March 3, 2022 • 22 mins
Francesco Sedita is an author and publisher at Penguin, where he oversees Penguin Workshop and works with authors like Dolly Parton, Ann Hood, Jessica Hische, and publishes series like WhoHQ, Mad Libs, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Little Engine That Could. The third book in his graphic novel series, The Pathfinders Society, publishes in August 2022. He's produced the Emmy-award winning The Who Was? Show for Netflix and has a podcast called Queens of the Round Table.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Roy Sharples (00:06):
Hello, I'm Roy Sharples, welcome to the unknown
origins podcast. Why are youlistening to this podcast? Are
you seeking inspiration? anindustry expert, looking for
insights, or growing yourcareer? I created the unknown
origins podcast to provideaccess to insights and content
(00:29):
from creators worldwide withinspirational conversations and
storytelling, about art,architecture, design,
entrepreneurship, fashion, film,music and pop culture. Francesco
servita is an author andpublisher at Penguin, where he
oversees penguin workshop, andworks with authors like Dolly
(00:51):
Parton, on who, Jessica hichyand publishers ceilings, like pu
HQ, Mad Libs, Nancy Drew Harveyboys and little engine that
could. The third book in hisgraphic novel sees the
Pathfinder society publishes inAugust 2022. He's produced the
(01:11):
Emmy award winning the who wantsto pay for Netflix, and has a
podcast called queens of theroundtable. Hello, and welcome
Francesco. So what inspired andattracted you to the publishing
industry in the first place?
Francesco Sedita (01:27):
It's a great question. Um, you know, I'll be
honest with you and say, Ididn't want to be in publishing
in the beginning I, I was in myearly 20s. And I had finished
NYU, I went to NYU, and I had anidea for a show that ran that
wound up running off offBroadway for about five years.
(01:48):
And I lived in East Village, andit was the mid 90s. And I
thought, oh, you know, I'm gonnabe I'm gonna follow the rent
dream, and I'm gonna, you know,be a downtown artist. And you
know, the show was actuallypretty successful, but of
course, made no money. And myparents who are really
supportive, wonderful peoplecalled me one day, and they're
(02:11):
so not these people and said, Wemet someone. And it turned out
that it happened to be theperson who had the time pretty
much owned Random House. Wow, myparents, my parents never met,
my parents weren't like theystayed home. They didn't go Are
they really worth like, theywere at home a lot. So it was
like such a shocking phone call.
And the next day, my phone rang,and it was the HR and HR
representative from RandomHouse. And I was so pissed. And
(02:34):
I went for this interview. Andat the time, I had blond hair
and lots of piercings. And Iwore a ruffled tuxedo, sir, and
Navy sailors pants and platformsuits, to this interview, this
poor poor woman who I walkedinto her office, and I sat down,
(02:55):
and she said, I think you shouldbe in publicity. So So you know,
we actually had a greatinterview, and she was lovely.
And then you know, I alwaystried to find out what her name
is, because I feel like I oweher a huge bouquet of flowers or
something. And I wound up say,when I'm interviewing the next
day, at CONAF, the adultdeparted the adult division at
(03:18):
Random House, and cannot publishis sort of the very sort of cool
literary kind of handle a Crimof adult titles for Random House
and I met with the person I wentworking for, and I just sort of
fell in love. Right then inthere publishing. I was a
writer, I'm a writer, I alwayshave been since I'm a kid. And
the way that he spoke aboutbooks was so exciting to me. And
(03:40):
the way that he appreciatedbooks was so exciting to me. And
that is actually when I realizedthere is a career here for me in
publishing, as a storyteller andas someone who loves to hear
stories. So that's sort of howit began.
Roy Sharples (03:55):
That's fascinating. It sounded like as
well, they, it just came out ofa trapdoor really unexpected,
totally facilitated by yourparents, which you said that
they were the most unlikely tocome up with an interview like
that. And that moment ofserendipity became the pathway
to your destiny, and have livedhappily ever after. But what a
(04:17):
haven, it must be to be awriter, an avid book lover, and
ultimately run a publishingbusiness, a perfect marriage.
Francesco Sedita (04:25):
It really was, and it still is, you know, I, I
started in the publicity groupas an assistant. And you know,
you learn a lot there veryquickly, you learn how to talk
about books in a certain way,you know, and you learn how to
talk about I'm going to behonest books that you don't
necessarily like that much orthat aren't that aren't
interesting to you, but youstill you learn how to find the
(04:46):
love and the connection to thebooks because it's your job to
and that was a really, reallynice way to really take a big
step into the industry.
Roy Sharples (04:54):
Oh, no, for sure.
