Faced Out, with Brad & Liz

Hi everybody --It's been a very long time between recordings. Much has been happening -- in our bookselling world and the world beyond bookselling.In today's episode, we crack open a few beers and discuss both. Arguably, things really get going about halfway through when we finally land upon the topic of the war in Gaza and the issues that attain to booksellers/bookstores taking vocal stands. At the time of this recording, only a few had really done so -- for reasons we discuss. And even now, arguably only a few more have done so -- also, perhaps, for reasons we discuss. It is a heavy way to end what is usually a pretty light-hearted podcast. But it was a conversation we wanted to have, and thought that perhaps others were (& are) having as well. 

Greetings! Liz & Brad are back & recuperated from Winter Institute, and they're ready to go with the podcast they thought they might record there ... but sociality and frivolity got in the way. In this episode, they discuss the happenings in Seattle, frivolous & otherwise, as well as other goings-on in the greater bookselling world -- like the goings-on recently at Small Press Distribution, Brad's ongoing lament about the state of distribution in general & the hopeful cry for something different. We're loving things, lamenting others. All in a day's work at the Faced Out Podcast. 

It's a rainy day .... so very rainy! Our heroes have parked a ways away, and consider the possibility that perhaps they might wait it out for a lull. They did not fully realize that the rains would continue for some eighteen days. Fortunately, the podcast they recorded while waiting is not that long. But it does have the feel (& sound) of a rainy evening, in the semi-dark, no longer in the confines of their posh conference room. The conversation is expansive -- it drips and torrents somewhat randomly. It does what it does. 

We took a bit of a break after our blow-out 20th episode way back in April. A break from podcasting, that is. In this episode we talk about what we've been up to in the meantime: e.g., Brad stirring up a tempest (not really!) his comments about in-store events, our recent trip to New York, and Liz's mouse of the mind. It's a fun episode! Gather the children for a family-friendly activity together.

Episode 20! That sort of number feels sort of monumental, so we opted for a super-sized episode to truly reward your patience and attention! Ah, but there are goodies along the way, fear not. What do we talk about this episode? Let's see -- certain PW & Shelf Awareness op-eds currently being discussed at length, the ongoing toxicity of Ingram, Liz references Captain Bligh again, Brad finds special joy in marking up the price of magazines. All this would normally be enough for a proper episode, but this is no proper episode! Stick with us for forty+ minutes, and then our calling card invitation to chat with Hannah Oliver Depp (Loyalty Books) again is accepted and things get really good & going. It's a great episode. We hope you enjoy. 

Brad & Liz explain what they've been up for three months (not much), discuss their feelings about Zombie Winter Institute (aka Snow Days), and talk with Matt Keliher from Subtext Books (Saint Paul, Minnesota) about  the NAIBA "Basic Bookselling" course. 

A Faced Out Podcast tradition has been born, a New Years special!This episode was very quickly put together, and it sort of snowballs. If you think it starts of kind of meek and mild ... eh ... stick with it, I guess we'll say. There are thoughts expressed, even an Open Letter read. We discuss the year that was, with its friends & enemies, and what we anticipate about the year to come. Onward, 2022 ... it'll happen with or without us! 

Liz & Brad talk to the one & only (maybe there's more, but the only one near & dear to them as booksellers), Gary Lovely. Gary is currently at Prologue Bookshop in Columbus, Ohio. Gary schools them about Midwestern university town bookselling -- and dives into some of the challenges of distribution and mayhem that was 2020. Brad reminisces about Kentucky. Liz gives critical insight into the art of day drinking at the bookstore. It's all like a cacophonous musical suite that somehow works! We hope you enjoy and/or reach the aesthetico-spiritual 12-tone heights.  

Brad & Liz are back from their vacations, they're rested (more or less), and they're still keen to talk about bookselling! Today's episode includes a discussion of the ABA tomfoolery, supply chain hijinks, and sideline shenanigans. 

Brad & Liz dig into the various ways "normal" is said to be nearly upon us, whether we like it or not. Unsurprisingly, they have thoughts about how all normalcy is taking shape. They take special issue with new developments in corporate distribution, and risk some hope (or maybe just wishes!) for a different way forward. 

In this episode, Brad & Liz are in a commemorative mood. Of their vaccinations, of Brad's birthday, (no mention of Liz's mop, alas) ... and, like a regular digestive system, Simon & Schuster's sh*tty ways. As it turns out, the episode becomes an extension of the previous two, with Independent Bookstore Day looming days away, and things gets a bit punchy! 

Brad & Liz chat with Julia Callahan from Rare Bird Books and Cristina Rodriguez from A Public Space (recently of Deep Vellum Books) to talk all things "indie." And what a conversation it is! The weeds get high, and they're whacked mightily low!

Hey there! It's been a while. Two months, in fact. We're making up for lost time with the first installment of a two-parter! (Hang on to your seats for the cliffhanger ending!)In this issue we talk about what we've been up to since our last episode in early January, an assortment of labor issues, laugh at the expense of megapublishers, and just keep circling around this question: "What the hell does 'indie' really mean?"

