Behind the Scenes of the Summer Reading Guide

Anne Bogel [00:00:09] Hey readers, I'm Anne Bogel and this is What Should I Read Next?. Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader, what should I read next? We don't get bossy on the show. What we will do here is give you the information you need to choose your next read.

This week we're doing something we've never done before. We are taking you on a special tour behind the scenes of the making of this Summer Reading Guide. Readers, this is our 12th year of making this guide. Every year I think I forget just how much time and effort and also how much pure bookish fun goes into this big, big, big project. This year we decided it would be fun to bring you along with us for a peek behind the scenes of how the guide gets from my bookshelf in spreadsheets and brain and journal and index cards to your bookshelf, not all those other things.

Today's episode features a bunch of voice notes and actual conversations between members of our team that take you into the nitty gritty of making this Summer Reading Guide. Friends, we have never created a narrative episode like this before. I have to tell you one of the very hardest parts was remembering to hit record between last October and today, so we could actually let you listen in on the process like we wanted to. But sometimes, sometimes we've remembered.

So today you'll hear excerpts from one of our early team meetings about the guide. You'll listen to me talk book math in early January, get a feel for the excruciating and also arts and crafts heavy process of final book selection, and a bunch, not nearly all, but a bunch of the details that go into making this nifty little handbook that has been a summer reading staple for many of you since way back in 2012.

I got to tell you now, in May, it feels strange in a lot of ways to visit audio again from earlier this year. As many of you are well aware, I started having some vocal health struggles after a simple, no-big-deal virus at the end of '22 that persisted well into 2023. And in a few of these clips, my voice will sound quite a bit different than you are used to hearing. And that is putting it so tactfully.

[00:02:34] Voice woes aside, what you are about to hear in this episode is the basic process I followed for many years now to put this guide together. I really enjoyed this look back at the journey that got us to this year's guide and I really hope you enjoy hearing all about it.

The guide drops on May 18th. If you're a member of either our Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club or What Should I Read Next? Patreon communities, you'll receive it in your inbox on May 18th. We're sending it out at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, that's New York time. The guide and Unboxing access are included perks of those communities.

If you're not a member of those communities, you can join anytime at all and receive the guide and Unboxing access. Or if you haven't already, we have an ala carte option available. This is by request, by demand. We made it for you. And it's perfect for those who don't have the time or inclination to join one of those communities. Secure your copy of our digital guide at modernmrsdarcy.com/srg. That's for Summer Reading Guide.

Your ticket also grants you admission to our live Summer Reading Guide Unboxing party. It's not necessary to attend, but we do think it adds a lot of color and nuance to the guide. Plus, you have the replay to watch whenever you want. Modernmrsdarcy.com/srg. We share details on that page to help you decide what option is right for you. It's easy, I promise. No matter how you wish to get the guide, you can do so from there.

Now, I'm so excited to do this today. Let's get to it.

[00:04:01] The first audio you will hear is from our January team meeting dedicated to the Summer Reading Guide. This was actually our third meeting to plan the 2023 guide. The first was held last October. As you'll hear, I was on strict voice rest for several weeks in early 2023. Oh, and that made for some interesting team meetings where I did a lot of nodding and typing instead of talking. I do not recommend, but it is what it is. And here's the clip.

Will Bogel [00:04:34] Welcome, everybody. As you might have heard, Anne doesn't talk. I hope that through our printed copies of all the awesome reading lists to look at, you know, design-wise, page counts, just kind of everything and came up with sort of a draft there of the direction we're going, if last year the theme was Drinks by the Pool, this year we're doing the festival theme, right? So it's a little more outdoorsy. It's a little more community, that kind of thing.

Anne Bogel [00:05:11] My initial vision for the guide this year was that I wanted it to have the vibe of a literary festival where readers and writers and all kinds of book people come together to celebrate great books and the people who love them. Something I also really liked about that festival idea was that it carries the air of possibility. You don't have to do any homework in advance. You don't need to read the books before you come. You just show up, enjoy hearing about good books, and soak up the inspiration, and when you leave, you'll be excited about what you know you could read next.

We wanted to nail down the basic concept of the guide pretty early in the process in early winter. We're talking about simple but not easy things, like the color scheme. And then for a while, it's up to me to read, read, read, while Brenna started tinkering with concepts and layouts. And yes, that is our very own Brenna who designed the guide this year. This is the first. And as you'll hear, that whole experience was and the final results are so deeply good.

I usually begin reading in October simply because that's when the advanced review copies start coming available. And it feels really good to have that big head start. By the time the holidays roll around, like late December, I am really digging into spring and summer releases.

For years, my typical process has been to cozy up by the fire and read a book a day between Christmas and New Year's. That really helps. And while I don't usually start writing anything for a while, I do always tell myself: I'll take some notes or write drafts about what I might say in the guide about a book while I am still reading so I don't end up in the position of needing to blurb a book in April that I read way back in October. That usually ends up with me rereading the book, which I may thoroughly enjoy but is not very efficient, as you can imagine.

Next in this clip, you're going to hear me pause to talk to Will while nearing the end of a good book on an early January morning, and then, next, sit down to do some actual writing.

