In this week’s Shooting the Shit, Carly and CeCe bounce from industry gossip to big philosophical questions about publishing. They announce an exciting live podcast recording at the 'When Words Collide 2026’ conference in Calgary and share what’s buzzing around the London Book Fair—from politics and AI to the state of nonfiction. The conversation gets deeper when they unpack a viral Reddit post from a disillusioned editor questioning the publishing industry and what it really values. That leads to a bigger debate: high-brow vs. commercial fiction, literary prestige vs. sales, and whether success in publishing should be measured by awards or by the number of readers a book reaches. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss!
Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
For the newsletter lovers who enjoy Carly’s off-duty takes on books,
motherhood, culture, money, wellness and more she launched her
substack THE WEEKEND RANT. Her first post is about the blockbuster
memoir STRANGERS by Belle Burden and why financially independent women
are so triggered by it. Check it out: https://theweekendrant.substack.com/p/why-financially-independent-women?r=h5j0
Find us on our socials:
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@the_shit_about_writing
https://www.threads.net/@biancamarais_author
https://www.threads.net/@carlywatters https://www.threads.net/@cece_lyra_agent
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/
https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW
Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com
Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting
To sign up for our Substack newsletter, head to https://theshitaboutwriting.substack.com
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/tsnotyaw
* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com
Advertising Inquiries:
https://redcircle.com/brands
