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

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 level
• Choose between offset printed, digitally printed, and eBook formats and work effectively with printers
• Build an authentic niche so you can reach your audience and sell books directly
• Understand if and when you're ready to work with a distributor or large online retailer
• Create a budget and predict the cost and income of each book so your company stays in the black
• Decide what work you need to do yourself and what can be done by others
• Plan for sustainable growth

Featuring 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.

“This insider's guide to outsider publishing should leave aspiring publishers feeling inspired, optimistic, and well-informed.” Publishers Weekly

“Joe Biel has a gift for looking at things a little differently. Anyone starting a publishing company or just hoping to publish one book will benefit from his perspective and experience in building Microcosm. They should read this.” Mark Suchomel, Senior Vice President, Baker & Taylor

"Biel’s new offering is one that is won with merit; he has succeeded in the book business for decades and has built what he has from the ground up. He knows about community, sustainability, niche markets, and taking care of your people. This guide is sure to steer you right." Leah Angstman, Alternating Current Press

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 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."

As the founder of Microcosm Publishing, which I’ve owned for the past 23 years, my greatest joys have been explaining and debunking industry myths to devout readers. I frequently meet people in public or on a cross-country train whose idea of the book industry is broken and backwards. My favorite encounter was when I told two New Yorkers that I am a book publisher...

Read More»