[00:07:17] It's Saturday, January 7th at 9:53 a.m.. I have 31 minutes to go, but I think I can finish it sooner.

Will Bogel [00:07:25] Yeah, sooner. And I was like, I said, what's your hurry?

Anne Bogel [00:07:28] I really like it. But I just got this whole rash of approvals on Edelweiss for books I really want to read high priority. And I haven't done the math but it's January 7th and I love that the team is picking books. And also I feel like those books need to be available for them to choose if they want to. This is always the case. The more I can read earlier, the easier it is to fill in the gaps and feel really good about how the list is shaping up. I haven't done the math to figure out, okay, so if it's January 7th and I think I have maybe seven or eight titles that I've already read and really love and either definitely want to include or think could be worthy inclusions, then how many more do I need to read a week to have a really solid list shaping up by like the end of March?

Will Bogel [00:08:16] How many have you read this week? Because you've frequently done like... frequently. There were a couple of years you did one a day from like January to maybe mid-March.

Anne Bogel [00:08:27] Yeah. But this year I read a lot of backlists over Christmas. Some of these are short. Like some of the ones that are approvals just came in for like 260 to 300 pages. So that helps. I have been reading a lot this week and over break, but I read some of the books for the spring book preview that's happening in a few days because I wanted to because they sounded really good. And because I don't want to... you know, like I can't be reading all Summer Reading Guide all the time because that throws everything... that gives me nothing to talk about on the podcast.

Will Bogel [00:08:57] And reading spring. Is spring book review so different?

Anne Bogel [00:09:01] I mean, no. No. One of the books I just finished that I really liked, it would be a great summer book, but we're talking about it now.

Will Bogel [00:09:12] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:09:13] So what was the question? The question is?

Will Bogel [00:09:14] The question is, why are you rushing through? You only have 30 minutes left and you're like, "I got to hurry. I want to get it done faster."

Anne Bogel [00:09:20] I don't feel like I need to take it off my list. It's Saturday morning. You just make coffee. I want to have the experience on Saturday morning.

Will Bogel [00:09:28] That's what I was thinking. Saturday morning and a cup of coffee, that's enough time to finish your book? And you're like, "Oh, but I can do it faster. I can get there."

Anne Bogel [00:09:33] Well, it's also enough time to finish a good book and start something new. That's never a bad thing.

Will Bogel [00:09:38] On to the next.

Anne Bogel [00:09:39] Onto the next.

It is Saturday, January 21st, it's 7:07 a.m. and I am sitting down at my computer to start the Summer Reading Guide blurbs. I love talking about books. I love reading the books. I don't like writing about the books, or at least I don't like writing about the books in this way. But I'm gonna bite the bullet now so I'm not really miserable in April.

Anne Bogel [00:10:03] This year, our team members all had the option of choosing a book to contribute to the Summer Reading Guide that I would then get to read and they would write the blurb about. You don't need to read like me to find value in the guide, but I do like how opening up the guide to team contributions means you're getting picks from readers who are not me.

Sometimes this process was very collaborative. If our team had a hard time finding a book they really loved, we talked together about what they may enjoy reading. Sometimes the team member would tell me, Anne, I love this book, I think I want to include it in the guide and they just send it to me to sign off on it. Several of these books that they chose were not on my radar, which I really loved. I, like you, love discovering new books.

You may not know that in addition to figuring out the guidebooks, I'm also thinking a lot about the summer Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club books this time of year. Because of the way we chose to adopt this literary festival theme, we decided to host a truly bonkers number of author talks this summer in Book Club, seven in total, and we wanted them all to be books from the Summer Reading Guide.

You are about to hear a clip from our book club community manager Ginger. And here's the context. I had told her that I had read and loved The Postcard from Anne Berest. I told her I thought it was hugely discussable, something we really look for in our book club selections. And I told her it was a long novel about a hard topic. When I'm not sure if a book is right for our community, I ask Ginger to read it and we talk about it together.

My question to her about The Postcard was, "Could this be right for Book Club? I think so, maybe, but I lack confidence. Read it and tell me what you think." You will hear what she says and then my response back in a voice that sounds truly wretched. These are actually Voxer audio messages from that app. Our team uses this app a lot. Let's listen in.

Ginger Horton: [00:11:54] Hey there. I wanted to Vox you with my words. I put some of this on our little meeting document, but I think, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm working this morning, but Bailey told me last week that you wanted to be on strict vocal rest for at least two weeks. So I don't think we're meeting in person today. I think we're just putting our thoughts on that doc. But I would have had to type paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs to say the thing about the book, the summer book. So I captured the ones that you mentioned last week on the doc as well. But I wanted to talk about The Postcard because I promised I'd finish that in the next couple of days. And true to my word though, it wasn't hard. We have to read this. I think we have to read this.

