Starcast Join the waitlist
Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall

Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall

Alison Barrow on Publishing + Our October Book Club Launches

Oct 2, 2026 · 43m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

Alison Barrow, PR Director at Transworld, joins me again to lift the lid on what's really happening in publishing right now — from late-night manuscript reads and "beauty contest" pitches for new books, to why the Christmas run-up is the busiest time of the year for gifting, self-purchase, and special editions. We talk about how author expectations around social media have changed, why debut authors are usually held back for spring rather than launched into the autumn scrum, and Alison gives us a look inside her own experience of seeing a book cover for the first time — as the author. Plus, it's the first Friday of October, which means the launch of our October Book Club ! We're reading The…