A People's Guide to Publishing

One of the most frequently asked questions of us are how authors have successfully approached us to get their books published. Here are two of those stories and some ideas about how to get published yourself!

You've seen them floating around bookstores and in freeboxes! Perhaps you've received them to review! This week, we explore the purpose, benefits, and costs of Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) and how they serve the industry!

Book marketing is that dirty phrase with an innocuous meaning: what allows the book to reach its audience. This week we walk through some examples and best practices to make sure that you are getting read by and reaching the people who want to read your books!

Over the past 25 years, Microcosm Publishing has come to sell millions of books, against all odds, and seemingly by accident. This week we explore what the motivations, key decisions, mistakes, and underlying factors were that led to this success and becoming a proper "Midlist" publisher.

We frequently meet authors who don't understand all of the things that can go right or wrong between the time that a book is acquired and found on a store shelf by a hapless reader!

Over the past 25 years it's been awkward to watch how publishers try to paint themselves as plain enough for all people. The events of the past year have demonstrated the timeliness of expressing our values. Rather than trying to avoid having stances on issues, modern publishers are succeeding by aligning themselves with modern movements.

When most people think of bookstores, they think of the corporate chains. But yet, that's only 25% of the bookstores in the U.S. at this point. What happened?

We frequently talk to publishers who do not realize that publishing is quite a bit more legislated than they realize. So this week we explore that and what is required of publishers by the Robinson-Patman Act!

People are often shocked to learn that ebooks comprise a mere 8% of book sales. Consumers are often under the impression that it costs much less to make an ebook than a paperback so we explode these rumors this week!

You might have seen the news stories about consumer protections about pricing collusion. Often when you go to publishing conferences, you can't talk about pricing. So this week we talk about how these things work and why they exist.

At first an author is so excited that people have read their book and wants to engage with them but quickly this can simmer into resentment. This week, Faith G Harper (Unfuck Your Brain) and Joseph Green (CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting) help us to understand what healthy boundaries

This week we answer reader questions from Anastacia Ferry: What did you think of Diamond stopping production and how it's affected the comic book world? What do you think of Diamond in general as a small publisher? How do you think the world of comics needs to change after the pandemic?

You'll soon find yourself deluged with offers of people to hire or help you. This week we walk through how to choose who to bring on!

Differences of opinion and disagreements are inevitable. Relationship breakdowns are preventable with sufficient communication and planning. This week, Dr. Faith Harper (Unfuck Your Brain) and Joseph Green (CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting)

The viewer question on the pod is "What job duties are there at a publisher?" so we tackled that one from our new, secret, underground warehouse bunker.

Publishers are words people, but it's also important to be a numbers person. In this episode we discuss how to plan for the best, worst, and most likely financial scenarios!

This week's question is "How do I acquire my first manuscripts?" And our protagonists offer some experience and ideas!

What feels like a lifetime ago, we went to the last conference in the forseeable future. Everything changed since then but our operation remains remarkably stable, thanks to the support of the best people ever! Here, Elly, Faith Harper, and Joe talk about what we learned at AWP!

By coincidence, two questions this week about making zines PLUS it's #Quaranzine fest, so we figured "Why not?" and dove right in!

There is much panic about the economic impact of coronavirus on the book industry. So this week we take a look at how publishers can respond and rise up to continue to thrive during this complicated time.

#Publishers frequently ask us how to create #profitandloss statements and this week on the #podcast one asked us how to manage one for #Kickstarter. Here's a link to create your own: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EEs9aXSUk_XX0VL63WO3RRa9qAcdmqC_qzzmAflCOQc/edit#gid=535861384

We frequently meet publishers who truly don't understand how big the global book market is. In fact it's the third largest part of the $1 trillion/year entertainment industry worldwide. In this episode we compare how many of those books sit on shelves in locked rooms versus how many reach readers' hands.

A viewer asked us for our opinions on the new website supporting independent bookstores, Bookshop.org and so we discuss feelings, views, relative power, strategy, leverage, and relationships within the industry that might help to frame this issue

Every week we meet authors and publishers who only think of Amazon or bookstores as the places to sell books. So today we're going to look at all of the various places that you can sell your book!

After 24 years, Microcosm is going in a new direction—and it's queerer and smuttier. That's right, our latest gooey joy is Queering Consent, a series of books and zines celebrating the various ways that people yum on each other.