Okay, so this is dark, absolutely, no doubt. But I could not stop turning the pages, Anne, until yesterday, I had not finished a book in 2023. I have been reading, but very sparsely, suffice it to say, I have not been reading very much. And I was determined to pick this book up. I think I told you last week I was like zooming through it, but put a pause on that for, you know, just again, like a lot of entertaining. And Saturday I got home from library book sale and I basically couldn't put this down until last night until I finished it. I read well over the second half and you know, I'm a slow reader. I do think that for people that say that this book is like 475 pages, what is less intimidating is the chapters are so short.

So it really, really does go by faster than that, mainly because that always helps me have momentum, but also because you actually figuratively lose a quarter of a page every couple of pages, you know? So it's actually shorter than that. So I think that works in our favor. I think that this is different than we usually read in summer, but also so page turnery. And I do like the idea of just having something a little heftier. There are a ton of choices for people that don't want to go this heavy. I think we should certainly make use of content warnings and such. But you know, the world is hard right now, and the thought of having like four completely poppy books also feels a little disingenuous. So I just absolutely, absolutely could not put this one down. I think it's important. I think it's very French. It's a book in translation. Just so, so, so, so many things going for this.

Oh, I wrote down some other thoughts. Let's see here. The ending, yes, absolutely kind of threw me. It's not what I expected, but it was also so perfect. It was so perfect. There were literally times where I was like thirsty or my toes were cold and I would have gotten up to get socks and I literally could not get up because I could not stop reading. So I was just completely engrossed. I hope you're doing better. I hope you're getting stronger and stronger. Keep resting. I think if I don't talk to you or see you before, I should see you hopefully for all staff meeting.

Anne Bogel [00:14:57] Hi. I went to the voice center and they had me do some exercises and told me if I do them before I speak it'll be easier, which is true. So I feel like I started... No, I'm not supposed to whisper. I feel like I started my clock running, which is great. I wanted to say, with my voice, I'm so glad you loved The Postcard. I'll say more in writing on the doc, especially about the scheduling stuff. Okay, I'm going to the doc right now with more thoughts. I did my exercises, so I wanted to use my voice because I haven't talked to you in like weeks. Okay, more later bye.

[00:15:38] That sounded so rough, right? Luckily, I did get in to see the speech therapist at our local voice center and she got me talking again. I'm still doing those voice exercises she prescribed before every podcast recording. Luckier still I didn't need a functioning voice to do all this reading back in the winter. And that's really what I do all winter every year, for years now, read and read and read in order to curate a core group of books I love and can build the guide around.

In the early period of reading, I'm just looking for what I love. And while I'm always on the lookout for variety, I don't think too hard at this stage about potential categories. I really enjoy this early stage. There's still a lot of possibility, and I'm not constrained to put the books in particular places. It's only when I have a substantial number of books I love that I start focusing on how they fit together, which is what you'll hear me thinking through in this next clip.

[00:16:36] So what I'm doing this morning is the thing I've done and Instagramed about for years. I have every book that I know I want to put in and a couple I'm almost probably definitely sure I want to put in written down on an index card. And they're a little bit gently color coded. I'm just moving them around. March 22nd feels kind of early. The guide doesn't come out for almost two months, but it's only almost two months away. So I have time to read, but not a lot of time to read to really nail down the core of the guide. I can do a few swaps at the last minute, but I really want to know what I'm looking at. And I can see, unsurprisingly, I've tons of family novels and I'm late on sci-fi and mystery.

I have a ton flagged, I just don't have them yet because I don't have a solid relationship with sci-fi publishers. But there's some good stuff in my inbox. So that's about to happen, it looks like. Also, I just slacked Bailey and said, "Remind me when the team submissions are due because I want to make sure I have space for those and don't need to reconfigure in a couple of weeks."

This episode is about how the Summer Reading Guide gets made, and in these coming clips, you're going to hear that a big part of that process is "verbal processing." For better or worse, that is how I figure out what I think. I can't tell you how many times, in this whole process, I've grabbed my husband well and said, "Hey, will you talk this through with me?" He knows to expect it at this point. And really it feels fitting. We do work together now. He knows me really well. And if you haven't heard me say this lately, the Summer Reading Guide was his idea in the first place. Would he have suggested it back in 2012 if he knew what he was signing on for? I can't answer that, but I hope so.

This next clip is from April 25th when I am well into the hard part. I have the books I love, I've sorted them into loose categories, and I'm trying to get every book where it belongs, and also figure out what gaps need to be filled. I want everything to be nicely balanced in a bunch of different ways, and it is tricky.

[00:18:48] So I decided I like this. So that means mystery and thriller is done.

Will Bogel [00:18:52] Yay.

Anne Bogel [00:18:53] Yay.

Will Bogel [00:18:53] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:18:54] I really loved this Isabelle Aen. So historic. Well, historical. I still need more. I don't know. So family novels, like I have options. I read like a blue million of these. Oh, I checked. I shouldn't have checked it.

Will Bogel [00:19:08] Yeah, that's not done.

Anne Bogel [00:19:09] Okay. So here's something that didn't occur to me. I'm going to move this fantasy novel to the love story category. Because I really like the compilation of tone genre approach I then have in love stories. Oh, my gosh. I told you how much I loved this one.

Will Bogel [00:19:31] Right. So is that eight books? One, two, three, four, five. That makes it eight.

