Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra ...

After all the hard work, a novel finally lands on bookshelves. A new story is born. But the gestation period, if you will, is often a mystifying process to readers. How does a book go from idea to ...