And like you said, that must beextremely challenging. You know,
like when you're someone That'san avid book reader, you're very
passionate about things. Andwhen something maybe comes along
that it just doesn't, you know,float your boat, but you still
have to kind of be constructiveabout it. Or you may have to
make a decision that's moremarket based or business based,
right? Whereby well, it actuallyaddresses a market niche, and
(05:17):
that there's a potential togenerate income over that, and
maybe making those decisionsthat maybe don't fit your values
and tastes, that that must bequite challenging. Sometimes,
Francesco Sedita (05:29):
it can be absolutely, you know, I'm in the
children's world. Now, afterthat job. My first job, I went
into the children's world thathad been there for 20 or so
years, and the children's worldis interesting when you when you
think about all the things youjust said, and you think you
look at the marketplace, and youlook at what kids are wanting to
read and how reading styles arechanging, and how there's
(05:52):
different interest at differenttimes and certain kinds of books
and how we're having huge, youknow, interest in graphic novels
right now, which I believereally is because of the the
real popularity of Wimpy Kid andkids learning how to read on
with the kids, you know, so themarketplace, in children's
especially is so interesting.
And it sometimes really informshow you think about books you're
(06:12):
going to publish for
Roy Sharples (06:14):
sure. Oh, definitely. And I think his
role, the role that you have,and running, the team that you
do, is such an influentialposition that you have around
influencing young people in thatnext generation of youth culture
that's kind of common throughand those memories, in terms of
(06:35):
what you're subjected to at avery young age, whether that's
book books, pop culture, music,art, wherever it is, is it tends
to stick with you throughoutlife, and, and certainly someone
who's became a creator, right? Imean, a lot of those early
memories and influences that Ihave, they manifest themselves
and really peculiar ways whenyou go into the work workforce.
(06:55):
And you end up designing andmaking things that you always
really loved and are passionateabout. But they come out in
different ways. But you canfollow that red thread all the
way back to being a young interms of the influences that
shaped your tastes and style ata very young age. So it's a very
influential role that you haveagainst against a really buoyant
(07:19):
audience.
Francesco Sedita (07:20):
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I, I was a
really reluctant reader, as akid I reading was very
challenging for me, and I grewup in a household of readers, my
mother and father were aretremendous readers, my mother
sort of has the pristine,hardcover book, you know, on the
bedside, and my father has thissort of bent in half, you know,
(07:41):
sort of supermarket version of abook, you know, that he sort of
lugged around with him and readsort of everywhere, you know,
and they just love to read it.
And so for me, as a kid, I justlike it, and they were so
patient with me. And I'll tellyou that, you know, it really
was because of Choose Your OwnAdventure books, that I became a
reader. Because a they werereally fun. Right, right. I
(08:03):
think for me, the thing that Ireally liked about choose your
adventure at that age, andreally respect now is no one
really ever knew where you werein the book. So even as a slow
reader, you know, because youhop around that book, and you go
from page one to page 47, topage 96 to 816. No one actually
knew where you were in the book.
So there wasn't thatembarrassment of being a slow
(08:25):
reader. Yeah. And it really wasbecause of those books. And you
know, still at my parents housein a box somewhere are like, Is
my collection of Choose Your OwnAdventure books? Because they,
they changed how I think aboutwriting, reading all of that. It
was, it was my parents were sothrilled when we figured that
out. Yes, fascinating.
Roy Sharples (08:43):
Exactly. So So what is your creative process in
terms of how do you make theinvisible visible by dream
ideas, developing them intoconcepts, and then bringing them
to actualization?
Francesco Sedita (08:57):
What's interesting, because I sit on
both sides of the desk, right?
So I'm an author on one side,and on the other side, I'm a
publisher. So on the publisherside of the desk, you know, I
think about it, I think of sortof the same answer. But as a
publisher, what I do is, Ibelieve my job is to find people
who have a story to tell, andwho need possibly help telling
it or just an avenue to tell it?
(09:21):
And once we find those people,and yes, of course, we work with
agents, and all those things,but I'm really open. And that's
one of the biggest parts of mygroup at Penguin is that we're
open to hearing from people whoare not represented, it's hard
sometimes, but you don't alwaysneed an agent. And so once we
find that person, whetherthrough an agent or not, you
know, it's really rolling up thesleeves with that person and
really understanding the storythat they need or want to tell
(09:43):
and helping them figure out thebest way to do that. And
sometimes that's obviously achildren's, that is through
illustration, or withillustration, you know, that's
finding the exact right coverand sort of pairing and making a
team around that person tocreate the thing that they have
had in their brain for so long.
You know, it takes A lot ofpeople to pull it out sometimes
because, you know, especiallyfor writers, I think, you know,
(10:04):
it's a tough thing to be awriter sometimes. And it's tough
to actually manifest that ideaonto the page. So we put the
right team, I hope around thosepeople that, you know, the
writers that we bring in and,and, you know, we make at my
group about 250 books a year,where we're busy group, and I
really think and I hope, I mean,I always cross my fingers. When
(10:25):
I say this, I'm grateful for it.