Anne Bogel [00:19:35] I think it is eight. Okay, well, I have to decide what to do about that because there's only seven per category, except for family, just because that's totally my jam. So I was going to say my eight categories there because seven times seven is 49. And then I have one more.

Will Bogle: [00:19:47] And you have one more.

Anne Bogel [00:19:48] Right. So I figured that would be family. I didn't realize I had an extra one.

Will Bogel [00:19:52] You don't have any eight there, though. So you could do eight in love story.

Anne Bogel [00:19:54] I could.

Will Bogel [00:19:55] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:19:56] I didn't see that coming.

Will Bogel [00:19:57] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:19:58] Okay. Well, I got to decide that. And then nonfiction, I am going to go with that graphic novel.

Will Bogel [00:20:05] Uh, nonfiction... graphic nonfiction?

Anne Bogel [00:20:08] Graphic nonfiction. That's true. I mean, it remind me of Austin Kleon. I told you that.

Will Bogel [00:20:14] Yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:20:15] Okay. So now that category is done. Bridget told me about the book for sci-fi fantasy.

Will Bogel [00:20:24] To replace-

Anne Bogel [00:20:24] Yeah. I'm going to write Bridget on the list.

Will Bogel [00:20:26] So you have seven in there.

Anne Bogel [00:20:27] Uh-huh.

Will Bogel [00:20:28] Seven.

Anne Bogel [00:20:29] So I still have these grab bag-

Will Bogel [00:20:30] That's eight, grab bag.

Anne Bogel [00:20:30] ...which I think I can't decide whether I want to put this book in grab bag or the family category, but-

Will Bogel [00:20:46] So, wait, you have one question mark here in historical.

Anne Bogel [00:20:51] Yeah. So I need one historical novel, which feels good. There's a lot I still want to read.

Will Bogel [00:20:55] To read, okay.

Anne Bogel [00:20:56] Uh-huh.

Will Bogel [00:20:56] You have one more here-

Anne Bogel [00:21:00] Well, maybe.

Will Bogel [00:21:00] ...with the potential. And then I don't know... I don't know what this is.

Anne Bogel [00:21:05] Are you saying you can't read my writing? That's so rude.

Will Bogel [00:21:09] But there will be seven. And then if you move this... So you're out of books.

Anne Bogel [00:21:15] Well, except for historical. I have room for one historical.

Will Bogel [00:21:17] You have literally one-

Anne Bogel [00:21:19] You know, I could move. I could move [Banyan?] into historical. I don't know that that's fair. I don't know. I'm trying to go with the lead genre for each because The Postcard is in historical. It's totally a family novel. Well, I mean, I feel like historical is what leads there. And same with Kitty Carr. Like, I feel that historical is the most accurate.

Will Bogel [00:21:45] Yeah. But this is where they initially landed. So, I mean obviously that makes the most sense. So there's one hole there. This one could move back and forth.

Anne Bogel [00:21:55] I feel you calling it hole as pretty aggressive.

Will Bogel [00:21:59] There is one empty line. There's one available slot.

Anne Bogel [00:22:04] There's one opportunity to include something amazing that's not yet written in Sharpie in the wall.

Will Bogel [00:22:10] And this one could bounce around. So you have one… Wait.

Anne Bogel [00:22:20] I feel like the obvious next step is to rewrite this whole thing in a different color Sharpie -

Will Bogel [00:22:24] I know. That's right. I know. You just said it is in Sharpie as if that were like definitive. But it's just what you used. So you have one potential here that you need to fill in and then-

Anne Bogel [00:22:34] That was historical.

Will Bogel [00:22:35] Are you over oversubscribed in these two, family and grab bag?

Anne Bogel [00:22:40] Do you know me at all?

Will Bogel [00:22:42] Seven?

Anne Bogel [00:22:44] Yes, yes, yes, I am.

Will Bogel [00:22:46] Or you could just call it quits and read a couple of historicals. You could be done by the 28th.

Anne Bogel [00:22:53] But then what will I read next?

Will Bogel [00:22:56] Whatever you want. Whatever you want.

Anne Bogel [00:23:00] While I'm still working on nailing down which books to include and balancing the categories, the rest of the team is starting to ramp up their work, including the design of the actual PDF. The look and format of the guide has changed a lot over the years. Back in the early days, I made a super simple PDF in Apple Pages—friends, that is not a design program—and I did it at my dining room table.

In later years, we hosted on the blog in a variety of different formats, different kinds of blog posts linked to blog posts, fancy blog posts. But then in 2019, for the first time, we went magazine style and we haven't gone back from then in these intervening four years. The guide really began to expand in scope and content in 2020, and even more so in 2021. Some of you have been with us that whole time and you know what I'm talking about.

For 2023, our team member, Brenna, designed our guide. We talked about broad concepts in our team meetings. I created a mood board and then she and I began to work on refining the look and feel of the guide. I sent her images or terrible, terrible sketches and say, "Maybe something like this." And she'd send me concepts and say, "Anne, pick your favorite." I love this process. Brenna does such a great job and obviously she really gets what we do, which made designing this guide such a pleasure.

