This is the first episode of How Publishing Works. At the beginning of a hypothetical book's journey, Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press is in conversation with author Alice Jolly.

How does she write? Who gets to see her final drafts? How does she work with publishers and editors? We hear about the drudgery of self-marketing, and the curious phenomenom of the recurring debut author.

Alice has won the Royal Society of Literature's V S Pritchett Prize for short stories and the PEN / Ackerley Prize for autobiography. Her novel Mary-Ann Sate, Imbecile was runner-up for the Rathbones Folio Prize and longlisted for the Ondaatje Prize, both in 2019. You can find out about her other works at alicejolly.com.

For more information about Handheld Press, go to www.handheldpress.co.uk. You can email this podcast at podcast@handheldpress.co.uk.

This episode was edited and produced by Kate Macdonald. The jolly intro and outro music is 'Feels Like Home' by Avocado Junkie, sourced through Podcastle.

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