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…

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 goin…

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 e…

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…

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 …

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.由Brad & Liz

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 wha…

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 Ke…

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 p…

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 ke…

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; confl…

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 "Chronicle…

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 disc…

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 ed…

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 a…

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 evoluti…

[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 …

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 g…

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 t…

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! *…