She thought of things I never would have thought to ask for and is dedicated to creating a great experience for the reader. You're going to feel that when you get this guide. As you will hear, in the later stages, there is a real dance going on between design and copy. So she and I are constantly collaborating as the actual guide starts to really take shape.

The next clip is my Vox to Brenna in late April after reviewing some pages she sent over a specific features and sample category layouts.

[00:24:53] Hello. I love these pages so much and I think they look incredible. Also, I've been messing around with The Patreon content that I want to send you by the end of today what exactly is it going to say. They look so good. And yes, I was thinking like, how can I communicate with words about the calendar and Patreon specifically? And, no, it's so visually driven. Okay, I'm also noticing that something I really like about your designs, in general, is that the layout also carries a lot of the messaging. Do you know what I mean? Do those words make sense? I really admire that about your designs in general. I think it look incredible. I do really like the light touch with the festival imagery. I think just a little is perfect.

And you know, if you have any ideas otherwise that are a different direction, you know, I'm always happy to take a look. But so far, I think it looks really nice. And yes, it does feel... what? Themed. But I think the word you used was mature. I really like it. And the description of... Sorry, navigating through a tight spot.

So I'm going back a page now to the how to use this guide. I feel like hopefully we're not telling people, something they don't already know with that layout. And yet, I think it's such an informative way to, with a very light touch, just to remind people of what they already know and what they're looking at. And also, it's just so attractive the way it's laid out. I love it. Yeah, I can definitely write that copy so that we can have the bolded paragraphs.

And I was gonna say one other thing... Oh, yes, it's so true that seeing how it's going to be laid out definitely will help me write that. So thank you. Of course, sometimes it goes the other way. Like, I know what the content is you think about the design with that in mind. But yes, I am happy, happy to write words knowing what kind of bucket they're being put into.

[00:26:58] Next up, it's Will and me again on April 26th. I'm trying to lock my final list of books and categories. It might sound like we're talking about similar stuff from before, and that's because the closer I get to finalizing content, the more I want to talk it through. This feels like a really big step and I want to make sure that I feel really, really good about it. It is not uncommon for me to completely panic at this stage and decide Oh, wait, I need to read a hundred more books in order to truly finish the guide and make it great. This is untrue, more about that in a second. But first, let's listen to this clip.

[00:27:36] Okay, coffee's ready. Will you help me talk through this?

Will Bogel [00:27:40] Yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:27:41] Okay. It is April 25th. I just need a sharpie that's not black because I run those out. We're looking at the giant Post-it note on the wall, which is the key tool in the Summer Reading Guide. So I think I'm about ready to wrap the categories. I don't have everything, I don't have all 50 books. I think I have like 46.

Will Bogel [00:28:02] I thought last night when we looked at this it was 49.

Anne Bogel [00:28:05] Well, I didn't actually count them. That could be right. I'm gonna reorder and see and help me verbally process what belongs where?

Will Bogel [00:28:14] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:28:15] Historical, family, sci-fi, fantasy. And actually, I'm wondering if that's just a sci-fi fantasy and horror, but we'll see.

Will Bogel [00:28:29] Oh, is there horror?

Anne Bogel [00:28:30] Well, it depends. Maybe.

Will Bogel [00:28:34] It depends, yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:28:34] Okay, love stories and grab bag. I'm not sure I left enough space on my sheet. Okay.

Will Bogel [00:28:45] Wait, are those seven?

Anne Bogel [00:28:49] Your list says one.

Will Bogel [00:28:50] One, two, three, four, five, seven, six. Well, you squeeze.

Anne Bogel [00:28:56] That's because-

Will Bogel [00:28:58] I noticed it's also in pencil. Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:29:01] Well, I wasn't sure about that title.

Will Bogel [00:29:02] Clearly.

Anne Bogel [00:29:03] Uh-huh.

Will Bogel [00:29:04] It's the only one in pencil actually.

Anne Bogel [00:29:06] I don't know if I can explain that.

Will Bogel [00:29:08] Okay. But those seven, are those locked? Good?

Anne Bogel [00:29:12] Yeah, I think so. I think mystery and thriller is done.

Reader, it was not done. But let's back up and talk about my process. I used to be analog only when it came to keeping track of potential Summer Reading Guide titles. But this year, I leaned into spreadsheets more than I ever have before. By late April, mine had over 300 titles on it, and I use a lot of different filters and codes and categories to track all the things.

You've already heard about the index cards. And then once I have rough categories, I transfer the info on the index cards to a giant Post-it note on the wall. I really like seeing all the books in one place and physically writing the books down and the categories and the pub dates. It really helps me feel like I know all this stuff inside and out. Here's the clip.

[00:29:56] Historical, I still have space for one more, but it really... I mean, it really depends. There's so many novels. I mean, there's four here of the six that are currently here that could legit be fairly novels.

Will Bogel [00:30:11] Could be, yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:30:11] And that goes the other direction as well, though not as strong. Like two of these could be historical fiction. They could move from family to historical. So those feel a little bit-

Will Bogel [00:30:23] That's more influx.

