I'm a writer who is on a journey not to flinch before using that word in a sentence. Your newsletter demystifies the publishing world for me and helps me to imagine the pathways that might exist for me to publish my writing in the future. I'm particularly interested in publishing and publishers that are attempting to cut a little bit against the grain of centralization and monopolization. I learn a lot from your newsletter. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and I envy those with US addresses who can order books from the website during your great sales w/o negating the sale because of shipping and duty fees. I'll make a trip down to the States in the future and stock up, but when that be is hard to say!
As you continue to write, I'm interested in understanding more about:
- The support for and expectations of unpublished writers who want to take on a project that is yet to be written.
- The challenges of moving books across international borders (i.e. into Canada from the United States).
- The relationships between independent presses in Canada and the USA.
- Insights about how consumers can support culture change in the industry through our buying habits, but perhaps more importantly, through political advocacy (so that we don't all get caught in the spin-cycle of holding ourselves to an impossibly high morality standard with each purchase that we make!).
Thanks for writing and for asking us to share a bit about ourselves (ps - thanks to Austin Kleon for introducing me to your newsletter).
What an incredible feat!! 👏 the diligence, patience and persistence it must have taken (and continues to!) is truly impressive and inspirational! I’ve been here for barely 4 weeks ha!
My friend turned me on to you and your newsletter a couple of years ago, when I decided to become a writer. I have very much enjoyed reading your newsletter and the insights into the publishing industry. I write mainly children's books, but I have always been a big picture thinker, so knowing the behind the scenes is fascinating. I also, have purchased quite a few titles from Belt! And would love to write something that Belt would find interesting-- but don't yet have any idea, maybe some day! If you want some more demographic specifics, I live in NYC, teach preschool at a montessori school by day, and write books for kids in my free time. My first picture book comes out Fall 2023! I grew up in CA and have degrees in Anthropology. And prior to teaching worked in non-profit fundraising. Overall keep giving the real world day to day of an independent press. I love the ups and downs, frustrations, etc. It makes it real. And provides understanding of the very many pieces that have to be considered, for what at the end of the day, is a business and a livelihood.
Congrats on four years! Love reading about money and publishing (and money and art/music/film), so I've been enjoying this Substack after John Miller tuned me into it. Also, have half a shelf dedicated to Belt books. I work in archives and also make documentaries, some of which overlap with the Rust Belt -- Moundsville (with John) and Peerless City (with Amanda Page). I was really interested in publishing and the process of doing it. I ended up self-publishing a book of interviews with and about the composer "Blue" Gene Tyranny. https://bit.ly/3eAHNJD Sold through the first edition of 100 and sitting on about 30 copies from a second edition of 100. Your columns were very helpful in getting that edited, designed, and pressed, along with managing expectations. Was lucky to get one big review and few smaller mentions in the press, but mostly sold directly or directly to small book and record shops.
Really enjoy the publishing histories, insights into publishing at Belt, and comments on current book events. Thanks!
Hi, Ann. I'm a fiction writer, raised in and now back in the Midwest after 20 years out West. Your newsletter was suggested to me by a friend and I've found the nuts-and-bolts aspects of publishing FASCINATING. It's not a perspective I would have sought out and I'm now so glad I've been privy to it. As someone who hopes someday to get published, seeing how the sausage is made from the cost of paper to the consolidation of the publishing industry is helpful, if not deflating at times. Plus, you seem like a person I would be seated across the table from at a mutual friend's dinner party and I would be enraptured by your openness, your charm and your personal story, i.e., a very cool laydee.
I work at an independent nonprofit publisher, and your newsletter is helpful to check the pulse of the work we do and our relationship with the larger industry, especially since you've done so much parsing and analysis and reflection on it! And as someone who also has a PhD in English and got fascinated by the material book as both an art and commodity object in grad school, I love that you share my fascination with the constant internal tussle between those two goals. I love your transparency and explanations about your decision making process, too.
I work in marketing for a public library system in Shreveport, Louisiana. Before that, I worked as a communications coordinator (press releases, photography, meeting facilitation, volunteering, grant-writing, etc) for a small literacy-based (and many other things) non-profit, was a community business development manager for Barnes & Noble, and a bookseller for a well-known indie store in Houston, Texas (I've also done brief internship stints in radio, recording, music, and animation). When I'm not at my day job, I write and illustrate children's books.
