Books & works: The Life and Death of Critical Thinking, The Atlantic, I Spent $44,000 Launching My Book, Why Publishers Prefer Debut Novels

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