Anne Bogel [00:30:24] Yeah, but I need to rewrite them so I can see it clearly. Because like, look, I've got four different colors, a sharpie and pencil and pen and gold stars. Poetry and nonfiction is ready to call.

Will Bogel [00:30:33] It's done. Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:30:35] Love story, I somehow ended up with an extra one, so I gotta figure that out.

Will Bogel [00:30:41] Being... Yeah, okay.

Anne Bogel [00:30:43] Because I want to move this fantasy's title.

Will Bogel [00:30:44] That's right. Because we're saying that we had eight. Yeah, okay.

Anne Bogel [00:30:46] Yeah.

Will Bogel [00:30:47] But you don't want eight there, you don't think?

Anne Bogel [00:30:49] I don't think so. I don't think so. And grab bag. Which started as like some kind of random-ish titles and turned into mostly books about books. But there are books about books scattered throughout the guide. So that's not completely fair to call this books about books. But it is a grab bag with a strong literary emphasis, which I kind of like, there's so many books coming out right now that feature like books about books that are set in the world of publishing. I hope it never gets old because I'm still really enjoying it at this point. So I think what I want to do is just write it all out and see what's here.

[00:31:31] That thriller I liked, Bridget's pick. You know, we had three teen picks and mysteries.

Will Bogel [00:31:38] In the same category?

Anne Bogel [00:31:39] Yeah. That book is so long. Longest in the guide by a mile. That's historical. Well, the dates are really different in family. Okay, that's family. I really liked that one. Did I tell you about that one?

Will Bogel [00:32:13] Not that I recognize that.

Anne Bogel [00:32:16] Let's see what comes next. This is one of the first books I read back in Christmas. Doesn't come out till June now. And here's Bailey's pick. Okay, I'm missing one. I skipped one.

Will Bogel [00:32:32] Number three.

Anne Bogel [00:32:33] Oh, good job. Oh, yeah. Outta order. That's Chelsea's pick. Okay. Poetry and nonfiction. This is April, right? The graphic novel that's not a novel.

Will Bogel [00:32:48] It's out. So yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:32:50] I think it was April. Okay. Okay, that's it for poetry and nonfiction. Love stories, the one I don't know what to do with. I mean, as hard as it is to find books for the... I mean, it's not hard exactly. But like I want books that I love, like absolutely love for the guide. And sometimes it feels like those are... I mean, that's a really high standard.

Will Bogel [00:33:17] Well, you have to come up with 54 and five-star reads?

Anne Bogel [00:33:20] Yeah.

Will Bogel [00:33:22] In four months? Five months?

Anne Bogel [00:33:22] Yeah. Yeah.

Will Bogel [00:33:23] That's a high standard

Anne Bogel [00:33:23] Usually this love story category is one I feel like right up so fast. And I read a lot of books that I liked a lot, but I wasn't like, "Oh my gosh, read this now." And I think it's ironic that now all of a sudden I have too many in this category. Okay. I'm not sure where that goes. I think-

Will Bogel [00:33:44] Well, it's because it's listed and then it has an arrow and has rewritten, and then another arrow.

Anne Bogel [00:33:50] I gotta look-

Will Bogel [00:33:50] Which means you've bounced it from-

Anne Bogel [00:33:55] I think that's May.

Will Bogel [00:33:54] ...category to category.

Anne Bogel [00:33:55] I have. I think it's May but I'm not entirely sure. Oh, that's right. Oh, I could move it to the grab bag. Oh, I forgot about that. Because it totally fits with the themes. Okay. Oh, gosh, this was one of my favorites. And grab bag. Okay, see, what I just said about the grab bag, I'm not sure about this title right here and I don't know where this one comes out. I gotta look that. Okay. Okay, so anyway-

Will Bogel [00:34:23] There's only five.

Anne Bogel [00:34:24] Yeah, that's because I left that one up off. But truly we can move that right here and we're going to move this fantasy book into grab bag. What are you laughing at? That it's now been in three categories?

Will Bogel [00:34:40] Yeah, you got a fantasy book that's in most stories.

Anne Bogel [00:34:43] Both things are true. And there was one... Oh, that's right. That could be family.

Will Bogel [00:34:51] Well, it fits... I mean, there's... So seven.

Anne Bogel [00:34:54] I like it better in family, though.

Will Bogel [00:35:01] You didn't include that.

Anne Bogel [00:35:04] No, that's fine. I really liked that. But that's August and I think we have a lot of August titles.

Will Bogel [00:35:09] Aren't we numbering these since you've crossed them out? So that's seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, six.

Anne Bogel [00:35:20] So we have one spot for historical.

Will Bogel [00:35:23] And one category needs eight. We have 48 books. We lost a book.

Anne Bogel [00:35:30] I'm looking for the right mix of titles for the guide the right variety, and I mean that in all sorts of ways. Some of those ways are straightforward and super practical like the distribution of publication dates. We feature new for 2023 titles in this year's guide across a range of dates, from January to August. I'm constantly considering how many titles are already available on May 18th when the guy comes out, how many will still be forthcoming upon the guide's release, and how long readers will need to wait for those forthcoming titles when it does come out.

