Season 4, episode 15 is here!
Shea Serrano taught middle school in Houston for nine years before freelancing turned into New York Times bestsellers, TV shows, and a Substack pulling in serious numbers.
Along the way he built his own fake publishing company and figured out exactly where the money in books actually goes. This one covered a lot of ground (and a fair bit of Scrubs!).
What we covered:
- How Shea went from freelancing for anyone who’d have him to the moment top-tier editors told him he could make a real career out of it.
- The single most important lesson he took from working with Bill Simmons that still shapes everything he makes.
- The royalty statement that made him realise something was very wrong with how book money gets split, and what he did about it.
- Why he started selling essay collections directly through Gumroad and how that became a whole publishing operation.
- His theory on why certain shows and albums imprint on us so deeply, and why nothing quite replaces them.
- What he looks for in every movie, show, and book he consumes, and the horror film this year that delivered it perfectly.
- His honest take on the new season of Scrubs, what it got right, and the one thing he wishes had been different.
You can find Shea at Good Movie on Substack.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedavidmcilroy.substack.com/subscribe
