Zibby Owens might be the busiest woman in books. She’s an author, podcaster, publisher, bookstore owner, and community-builder—a one-woman literary ecosystem whose projects seem to multiply by the week. Through Zibby Media, she’s created a home for stories in every form: Zibby Books (a publishing house), Zibby’s Bookshop (a bookstore in Santa Monica, with a seasonal pop-up in NYC), and the award-winning daily podcast, Totally Booked With Zibby (originally titled Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books.)
She’s also the author of Blank: A Novel, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, the children’s book Princess Charming, and the editor of three anthologies, including the USA Today bestseller On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates.
But beneath the empire is something simple and striking: Zibby just really loves books—and the people who make them.
In her Author Insider AMA, she talked about why she founded her company, the lessons she’s learned from interviewing over 2,000 authors, and how she balances creativity, motherhood, and her unstoppable entrepreneurial drive. She was candid, funny, and deeply encouraging.
Here are nine standout lessons from the conversation.
(Editor’s note: some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and concision.)
1) Start where you are, with what you have
Zibby Owens: “I had a collection of essays that I had been working on after staying home with my kids for 11 years… I started a podcast called Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. Everything that has followed is because of my conversations with authors who I admire to no end.”
Zibby’s story didn’t start with a business plan—it started with curiosity. She began her podcast from home while caring for four young kids, and that genuine love of authors and storytelling became the foundation of an entire media company. The reminder is powerful: start small, start real, and start now.
2) Build what you wish existed
Zibby Owens: “My main goal was to have one book a month, every book is a lead title, every author gets the full run of our company… because I had been trying to be an author for so long, I knew what it meant to be on the other side of that.”
Zibby launched Zibby Books because she’d lived the struggle so many writers face—feeling invisible in the traditional publishing machine. Her author-first approach flips the hierarchy, giving every writer top billing and personalized support. The best ideas often come from solving a problem you know intimately.
3) When people say “don’t,” that’s your cue
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