But I think we have a lot ofvery many, very many happy,
happy authors and illustrators,who I think feel like part of
the team. And that's, that'sreally the most important thing.
It's a precious thing to takesomeone's ideas and help them
bring it to, to the world. And Ithink that this group does it so
beautifully, and with so muchcare. And then on the other side
(10:49):
is the writer, you know, I, Isit here at this desk that I'm
sitting here at right now, and Igot to stare at the screen. And
then I, you know, get distractedby Google on Instagram and call
my friends instead of doing anyof the writing I'm supposed to
be doing. But when I finally getto it, and you know, for that
glorious, 20 minutes, we'relike, I'm connecting to it right
now. Yes. You know, it's it'ssuch an intimate personal
(11:14):
experience, obviously. But then,you know, why? When I show it to
my editor, who I have, you know,it's this exciting moment,
right? Because it's new eyes,and it's someone that you trust,
and it's someone that's gonnasay, like, wow, here's where
this is great. And wow, here'swhat this is really terrible.
And here's why. And so, youknow, but But again, I think,
(11:35):
you know, I'm on both sides ofthat creative journey, you know,
it's just a lot of hand holding.
And it's a lot of like, turningon lights and dark corners to
get things to actually come tofruition.
Roy Sharples (11:46):
Absolutely.
That's, that's really well put,and resonates really well. What
are the key skills needed tosurvive and thrive as a creative
leader in the publishingindustry?
Francesco Sedita (11:58):
I think, in a way, resilience, obviously, is
important, right. And that'sprobably true in every job,
because you just need to be ableto bounce back. And I think, as
a creative person in I mean,it's publishing, it's not that
corporate of a place, right. Butit is a corporation, it is a
business. As a creative person,you know, I have to say, feel
(12:19):
really lucky to be supported,and sort of held up by the
people around me. And by by thecompany, because, you know, I'm
a pretty emotional person. Andso, you know, I can wear things
on my sleeve a lot. But so Ithink resilience is really
important, I think, a good groupof people around you that you
(12:39):
feel really supported by that.
And that's up and down, youknow, above you and sort of, at
your level, and in your groupand on your team. A really good
martini with friends every nowand then to just really kind of
laugh it off, is reallyimportant. And I honestly, I do
think it's, I think it's thepeople I think I think it's a
team of people who are ascreative or differently creative
than you are, who just want tomake great stuff. And that's so
(13:02):
inspirational. So even whenyou're having a bad day, you can
really turn to the people aroundyou and see what they're making,
and it just feels great. I mean,I'm lucky in a way because it's
children's books. So even at theend of the longest, worst luck,
say every day, you know, it's ameeting, and it's eight hours of
meetings, or, you know, becausethere are days like that, at the
(13:22):
end of the day, you know, I cansay I made sure I'm making
children's books, you know, andthat feels really meaningful,
you know, so I feel like, atleast, you know, at the end of a
long, hard day, I can say thatand sort of rest my head pretty,
pretty happily.
Roy Sharples (13:39):
That's excellent.
The, the key one of the keywords, you said that was
emotional, and I can talk that'scome through in your, your
personality, in terms of howthat emotion, you know, will
will drive, obviously, yourpassion, but also how well how
it inspires ideas and creativityand, and I think that's a great
thing. It's especially aneffective thing for your
(14:01):
audience, right? Because I thinkthere's a sincerity in terms of
listening to you now we're gonnago on through this this podcast
and how you conduct yourselfthere's a real authenticity I
didn't
Francesco Sedita (14:12):
hang on for 13 years and when I got
interviewed, like the firstinterview with my the man who
hired me is not with the companyanymore, but I tremendous
wonderful leader and, and just agreat friend, but we he took me
for a walk and we walked aroundSoho is at 9000 degrees, and I
was like in a blue blazer andit's hot and restorable. And we
were just talking and he's areally nice guy. It's a sweet,
(14:34):
smart guy. And he did the thingof like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
just like ask them, like, youknow, interview questions. And I
was like, Sure, of course, youknow, and he said, What's your
biggest strength and yourbiggest weakness? And I was
like, the answer is the same.
I'm emotional. Yeah. And I thinkthat it's a huge strength,
because I think, you know,people see me for who I am and I
am pretty upfront about who I amwith people. But you know, and I
(14:54):
think that makes it nice to havethe weaknesses like When I have
to sit and pout and you know andget really upset, because
because it happens, because youknow, that's just who I am, but,
but I am given the space to dothat.
