Akashic Books publisher Johnny Temple joined us for a Media Beat interview this week. In today’s installment, he shared advice for aspiring writers hoping to pitch his literary press.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “All of us book publishers these days are inundated with submissions–so many people are writing and there is a great diversity of voices being published. But the flip-side of that is that it is crowded. I think the best way to reach Akashic (or really any publishing company or literary agent for that matter) is to do an end-around–to find someone who we know and trust to recommend you.”

Below we’ve included more interview excerpts with Temple–a publisher and Girls Against Boys bassist. Visit Akashic Books to explore the publisher’s long and varied list.

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Akashic Books publisher Johnny Temple joined us for a Media Beat interview this week, talking about how he transitioned from rock star to literary publisher over the last 10 years.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s installment (embedded above): “I had no publishing background, but looking back, I think it gave me a boost … I was unburdened by this morose attitude in book publishing, [thinking] ‘Nobody reads books anymore, our business is in decline’–all these doom and gloom attitudes. Unfortunately, I’ve never had that.”

Below we’ve included more interview excerpts with Temple–a publisher and Girls Against Boys bassist. Visit Akashic Books to explore the publisher’s long and varied list.

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Nine editors and four agents from the U.S. and Canada have won fellowships to attend this year’s Jerusalem International Book Fair. Running from February 20th to 25th, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the book fair.

Here’s more from the press release: “Altogether, 33 editors and 12 agents from 17 different countries were granted these special visiting fellowships for an international exchange of ideas with colleagues, including many alumni fellows, and Fair exhibitors, and to become more familiar with the Israeli publishing scene.”

The editorial fellows inclued: Reagan Arthur (Little, Brown), Kristin Cochrane (Doubleday Canada), Jonathan Jao (Random House), Jenna Johnson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Altie Karper (Schocken Books), Benjamin Schafer (Da Capo Press), Johnny Temple (Akashic Books), Iris Tupholme (HarperCollins Canada), and Emily Wichland (Longhill Partners).

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