I love inside baseball talk on how books are made, distributed, sold, and talked about! I also particularly enjoy hearing about the Rust Belt. I live in a small city that often feels down on itself, and I see a lot of parallels in our areas.
Hi Anne, congrats on 4 years! I have no affiliation with the publishing industry other than that I‘m a passionate reader who is very curious about the behind-the-scenes stuff and who wants to make conscious book purchases that support authors and small presses. For me the appeal of your newsletter is both in it‘s varied content and your analysis of current publishing topics.
As for specific topic ideas: I‘m from Germany and here we have a law that fixes book prices ( it’s called Buchpreisbindung) - as I understand it that means a german book has to be sold for the same price everywhere and it‘s not allowed to offer sales or discounts. I‘d be very interested in your opinion on such a system - i guess on the one hand it prevents dumping prices, but on the other hand it reduces incentives to for example buy directly from the press.
I'm an artist and a newly self published author. I really enjoy your posts about the history of publishing. It helps me see the current landscape in context.
I'm a writer who writes weekly personal essays for my Substack newsletter as I refine my ideas for a memoir manuscript. I hope to actively work on selling a manuscript in the next two years, so I've been reading along here because so much within publishing doesn't necessarily make sense from the outside.
I've appreciated your explanations of topics like advances, backlists, DOJ vs PRH, and the basic economics of book publishing. My absolute favorite post in the time I've been reading is, "1% of books sell 5k and other misleading stats"--I love a good takedown of misleading stats!
Hi Anne, I love this newsletter and would read anything you wrote about publishing. I'm an indie author and have also published a non-fiction title with a small press. What interests me is the reality of the publishing landscape, and trying to foster diversity in the books that are offered. Small presses are an important part of this effort. Some topics/genres just don't "scale" well and I don't think we should only be focused on big sellers. I think your work is important because it helps us to gather in a central spot where we can support each other and riff off of each other's ideas. I'm always excited to see a newsletter from you in my mailbox!
Congrats on 4 years! I’m a faith-based writer who typically writes about finding God in the ordinary, present moment living, and general encouragement for really any season of life. I’m currently working on a book proposal and beginning the process of writing a book. I enjoy really anything about the publishing world, especially tips on landing an agent and publishing in general. I’m a fairly new subscriber here, but I’ve loved reading your insights into publishing in this space!
Hi Anne, and congratulations! I'm an Australian author who has published five books with small presses here, and I'm most interested in your insights into small-press publishing. It's interesting to compare the situations there and here (and I also hope one day to be published in the US).
Anne, congratulations on four years! I excite every time I see a new "issue" of the newsletter in my inbox, and relish the opportunity to learn something new about the publishing world. It's been such a revelation to have this behind-the-scenes understanding of the publishing industry as a reader and to share those insights with people in my orbit. I think it's also helped me become a more ethical reader (and certainly a less naïve one).
I vote for more of the same topics you cover and respond to as they come up. Other topics I'm interested in you exploring:
1. Regional writing-- history, futures, current landscape. Of course, I'm particularly interested in the Rust Belt because that's where I hail from.
2. Self-publishing
3. Contests
4. Ghostwriting (how do busy busy people write a book a year?? HOW??)
5. Freelancing
At any rate, I hope you continue writing for a long time.
I got your book as a gift for a friend who was interested in self publishing + setting up a small press for out of print Catholic books. I have two books under my belt with Catholic presses.
I like reading about the business side and how books and presses can succeed at different scales. It’s nice to read about the constraints books face from someone who loves books and is still clear eyed about the realities of business.
I'm the publisher of Underland Press, out in Portland, OR. I dig the insider-publishing stuff (which gets lots of nods of agreement from me) as I think it's a valuable service to the wider world, and I heart that you have the inclination and time to write those up. Underland has a tarot influence to it, so I'm also delighted by the stuff that Belt is doing in that regard.
As a fellow publisher, I think the shape of things to come in the next few years is going to come from the independents (both fiction and non-fiction), and I think helping authors see the value of working with us is absolutely essential.