Roy Sharples (15:13):
Fantastic, brilliant. So I should reflect
upon your career to date. Whatare the lessons learned in terms
of the pitfalls to avoid, andthe keys to success that you can
share with existing, but alsoaspiring publishers,
Francesco Sedita (15:28):
I think the biggest thing that I've learned,
and of course, they didn'trealize I was learning it right.
But, you know, I had a lot ofdifferent positions that sort of
never made, quote, on paper madesense to lead to the title of
Publisher. You know, I was anassistant in the publicity
department, I worked for theScholastic Book clubs, in a sort
(15:50):
of creative kind of creativerole. I became the paperback
marketing director forScholastic. And then I became
the Creative Director forScholastic, and then I became
publisher. So my path was quiteodd, and didn't make a ton of
sense, at least on paper. And soI think the pitfall, the thing
that you're talking about isthere's no one track and I
(16:11):
think, you know, what, I speakto young people in the, in their
careers and, and, you know,like, if we speak to like, the
intern groups, which I alwayslove doing, you know, when they
come in for the summers, one ofthe things I will say is, like,
there's not one direct path, andyou kind of never really know
where you're gonna land, youjust kind of have to keep on
finding the interests and goingafter those interests. And
(16:32):
hopefully, that that leads tosomething, you know, that feels
really meaningful, and I don'tsee how it couldn't if you keep
going after interests. I thinkthat's a big mistake of people
where it's like, I'm going to bean editor. Well, okay, but
there's a lot to get there. Andthere's also a lot after that,
(16:52):
you know, there's a lot ofthings after that. So I think
it's just to be really open andto listen to what's happening
around you, of course, and inthe industry, but also what's
happening internally, becauseyour interests may change, or
your interest may may grow in away that surprises you, as you
learn new things and new skills.
If I think gone are the dayswhere you sort of sit down and
(17:13):
you know, roll up the sleeves,the manuscript, and that's all
you do for your job, you know,publishing has changed quite a
bit.
Roy Sharples (17:20):
Indeed, it has publishing has been primarily
disrupted by the Internet,whereby it has been
democratized, where more peoplecan contribute their own ideas,
stories and opinions, and becomeauthors of their own books.
Because the access andcomparatively low cost to
create, publish and amplify abook across the globe, has been
(17:44):
enabled through advances intechnology, which is a perfect
segue into the next question,which is tilting forward? What's
your vision for the future ofpublishing? And what's the role
that creativity will play?
Francesco Sedita (18:01):
You know, I, I firmly firmly believe that books
are here to stay. You know,we've had those those years
where it's like, the book isgoing away. And yeah, everything
will be digital. And I justdon't believe that because I
believe that the connection, anewborn, to a 90 year old makes
it the book is irreplaceable byanything else, but an actual
(18:25):
book. And, you know, I'm luckybecause I feel fortunate because
I publish for sort of birth, youknow, so like, when a baby is
first born, those board booksthat you give to the parents to
about 14 or so years old, solike, that's a big, big chains.
You know, it's a, it's a bigaudience, and so many different
nuances in that audience. And,you know, I believe that there,
(18:49):
there are a few things that youcan finish, and then feel like
you want to hug and a book isone of them. And I think, you
know, you see a 12 year old dothat you see a little kid do
that with their favorite picturebook. And frankly, I have
friends who read books, who likeI know how much they cherish
that book when they close thatthat fight, you know, that fact
that cover? So, so to me, thefuture of publishing is it is
(19:12):
here and it is stronger andbigger and better than ever. And
I think that we are at a placewhere we actually are rethinking
things and rethinking formatsand rethinking how, how books
can be delivered to people,which I love. I love playing
with format in my group a lot.
That's, that's really exciting,that I think the role of
creativity here is to keeprediscovering what a book means
(19:35):
and what a book can be. Becauselike I said a while ago talking
about how graphic novels hadbecome a thing, like, you know,
it's because people are keepthinking and keep keep thinking
creatively and keep trying toreinvent and change this amazing
format that's been with usforever, you know, and so I
can't wait to see what the next10 or 20 yours brings
(19:59):
unpublishing because especiallyafter the past two years that
we've had where people have beeninside, spending so much time
with books, you know, book salesreally, really did really well,
during this terrible timebecause people wanted stories.
And I think that we're gonna seewe're gonna see books an
entirely new light coming out ofthe snow.
Roy Sharples (20:19):
That's an exciting prospect out there Best Books
inspire people to take action.
By building connections,understanding perspectives, and
broadening our capacity.
Creativity will continue to bethe difference people will make
in the future, leading to moreinnovative and experiencial ways
of consuming books to helppeople learn and grow from
(20:42):
generation to generation.
Do you want to learn more abouthow to create by frontiers by
unleashing your creative power?