It's only been a week since Brad & Liz last recorded, but history is determined to cram as much as possible into our weeks these days. The riotous white supremacist free for all in D.C. is the backdrop of a conversation with bookseller pal, Josh Cook (@InOrderOfImport on Twitter).Topics include the difference between curation and censorship; conflict aversion; and the value of the struggle.

It's a half day for our heroes at the bookstore, New Years Eve. Upon closing up for the day and the year, they sat down for what they planned on being a "short podcast." It is, of course, an hour. The year that was! The year that may be! Pollyanna with a smelly gangrenous arm!Welcome to 2021, booksellers!

Brad & Liz have prepared notes for this episode and they're not afraid to use them ... provided Liz can get her phone to work!Recorded a couple of weeks after an epochal election that is not so much as mentioned! Not avoided ... just never comes up. These are Books Professionals. Topics include: Franzen(??); publisher consolidation; the "Chronicles of Dark-Sided Bookselling" (vis-à-vis bookstore-themed candles & the big business of threatening to go out of business). Enjoy!

No guest this week? Will we ever have a guest again? Have we burned every bookselling bridge we've ever known? Who's to say?!This week's episode is all about the month that was. We talk about the downturn in indie bookstore sales & the ABA's #BoxedOut campaign. We break down the fundamentals of comedy, vis-à-vis *that* Onion article. We begin discussing Rupert Murdoch and HarperCollins, but it breaks down quickly when Liz uncovers shocking information about his love life. We revel in mops and discover Brad's only true love, berating listeners.

So much happening in the book world the past couple of weeks. From hijinks at purportedly venerable indie bookselling institutions, to a world-famous children's author double- and tripling-down on hateful trolling, to West Coast fires, to ... yeesh, what else?This episode has it all -- including a hotline! That's right, we're on the bleeding on edge of technology, and have created a phone number for booksellers to call and contribute to our "Oral History of Pandemic Bookselling." What's the number? Why ... you have to listen to find out, sillies! We're joined by Maddie Gobbo, wonderful "events maven" from one of our favorite stores, Skylight Books. We're very fond of this episode, and hope you enjoy it.

SURPRISE!Liz & I thought we'd commemorate this year's Independent Bookstore Day with an impromptu recording. As is our wont -- our intention to keep it light and positive goes slightly ... well, you'll see. We talk about the good stuff of bookselling, the promises made, the wonders when they're kept ... and the attending disappointment when they aren't. Be good to yourself & others, everybody!

One doesn't simply talk with Angela Maria Spring. She is one of the true forces of bookselling, and it was a pleasure talking with her in this episode of Faced Out.Liz & Brad get things rolling with a chat about "bookselling from a distance." What's working, what's not, what it could look like. This sets the table for Angela to discuss the evolution of her pop-up bookstore model, which emerged from her own struggles against the limits (and racism) of a lot of traditional bookselling. Again, one doesn't simply talk with Angela Maria Spring. You are invited to go deeper & inspired to push further, and it's all wonderful. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed recording it. Hope you like the throwbacks to previous episodies!

[Note to the first-downloaders: Due to some technical issues, we've re-uploaded the podcast. There was a mysteriously missing 10 or so minutes around the 50 minute mark! -- BJ (8/1/20 6:38 PST)]A free-wheelin' episode this week! Liz & Brad start off by talking about what's become of Wolfman Books since our last episode, and further lessons that a non-institutional space can offer. Then they get into the meat & potatoes -- pandemic bookselling & customer service. It gets passionate!They're joined in the second half by their good pal Emma Ramadan, co-owner of riffraff in Providence, Rhode Island. Our trio get into the weeds of bookselling and discuss how riffraff's outdoor bookstore is going, the upsides and down of virtual events and (unsurprising if you know Emma & Brad) contentious perspectives on Bookshop. Fun!As ever: feel free to email us at facedoutpodcast@gmail.com, if you have any thoughts, confessions, accusations, etc. We love hearing from our fellow booksellers.

We're tired. You're tired. We're all tired. In this episode Brad & Liz power through their exhaustion and try to imagine alternative ideas of how to be a bookstore. We're hitting the limit of what we can do as a fulfillment center, and suspect many other stores are too. Is this all there is, or can we maybe create something else? We talk with our good friend Tara Marsden, from Wolfman Books in Oakland, California, to spark ideas how we might imagine the immediate future for bookselling.

Episode Two was recorded in both the midst & the wake of protests against police violence. It's a fiery one, from start to finish. Lisa Lucas, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, joins Liz & Brad for a conversation about the pros and cons of reading lists, the structural racism we all have to work against in the book industry, and the importance of a good "audit"(!). As always -- feel free to email us any questions, gossip, sundry greetings at facedoutpodcast@gmail.com!

In our extra special first episode we sip from tiny cups while speculating wildly about the future of this podcast, and chat with Hannah Oliver Depp, owner of Loyalty Bookstores, about a little bit of everything: SBA loans, distribution monoliths, the power of Jameson for former academics and what the hell we’ll all be doing going forward. Enjoy! * Update: What is geography, anyway? We identify one of Loyalty Bookstores' locations as Baltimore. This is not the case! We're told that Baltimore is, in fact, an hour away from Silver Spring, Maryland. So ... FYI! & remember you can always fact-check us & call us on our bullshit at facedoutpodcast@gmail.com!