I'm a writer who is on a journey not to flinch before using that word in a sentence. Your newsletter demystifies the publishing world for me and helps me to imagine the pathways that might exist for me to publish my writing in the future. I'm particularly interested in publishing and publishers that are attempting to cut a little bit against the grain of centralization and monopolization. I learn a lot from your newsletter. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and I envy those with US addresses who can order books from the website during your great sales w/o negating the sale because of shipping and duty fees. I'll make a trip down to the States in the future and stock up, but when that be is hard to say!
As you continue to write, I'm interested in understanding more about:
- The support for and expectations of unpublished writers who want to take on a project that is yet to be written.
- The challenges of moving books across international borders (i.e. into Canada from the United States).
- The relationships between independent presses in Canada and the USA.
- Insights about how consumers can support culture change in the industry through our buying habits, but perhaps more importantly, through political advocacy (so that we don't all get caught in the spin-cycle of holding ourselves to an impossibly high morality standard with each purchase that we make!).
Thanks for writing and for asking us to share a bit about ourselves (ps - thanks to Austin Kleon for introducing me to your newsletter).
What an incredible feat!! 👏 the diligence, patience and persistence it must have taken (and continues to!) is truly impressive and inspirational! I’ve been here for barely 4 weeks ha!
My friend turned me on to you and your newsletter a couple of years ago, when I decided to become a writer. I have very much enjoyed reading your newsletter and the insights into the publishing industry. I write mainly children's books, but I have always been a big picture thinker, so knowing the behind the scenes is fascinating. I also, have purchased quite a few titles from Belt! And would love to write something that Belt would find interesting-- but don't yet have any idea, maybe some day! If you want some more demographic specifics, I live in NYC, teach preschool at a montessori school by day, and write books for kids in my free time. My first picture book comes out Fall 2023! I grew up in CA and have degrees in Anthropology. And prior to teaching worked in non-profit fundraising. Overall keep giving the real world day to day of an independent press. I love the ups and downs, frustrations, etc. It makes it real. And provides understanding of the very many pieces that have to be considered, for what at the end of the day, is a business and a livelihood.
Hi, Anne!
Congrats on four years! Love reading about money and publishing (and money and art/music/film), so I've been enjoying this Substack after John Miller tuned me into it. Also, have half a shelf dedicated to Belt books. I work in archives and also make documentaries, some of which overlap with the Rust Belt -- Moundsville (with John) and Peerless City (with Amanda Page). I was really interested in publishing and the process of doing it. I ended up self-publishing a book of interviews with and about the composer "Blue" Gene Tyranny. https://bit.ly/3eAHNJD Sold through the first edition of 100 and sitting on about 30 copies from a second edition of 100. Your columns were very helpful in getting that edited, designed, and pressed, along with managing expectations. Was lucky to get one big review and few smaller mentions in the press, but mostly sold directly or directly to small book and record shops.
Really enjoy the publishing histories, insights into publishing at Belt, and comments on current book events. Thanks!
Hi, Ann. I'm a fiction writer, raised in and now back in the Midwest after 20 years out West. Your newsletter was suggested to me by a friend and I've found the nuts-and-bolts aspects of publishing FASCINATING. It's not a perspective I would have sought out and I'm now so glad I've been privy to it. As someone who hopes someday to get published, seeing how the sausage is made from the cost of paper to the consolidation of the publishing industry is helpful, if not deflating at times. Plus, you seem like a person I would be seated across the table from at a mutual friend's dinner party and I would be enraptured by your openness, your charm and your personal story, i.e., a very cool laydee.
I work at an independent nonprofit publisher, and your newsletter is helpful to check the pulse of the work we do and our relationship with the larger industry, especially since you've done so much parsing and analysis and reflection on it! And as someone who also has a PhD in English and got fascinated by the material book as both an art and commodity object in grad school, I love that you share my fascination with the constant internal tussle between those two goals. I love your transparency and explanations about your decision making process, too.
I work in marketing for a public library system in Shreveport, Louisiana. Before that, I worked as a communications coordinator (press releases, photography, meeting facilitation, volunteering, grant-writing, etc) for a small literacy-based (and many other things) non-profit, was a community business development manager for Barnes & Noble, and a bookseller for a well-known indie store in Houston, Texas (I've also done brief internship stints in radio, recording, music, and animation). When I'm not at my day job, I write and illustrate children's books.
