{"podcast":{"title":"Paper Trail","slug":"paper-trail-6608707","podcast_index_feed_id":6608707,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e709f668/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-paper-trail-podcast","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/38661898/38661898-1693763053823-504db0b30534e.jpg","author":"The Paper Trail Podcast","episode_count":31,"summary":"A monthly writing and publishing podcast featuring a rotating roundtable of children's book authors.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T00:17:45.631189+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-6608707"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 21: Publishing is Not a Meritocracy (And Book Clubs Will Save Us All) with Alexandra Villasante","slug":"episode-21-publishing-is-not-a-meritocracy-and-book-clubs-will-save-us-all-with-alexandra-villasante","published_at":"2025-07-07T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-6608707/episode-21-publishing-is-not-a-meritocracy-and-book-clubs-will-save-us-all-with-alexandra-villasante","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-6608707","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-paper-trail-podcast/episodes/Episode-21-Publishing-is-Not-a-Meritocracy-And-Book-Clubs-Will-Save-Us-All-with-Alexandra-Villasante-e340sk5","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e709f668/podcast/play/103886917/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-5-9%2Fcb64c268-bf73-d617-80f5-92278fa72e96.mp3","summary":"The one where Alex shares what it's like publishing her sophomore novel six years after her debut, the gang discuss the Luke Bateman controversy and how publishing loves a safe bet, and Laekan celebrates her five-year anniversary of being a full-time author by going back to teaching. Connect with Alexandra Villasante online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Vincent Tirado online: Website TikTok Instagram Buy Vincent's books Connect with Diana Rodriguez Wallach online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Diana's books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Laekan Zea Kemp online: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Buy Laekan's books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠","meta_description":"The one where Alex shares what it's like publishing her sophomore novel six years after her debut, the gang discuss the Luke Bateman controversy and how p…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3002,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/paper-trail-6608707/episodes/episode-21-publishing-is-not-a-meritocracy-and-book-clubs-will-save-us-all-with-alexandra-villasante/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/paper-trail-6608707/episode-21-publishing-is-not-a-meritocracy-and-book-clubs-will-save-us-all-with-alexandra-villasante.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}