I want readers to have something to look forward to all summer long, but I don't want them to feel frustrated because half the books they want to read don't come out till August. In this clip, Will and I continue our conversation focusing specifically on the publication dates.

Anne Bogel [00:36:18] Okay, I want to count up the pub dates, which means I need accurate information on a couple of titles. Okay, May 2nd read. So let's check the distribution.

Will Bogel [00:36:34] One January, one February, three March.

Anne Bogel [00:36:41] Total?

Will Bogel [00:36:42] Mm-hmm.

Anne Bogel [00:36:42] Okay, three March, April, six, six in April, May. I told you I think I could have filled the whole guide with May 2nd releases. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18… 19 May releases.

Will Bogel [00:37:03] Wow.

Anne Bogel [00:37:05] June. This is all on my spreadsheet, and yet there's something about staring at the wall, counting it up with my hands that impacts differently my brain. Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8… 9 June. July. You know, historically, I've had a hard time with June titles for the summer guide. I'm not sure why that is. I mean, it's not as big as May, but I wonder if there's more to it than that. 1, 2, 3. Seriously, three July titles. That really surprises me.

August is also shaping up to be a huge month. I have to really restrain myself because I don't think it's helpful. I have too many titles in August in the guide. But I want some. So slightly more titles come out after the guide release. I like that. But you don't have to wait a long time for most of them. Like you can get them imminently in May and June. But then there's a little something to keep looking forward to on the horizon. Okay, this looks good. I like it.

[00:38:06] Readers, here's something you don't hear because we didn't start the tape. That is me freaking totally out a few days later because I was certain the guide's balance was out of whack and I needed to read a ton of books really quickly in order to figure out how to fix the problem.

That very night, I read a 416-page book in its entirety in a first attempt to remedy the situation. But that didn't work because while I liked it, I didn't love it. I was really frustrated when I went to bed and I was making a reading list of what to read next but then I got a good night's sleep. And when I woke up the next morning, the first conscious thought I had was, "Oh, I know what to do." And I went to my Post-It note on the wall and I moved three titles around in their categories and everything clicked into place. And ta-da, it was done.

In early May, I really am doing more than obsessing about these books. I also spend days in the writing cave. The guide has a lot of features in it. This year those include a page for new paperback releases, a separate feature of 40-plus backlist titles, books that are awesome on audio, we've done this for years now, a feature called "what's your summer reading style" that I was a little nervous about. And that might be word-heavy, but Brenna made it look so good. It is now one of my favorites. We have a Patreon versus book club layout that is really beautiful and useful. And of course, I introduced the guide each year with my editor's letter, which I write last as you will hear.

It is my job to make sure all the words in the guide work and sound good and read well and are ready for layout. Here I am on May 5th telling Will I think I just about did it.

[00:39:41] Hey, do you want coffee now?

Will Bogel [00:39:43] Yeah, we always begin with some coffee.

Anne Bogel [00:39:48] Okay. I gotta go to the grocery but I think I want to do this first because I think I'm almost done. Hang on, let me measure this. I had so, so much to do, but for the past few days that's the only thing I've worked on for like 20 hours. I mean, it will be. And it's almost there. And I know we're gonna have a ton of back and forth after layout. We always catch stuff in the PDF.

Will Bogel [00:40:19] Right. Editing.

Anne Bogel [00:40:19] Yeah, yeah.

Will Bogel [00:40:20] The editing stage, yeah.

Anne Bogel [00:40:21] Yeah. Donna's looking at blurbs now. But like I had so much writing to do, and I think it's done.

Will Bogel [00:40:26] Are you gonna give it to the kids?

Anne Bogel [00:40:28] And by "I think it's done", I need to write the editor's letter how to use. That's going to be last. Yeah, yeah, I am going to give it to the kids because they always proofread it and they always catch stuff that I don't-

Will Bogel [00:40:38] It's fine.

Anne Bogel [00:40:38] ...and that our team doesn't see.

Will Bogel [00:40:38] The different stuff that they see than everybody else.

Anne Bogel [00:40:42] Mm-hmm. And they don't know how to spell anybody's names, but that's fine. It's almost done. I do need to write the editor's letter and how to use this guide this weekend.

Will Bogel [00:40:51] It seems like a big thing.

Anne Bogel [00:40:53] Well, yeah, but I feel like that's speaking from the heart. I feel like...

Will Bogel [00:40:58] Yea, yeah. Although it's done, everything else is done, and you're like, "Let me tell you about the guide."

Anne Bogel [00:41:02] Well, I saved it for last when I knew what I was introducing. Like exactly what's on every page.

Will Bogel [00:41:07] Okay.

Anne Bogel [00:41:09] Yay!

Will Bogel [00:41:10] That's, yeah, great.

Anne Bogel [00:41:13] We do not have a clip for the subsequent week that looks like a flurry of proofreading on the part of some team members while I am tweaking things left and right, cutting words from some of the blurbs to accommodate our design, and changing out some of our "for fans of" picks, because I thought of better options. When it comes to proofreading, our mantra is early and often, because we want it to be clear and beautiful, and accurate when it hits your inbox on May 18th.