Then consider getting CREATIVITYWITHOUT FRONTIERS? How to make
the invisible visible bylighting the way into the
(21:05):
future. It's available in print,digital and audio on all
relevant book platforms. Youhave been listening to the
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you for listening
Hello, I'm Roy Sharples, welcome to the unknown
origins podcast. Why are youlistening to this podcast? Are
you seeking inspiration? anindustry expert, looking for
insights, or growing yourcareer? I created the unknown
origins podcast to provideaccess to insights and content
(00:29):
from creators worldwide withinspirational conversations and
storytelling, about art,architecture, design,
entrepreneurship, fashion, film,music and pop culture. Francesco
servita is an author andpublisher at Penguin, where he
oversees penguin workshop, andworks with authors like Dolly
(00:51):
Parton, on who, Jessica hichyand publishers ceilings, like pu
HQ, Mad Libs, Nancy Drew Harveyboys and little engine that
could. The third book in hisgraphic novel sees the
Pathfinder society publishes inAugust 2022. He's produced the
(01:11):
Emmy award winning the who wantsto pay for Netflix, and has a
podcast called queens of theroundtable. Hello, and welcome
Francesco. So what inspired andattracted you to the publishing
industry in the first place?
Francesco Sedita (01:27):
It's a great question. Um, you know, I'll be
honest with you and say, Ididn't want to be in publishing
in the beginning I, I was in myearly 20s. And I had finished
NYU, I went to NYU, and I had anidea for a show that ran that
wound up running off offBroadway for about five years.
(01:48):
And I lived in East Village, andit was the mid 90s. And I
thought, oh, you know, I'm gonnabe I'm gonna follow the rent
dream, and I'm gonna, you know,be a downtown artist. And you
know, the show was actuallypretty successful, but of
course, made no money. And myparents who are really
supportive, wonderful peoplecalled me one day, and they're
(02:11):
so not these people and said, Wemet someone. And it turned out
that it happened to be theperson who had the time pretty
much owned Random House. Wow, myparents, my parents never met,
my parents weren't like theystayed home. They didn't go Are
they really worth like, theywere at home a lot. So it was
like such a shocking phone call.
And the next day, my phone rang,and it was the HR and HR
representative from RandomHouse. And I was so pissed. And
(02:34):
I went for this interview. Andat the time, I had blond hair
and lots of piercings. And Iwore a ruffled tuxedo, sir, and
Navy sailors pants and platformsuits, to this interview, this
poor poor woman who I walkedinto her office, and I sat down,
(02:55):
and she said, I think you shouldbe in publicity. So So you know,
we actually had a greatinterview, and she was lovely.
And then you know, I alwaystried to find out what her name
is, because I feel like I oweher a huge bouquet of flowers or
something. And I wound up say,when I'm interviewing the next
day, at CONAF, the adultdeparted the adult division at
(03:18):
Random House, and cannot publishis sort of the very sort of cool
literary kind of handle a Crimof adult titles for Random House
and I met with the person I wentworking for, and I just sort of
fell in love. Right then inthere publishing. I was a
writer, I'm a writer, I alwayshave been since I'm a kid. And
the way that he spoke aboutbooks was so exciting to me. And
(03:40):
the way that he appreciatedbooks was so exciting to me. And
that is actually when I realizedthere is a career here for me in
publishing, as a storyteller andas someone who loves to hear
stories. So that's sort of howit began.
Roy Sharples (03:55):
That's fascinating. It sounded like as
well, they, it just came out ofa trapdoor really unexpected,
totally facilitated by yourparents, which you said that
they were the most unlikely tocome up with an interview like
that. And that moment ofserendipity became the pathway
to your destiny, and have livedhappily ever after. But what a
(04:17):
haven, it must be to be awriter, an avid book lover, and
ultimately run a publishingbusiness, a perfect marriage.
Francesco Sedita (04:25):
It really was, and it still is, you know, I, I
started in the publicity groupas an assistant. And you know,
you learn a lot there veryquickly, you learn how to talk
about books in a certain way,you know, and you learn how to
talk about I'm going to behonest books that you don't
necessarily like that much orthat aren't that aren't
interesting to you, but youstill you learn how to find the
(04:46):
love and the connection to thebooks because it's your job to
and that was a really, reallynice way to really take a big
step into the industry.
Roy Sharples (04:54):
Oh, no, for sure.
