299. On Blogging and Publishing: An Interview with Thea James and Ana Grilo, The Book Smugglers

Summary: Today I’m speaking with Ana Grilo and Thea James, who are better known as The Book Smugglers. They’re bloggers, writers, authors, and editors - and at the helm of Book Smugglers Publishing. We talk about how they got their start, and the role the Lost forums played in bringing them together (along with a few blogs you may have heard of). Among the topics we cover: What they look for in science fiction and speculative fiction Making the transition from blogging and reviewing to acquiring, editing, and publishing  How they went from book smuggling to becoming book surgeons Their favorite tropes in speculative fiction and fiction Plus we discuss their Kickstarter, learn about the behind the scenes experience of a successful campaign, and how they were able to pivot the emphasis of the Kickstarter based on real time feedback and analysis - if it sounds exhausting, it really was. There is a little bit of popping in the audio - sorry about that! Transatlantic recording and fussy internet demons. I’ll do better to appease them.