And then finally, we're ready to review the final design. At this point, I have already reviewed the majority of the guide in pieces. But then we get to the super exciting part where Brenda sends me a complete draft of everything all together all at once all on the same pile. This year, it arrived in my inbox after my bedtime on the east coast on May 9th, and I woke up to it on May 10, eight days before the guide is released. Here's the clip.

Good morning. It is Wednesday, May 10th, at 10:01 a.m. and I am about to open the final draft, not the final version. But like this is the first time I will have seen the finished... first draft doesn't seem to do it justice. But the first completed draft of the guide. I've been wanting to do this since 6:45 this morning but Will and I have a graduating senior and there was a big to-do at school this morning. So I'm back, I’m at my desk, I'm opening the file that Brenna sent. I'm so excited to see it.

Okay, she sent me a bunch of Voxer messages telling me what to look out for, what still needs decisions on, what needs close eye. She said she already noticed a few things that she would change. So what I'm going to do now is open the guide and take a look and then it's going to go out to our team so that everybody can put eyes on it so we can find as many typos as possible. Anything that looks weird, any phrasing that is wonky, anything that makes us go like, Huh, what's going on there? How can we make this even better?" And we'll hear back from everybody by the end of the week and then we're going to wrap the file and get all the finished PDFs ready to download.

I'm still deciding but I'm probably going to get a file of mine printed as well so I can hold it and photograph it. This year I found myself referring to my old printed guides all the time. So I think I want it for posterity's sake if nothing else. But okay, here we go. I'm gonna click "open" on the file, the real way to proofread is in Adobe Acrobat. So that's what I'm doing. I'm clicking "open" on my machine. And I have to tell you, the first thing I see is my face real big. I had to get talked into doing this a couple of years ago by the designer team that did it then. They said, "Anne, this is a personal guide, you should be on the cover."

But it's never not weird to see my face real big on the front. I have to tell you we took these photos in Louisville in one of my favorite places to be that you've probably seen on my Instagram often. So the guide is really special to me and that way. And I'm just gonna flip through real quick and see what it looks. It looks like it came in at 52 pages. I won't talk you through looking at every single page. Brenna highlighted real big in yellow something I said. Look, this is the last piece of information I need. I cannot come up with a comp that I really love for this one title, but it's going to come to me. And I'm just seeing how it ended up.

I'm gonna go over this with a fine tooth comb shortly, just like everyone else on our team is. Oh, and Brenna told me that she did something interesting with the... we have the spread in the back of the guide, we have for years, where we show a little thumbnail image of every cover. And Brennan told me she did something interesting. Oh, I just love. I love that. It looks so good.

The last page we did an enthusiasm meter. So you can just print out this two-page list and see all the books in one easy-to-capture place that you could carry around in your tote, your purse, your glove compartment, you could keep by your computer, for your library holds. It looks so good. Okay, okay, here it is.

Now, I'm going to send it off to the team. It looks so good at this stage. One of the best parts of my job is to get to send it to the team and say ta-da, here's the guide, and here is our team proofreading doc. Tell me what needs fixing." But the stage is such a deep joy because, on first glance, you would think it was complete and perfect. And it feels so good to have this thing we've talked about since October come out practically finished and looking amazing.

So that last clip was eight days before the guide is released. We are emailing it out to those who are on the list on Thursday, May 18th at 8:00 a.m., Eastern Time. In these last eight days before the release, we are triple checking—I mean, really, we're checking it more than that—every single last thing. We're making any necessary adjustments, finalizing all the formatting, basically taking care of every single detail for the guide itself and also the details for getting it out into the world. And that is the next thing that happens—the guide goes out into the world.

[00:46:41] Readers, thanks for listening to our first narrative episode. I hope you enjoyed digging in with us, as we tried to share a rough picture of what goes into making the guide. We hope you found it interesting. Our show notes are at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com where we have a transcript available and our list of references for this episode. I have another important link for you today. That's modernmrsdarcy.com/srg. That's where you can make sure you get your copy of the Summer Reading Guide.

There are three ways to get the guide. Choose the one that suits you best. One, you can join the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club community, or two, support the What Should I Read Next? Patreon because the guide and Unboxing access are included perks for our community members. Or option three, for those who don't have the time or inclination to join a community, we have an ala carte option for you.

Preorder your guide at modernmrsdarcy.com/srg. And that also grants you admission to our live Summer Reading Guide Unboxing party, plus the replay to watch whenever you want. We tell you more about what that is, plus share details on all those things on that page to help you decide which option is right for you. It is easy, I promise. Modernmrsdarcy.com/srg.

A big thanks to the people who make the show happen. What Should I Read Next? is created each week by Will Bogel, Holly Wielkoszewski, and Studio D Podcast Productions. Thanks also to Sarah Aider for her help on this narrative episode. Readers, that's it for today. Thanks so much for listening. And as Rainer Maria Rilke said, "Happy summer reading, everyone," or "How good it is to be among people who are reading." Happy reading, friends, and happy summer.