And like you said, that must beextremely challenging. You know,
like when you're someone That'san avid book reader, you're very
passionate about things. Andwhen something maybe comes along
that it just doesn't, you know,float your boat, but you still
have to kind of be constructiveabout it. Or you may have to
make a decision that's moremarket based or business based,
right? Whereby well, it actuallyaddresses a market niche, and
(05:17):
that there's a potential togenerate income over that, and
maybe making those decisionsthat maybe don't fit your values
and tastes, that that must bequite challenging. Sometimes,
Francesco Sedita (05:29):
it can be absolutely, you know, I'm in the
children's world. Now, afterthat job. My first job, I went
into the children's world thathad been there for 20 or so
years, and the children's worldis interesting when you when you
think about all the things youjust said, and you think you
look at the marketplace, and youlook at what kids are wanting to
read and how reading styles arechanging, and how there's
(05:52):
different interest at differenttimes and certain kinds of books
and how we're having huge, youknow, interest in graphic novels
right now, which I believereally is because of the the
real popularity of Wimpy Kid andkids learning how to read on
with the kids, you know, so themarketplace, in children's
especially is so interesting.
And it sometimes really informshow you think about books you're
(06:12):
going to publish for
Roy Sharples (06:14):
sure. Oh, definitely. And I think his
role, the role that you have,and running, the team that you
do, is such an influentialposition that you have around
influencing young people in thatnext generation of youth culture
that's kind of common throughand those memories, in terms of
(06:35):
what you're subjected to at avery young age, whether that's
book books, pop culture, music,art, wherever it is, is it tends
to stick with you throughoutlife, and, and certainly someone
who's became a creator, right? Imean, a lot of those early
memories and influences that Ihave, they manifest themselves
and really peculiar ways whenyou go into the work workforce.
(06:55):
And you end up designing andmaking things that you always
really loved and are passionateabout. But they come out in
different ways. But you canfollow that red thread all the
way back to being a young interms of the influences that
shaped your tastes and style ata very young age. So it's a very
influential role that you haveagainst against a really buoyant
(07:19):
audience.
Francesco Sedita (07:20):
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I, I was a
really reluctant reader, as akid I reading was very
challenging for me, and I grewup in a household of readers, my
mother and father were aretremendous readers, my mother
sort of has the pristine,hardcover book, you know, on the
bedside, and my father has thissort of bent in half, you know,
(07:41):
sort of supermarket version of abook, you know, that he sort of
lugged around with him and readsort of everywhere, you know,
and they just love to read it.
And so for me, as a kid, I justlike it, and they were so
patient with me. And I'll tellyou that, you know, it really
was because of Choose Your OwnAdventure books, that I became a
reader. Because a they werereally fun. Right, right. I
(08:03):
think for me, the thing that Ireally liked about choose your
adventure at that age, andreally respect now is no one
really ever knew where you werein the book. So even as a slow
reader, you know, because youhop around that book, and you go
from page one to page 47, topage 96 to 816. No one actually
knew where you were in the book.
So there wasn't thatembarrassment of being a slow
(08:25):
reader. Yeah. And it really wasbecause of those books. And you
know, still at my parents housein a box somewhere are like, Is
my collection of Choose Your OwnAdventure books? Because they,
they changed how I think aboutwriting, reading all of that. It
was, it was my parents were sothrilled when we figured that
out. Yes, fascinating.
Roy Sharples (08:43):
Exactly. So So what is your creative process in
terms of how do you make theinvisible visible by dream
ideas, developing them intoconcepts, and then bringing them
to actualization?
Francesco Sedita (08:57):
What's interesting, because I sit on
both sides of the desk, right?
So I'm an author on one side,and on the other side, I'm a
publisher. So on the publisherside of the desk, you know, I
think about it, I think of sortof the same answer. But as a
publisher, what I do is, Ibelieve my job is to find people
who have a story to tell, andwho need possibly help telling
it or just an avenue to tell it?
(09:21):
And once we find those people,and yes, of course, we work with
agents, and all those things,but I'm really open. And that's
one of the biggest parts of mygroup at Penguin is that we're
open to hearing from people whoare not represented, it's hard
sometimes, but you don't alwaysneed an agent. And so once we
find that person, whetherthrough an agent or not, you
know, it's really rolling up thesleeves with that person and
really understanding the storythat they need or want to tell
(09:43):
and helping them figure out thebest way to do that. And
sometimes that's obviously achildren's, that is through
illustration, or withillustration, you know, that's
finding the exact right coverand sort of pairing and making a
team around that person tocreate the thing that they have
had in their brain for so long.
You know, it takes A lot ofpeople to pull it out sometimes
because, you know, especiallyfor writers, I think, you know,
(10:04):
it's a tough thing to be awriter sometimes. And it's tough
to actually manifest that ideaonto the page. So we put the
right team, I hope around thosepeople that, you know, the
writers that we bring in and,and, you know, we make at my
group about 250 books a year,where we're busy group, and I
really think and I hope, I mean,I always cross my fingers. When
(10:25):
I say this, I'm grateful for it.
But I think we have a lot ofvery many, very many happy,
happy authors and illustrators,who I think feel like part of
the team. And that's, that'sreally the most important thing.