I love inside baseball talk on how books are made, distributed, sold, and talked about! I also particularly enjoy hearing about the Rust Belt. I live in a small city that often feels down on itself, and I see a lot of parallels in our areas.
Hi Anne, congrats on 4 years! I have no affiliation with the publishing industry other than that I‘m a passionate reader who is very curious about the behind-the-scenes stuff and who wants to make conscious book purchases that support authors and small presses. For me the appeal of your newsletter is both in it‘s varied content and your analysis of current publishing topics.
As for specific topic ideas: I‘m from Germany and here we have a law that fixes book prices ( it’s called Buchpreisbindung) - as I understand it that means a german book has to be sold for the same price everywhere and it‘s not allowed to offer sales or discounts. I‘d be very interested in your opinion on such a system - i guess on the one hand it prevents dumping prices, but on the other hand it reduces incentives to for example buy directly from the press.
I'm an artist and a newly self published author. I really enjoy your posts about the history of publishing. It helps me see the current landscape in context.
I'm a writer who writes weekly personal essays for my Substack newsletter as I refine my ideas for a memoir manuscript. I hope to actively work on selling a manuscript in the next two years, so I've been reading along here because so much within publishing doesn't necessarily make sense from the outside.
I've appreciated your explanations of topics like advances, backlists, DOJ vs PRH, and the basic economics of book publishing. My absolute favorite post in the time I've been reading is, "1% of books sell 5k and other misleading stats"--I love a good takedown of misleading stats!
Hi Anne, I love this newsletter and would read anything you wrote about publishing. I'm an indie author and have also published a non-fiction title with a small press. What interests me is the reality of the publishing landscape, and trying to foster diversity in the books that are offered. Small presses are an important part of this effort. Some topics/genres just don't "scale" well and I don't think we should only be focused on big sellers. I think your work is important because it helps us to gather in a central spot where we can support each other and riff off of each other's ideas. I'm always excited to see a newsletter from you in my mailbox!
Congrats on 4 years! I’m a faith-based writer who typically writes about finding God in the ordinary, present moment living, and general encouragement for really any season of life. I’m currently working on a book proposal and beginning the process of writing a book. I enjoy really anything about the publishing world, especially tips on landing an agent and publishing in general. I’m a fairly new subscriber here, but I’ve loved reading your insights into publishing in this space!
Hi Anne, and congratulations! I'm an Australian author who has published five books with small presses here, and I'm most interested in your insights into small-press publishing. It's interesting to compare the situations there and here (and I also hope one day to be published in the US).
Anne, congratulations on four years! I excite every time I see a new "issue" of the newsletter in my inbox, and relish the opportunity to learn something new about the publishing world. It's been such a revelation to have this behind-the-scenes understanding of the publishing industry as a reader and to share those insights with people in my orbit. I think it's also helped me become a more ethical reader (and certainly a less naïve one).
I vote for more of the same topics you cover and respond to as they come up. Other topics I'm interested in you exploring:
1. Regional writing-- history, futures, current landscape. Of course, I'm particularly interested in the Rust Belt because that's where I hail from.
2. Self-publishing
3. Contests
4. Ghostwriting (how do busy busy people write a book a year?? HOW??)
5. Freelancing
At any rate, I hope you continue writing for a long time.
I got your book as a gift for a friend who was interested in self publishing + setting up a small press for out of print Catholic books. I have two books under my belt with Catholic presses.
I like reading about the business side and how books and presses can succeed at different scales. It’s nice to read about the constraints books face from someone who loves books and is still clear eyed about the realities of business.
I'm the publisher of Underland Press, out in Portland, OR. I dig the insider-publishing stuff (which gets lots of nods of agreement from me) as I think it's a valuable service to the wider world, and I heart that you have the inclination and time to write those up. Underland has a tarot influence to it, so I'm also delighted by the stuff that Belt is doing in that regard.
As a fellow publisher, I think the shape of things to come in the next few years is going to come from the independents (both fiction and non-fiction), and I think helping authors see the value of working with us is absolutely essential.