A People's Guide to Publishing: Build a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business, Paperback

So, you want to publish books.Drawing on 23 years of experience operating an independent publishing company, Joe Biel has written the most accessible and comprehensive guide to running a successful publishing business. You'll learn all the skills of the trade, including how to: Develop your individual books to connect with readers on a practical and emotional levelChoose between offset printed, digitally printed, and eBook formats and work effectively with printersBuild an authentic niche so you can reach your audience and sell books directlyUnderstand if and when you're ready to work with a distributor or large online retailerCreate a budget and predict the cost and income of each book so your company stays in the blackDecide what work you need to do yourself and what can be done by othersPlan for sustainable growthFeaturing interviews with other upstart independent publishers and funny anecdotes from publishing's long history as well as detailed charts and visuals, this book is intended both beginners looking for a realistic overview of the publishing or self-publishing process and for experienced publishers seeking a deeper understanding of accounting principles, ways to bring their books to new audiences, and how to advance their mission in a changing industry. All readers will come away with the confidence to move forward wisely and a strong sense of why publishing matters today more than ever.

Joe Biel is a self-made #ActuallyAutistic publisher and filmmaker who draws origins, inspiration, and methods from punk rock. He is the founder/manager of Microcosm Publishing and co-founder of the Portland Zine Symposium. He tours with his films on the Dinner and Bikes program and has been featured in Time Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Utne Reader, Portland Mercury, Oregonian, Broken Pencil, Readymade, Punk Planet, Profane Existence, Spectator (Japan), G33K (Korea), and Maximum Rocknroll. He is the author of A People's Guide to Publishing: Building a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business, Good Trouble: Building a Successful Life & Business on the Spectrum, Manspressions: Decoding Men's Behavior, Make a Zine, The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting, Beyond the Music, Bamboozled, Bipedal, By Pedal, and more. He is the director of the documentaries Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland, If It Ain't Cheap, It Ain't Punk, Of Dice & Men, $100 & A T-Shirt, and the Groundswell film series. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy described Biel as "not trained in pedagogy." His work can be found at joebiel.net