It's a precious thing to takesomeone's ideas and help them
bring it to, to the world. And Ithink that this group does it so
beautifully, and with so muchcare. And then on the other side
(10:49):
is the writer, you know, I, Isit here at this desk that I'm
sitting here at right now, and Igot to stare at the screen. And
then I, you know, get distractedby Google on Instagram and call
my friends instead of doing anyof the writing I'm supposed to
be doing. But when I finally getto it, and you know, for that
glorious, 20 minutes, we'relike, I'm connecting to it right
now. Yes. You know, it's it'ssuch an intimate personal
(11:14):
experience, obviously. But then,you know, why? When I show it to
my editor, who I have, you know,it's this exciting moment,
right? Because it's new eyes,and it's someone that you trust,
and it's someone that's gonnasay, like, wow, here's where
this is great. And wow, here'swhat this is really terrible.
And here's why. And so, youknow, but But again, I think,
(11:35):
you know, I'm on both sides ofthat creative journey, you know,
it's just a lot of hand holding.
And it's a lot of like, turningon lights and dark corners to
get things to actually come tofruition.
Roy Sharples (11:46):
Absolutely.
That's, that's really well put,and resonates really well. What
are the key skills needed tosurvive and thrive as a creative
leader in the publishingindustry?
Francesco Sedita (11:58):
I think, in a way, resilience, obviously, is
important, right. And that'sprobably true in every job,
because you just need to be ableto bounce back. And I think, as
a creative person in I mean,it's publishing, it's not that
corporate of a place, right. Butit is a corporation, it is a
business. As a creative person,you know, I have to say, feel
(12:19):
really lucky to be supported,and sort of held up by the
people around me. And by by thecompany, because, you know, I'm
a pretty emotional person. Andso, you know, I can wear things
on my sleeve a lot. But so Ithink resilience is really
important, I think, a good groupof people around you that you
(12:39):
feel really supported by that.
And that's up and down, youknow, above you and sort of, at
your level, and in your groupand on your team. A really good
martini with friends every nowand then to just really kind of
laugh it off, is reallyimportant. And I honestly, I do
think it's, I think it's thepeople I think I think it's a
team of people who are ascreative or differently creative
than you are, who just want tomake great stuff. And that's so
(13:02):
inspirational. So even whenyou're having a bad day, you can
really turn to the people aroundyou and see what they're making,
and it just feels great. I mean,I'm lucky in a way because it's
children's books. So even at theend of the longest, worst luck,
say every day, you know, it's ameeting, and it's eight hours of
meetings, or, you know, becausethere are days like that, at the
(13:22):
end of the day, you know, I cansay I made sure I'm making
children's books, you know, andthat feels really meaningful,
you know, so I feel like, atleast, you know, at the end of a
long, hard day, I can say thatand sort of rest my head pretty,
pretty happily.
Roy Sharples (13:39):
That's excellent.
The, the key one of the keywords, you said that was
emotional, and I can talk that'scome through in your, your
personality, in terms of howthat emotion, you know, will
will drive, obviously, yourpassion, but also how well how
it inspires ideas and creativityand, and I think that's a great
thing. It's especially aneffective thing for your
(14:01):
audience, right? Because I thinkthere's a sincerity in terms of
listening to you now we're gonnago on through this this podcast
and how you conduct yourselfthere's a real authenticity I
didn't
Francesco Sedita (14:12):
hang on for 13 years and when I got
interviewed, like the firstinterview with my the man who
hired me is not with the companyanymore, but I tremendous
wonderful leader and, and just agreat friend, but we he took me
for a walk and we walked aroundSoho is at 9000 degrees, and I
was like in a blue blazer andit's hot and restorable. And we
were just talking and he's areally nice guy. It's a sweet,
(14:34):
smart guy. And he did the thingof like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
just like ask them, like, youknow, interview questions. And I
was like, Sure, of course, youknow, and he said, What's your
biggest strength and yourbiggest weakness? And I was
like, the answer is the same.
I'm emotional. Yeah. And I thinkthat it's a huge strength,
because I think, you know,people see me for who I am and I
am pretty upfront about who I amwith people. But you know, and I
(14:54):
think that makes it nice to havethe weaknesses like When I have
to sit and pout and you know andget really upset, because
because it happens, because youknow, that's just who I am, but,
but I am given the space to dothat.
Roy Sharples (15:13):
Fantastic, brilliant. So I should reflect
upon your career to date. Whatare the lessons learned in terms
of the pitfalls to avoid, andthe keys to success that you can
share with existing, but alsoaspiring publishers,
Francesco Sedita (15:28):
I think the biggest thing that I've learned,
and of course, they didn'trealize I was learning it right.
But, you know, I had a lot ofdifferent positions that sort of
never made, quote, on paper madesense to lead to the title of
Publisher. You know, I was anassistant in the publicity
department, I worked for theScholastic Book clubs, in a sort
(15:50):
of creative kind of creativerole. I became the paperback
marketing director forScholastic. And then I became
the Creative Director forScholastic, and then I became
publisher. So my path was quiteodd, and didn't make a ton of
sense, at least on paper. And soI think the pitfall, the thing
that you're talking about isthere's no one track and I
(16:11):
think, you know, what, I speakto young people in the, in their
careers and, and, you know,like, if we speak to like, the
intern groups, which I alwayslove doing, you know, when they
come in for the summers, one ofthe things I will say is, like,
there's not one direct path, andyou kind of never really know
where you're gonna land, youjust kind of have to keep on
finding the interests and goingafter those interests. And
(16:32):
hopefully, that that leads tosomething, you know, that feels
really meaningful, and I don'tsee how it couldn't if you keep
going after interests. I thinkthat's a big mistake of people
where it's like, I'm going to bean editor. Well, okay, but
there's a lot to get there. Andthere's also a lot after that,
(16:52):
you know, there's a lot ofthings after that. So I think
it's just to be really open andto listen to what's happening
around you, of course, and inthe industry, but also what's
happening internally, becauseyour interests may change, or
your interest may may grow in away that surprises you, as you
learn new things and new skills.
If I think gone are the dayswhere you sort of sit down and
(17:13):
you know, roll up the sleeves,the manuscript, and that's all
you do for your job, you know,publishing has changed quite a
bit.
Roy Sharples (17:20):
Indeed, it has publishing has been primarily
disrupted by the Internet,whereby it has been
democratized, where more peoplecan contribute their own ideas,
stories and opinions, and becomeauthors of their own books.
Because the access andcomparatively low cost to
create, publish and amplify abook across the globe, has been
(17:44):
enabled through advances intechnology, which is a perfect
segue into the next question,which is tilting forward? What's
your vision for the future ofpublishing? And what's the role
that creativity will play?
Francesco Sedita (18:01):
You know, I, I firmly firmly believe that books
are here to stay. You know,we've had those those years
where it's like, the book isgoing away. And yeah, everything
will be digital. And I justdon't believe that because I
believe that the connection, anewborn, to a 90 year old makes
it the book is irreplaceable byanything else, but an actual
(18:25):
book. And, you know, I'm luckybecause I feel fortunate because
I publish for sort of birth, youknow, so like, when a baby is
first born, those board booksthat you give to the parents to
about 14 or so years old, solike, that's a big, big chains.
You know, it's a, it's a bigaudience, and so many different
nuances in that audience. And,you know, I believe that there,
(18:49):
there are a few things that youcan finish, and then feel like
you want to hug and a book isone of them. And I think, you
know, you see a 12 year old dothat you see a little kid do
that with their favorite picturebook. And frankly, I have
friends who read books, who likeI know how much they cherish
that book when they close thatthat fight, you know, that fact
that cover? So, so to me, thefuture of publishing is it is
(19:12):
here and it is stronger andbigger and better than ever. And
I think that we are at a placewhere we actually are rethinking
things and rethinking formatsand rethinking how, how books
can be delivered to people,which I love. I love playing
with format in my group a lot.
That's, that's really exciting,that I think the role of
creativity here is to keeprediscovering what a book means
(19:35):
and what a book can be. Becauselike I said a while ago talking
about how graphic novels hadbecome a thing, like, you know,
it's because people are keepthinking and keep keep thinking
creatively and keep trying toreinvent and change this amazing
format that's been with usforever, you know, and so I
can't wait to see what the next10 or 20 yours brings
(19:59):
unpublishing because especiallyafter the past two years that
we've had where people have beeninside, spending so much time
with books, you know, book salesreally, really did really well,
during this terrible timebecause people wanted stories.
And I think that we're gonna seewe're gonna see books an
entirely new light coming out ofthe snow.
Roy Sharples (20:19):
That's an exciting prospect out there Best Books
inspire people to take action.
By building connections,understanding perspectives, and
broadening our capacity.
Creativity will continue to bethe difference people will make
in the future, leading to moreinnovative and experiencial ways
of consuming books to helppeople learn and grow from
(20:42):
generation to generation.
Do you want to learn more abouthow to create by frontiers by
unleashing your creative power?
Then consider getting CREATIVITYWITHOUT FRONTIERS? How to make
the invisible visible bylighting the way into the
(21:05):
future. It's available in print,digital and audio on all
relevant book platforms. Youhave been listening to the
Unknown Origins podcast. Pleasefollow subscribe, rate and
review us. For more informationgo to unknownorigins.com Thank
you for listening
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