Born to Be Weird: An interview with Set Sytes

November 17, 2022 — by Elly Blue

On this week’s People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, we’re joined by author Set Sytes, whose collection of wry horror short stories Born to Be Weird is out now, joining his underground hit How Not to Kill Yourself and a host of other books.

Set joined us from his home in York, England to talk about creativity, depression, the differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing, the editorial process, and the life saving power of imagination.

The economic theories behind our publishing

November 14, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly entertain a reader question about the economic theories behind how we run Microcosm. Neither one of us is an economist, though we do sometimes play one on the internet. So this question kind of caught us off guard. But we have fun dredging the depths of our brains for the very serious reading of our youths that made a lasting impression.

Do authors need a platform?

November 04, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly are joined by Ariel Gore, whose brand-new book The Wayward Writer is a stellar practical and personal guide for authors finding their own path to publication.

We talked about the question of platform—specifically the idea that authors need to bring a ready-made audience along with their manuscript. It’s not so straightforward, and have fun getting into the weeds about that.

How We Became the Fastest Growing Publisher!

October 27, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly finally got together in the warehouse for the first time since Microcosm was named Publisher’s Weekly’s fastest growing publisher for 2022! It’s been a few months since the rankings came out, and we’re still pretty shocked. We talk about what all that growth means, what it’s been like, whether or not we have any plans to slow down, and how yeah, we’re a little tired!

Can you get sued for publishing misinformation?

October 20, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly answer a reader question: do book publishers need to be concerned about liability if they publish books containing scientifically inaccurate information? We’re not sure if the question-asker is considering publishing an anti-vaxx book, suing the publisher of one, or just noodling about fact checking in a more general way, but we do our best to give some practical perspectives.

Are profit & loss statements just a bunch of smoke and mirrors? More from the PRH/S&S merger trial

October 13, 2022 — by Elly Blue

Back in August, the best show in publishing was the trial in which publishing behemoth Penguin Random House tried to make the case to the US Department of Justice that buying publishing mini-behemoth Simon & Schuster wouldn’t create an uncompetitive atmosphere for authors. We’ve covered it a bit in this podcast, and this week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, we offer one last episode unpacking a funny statement that came out of it: the behemoths’ assertion that their profit & loss statements are meaningless and they actually have no idea how to predict if a book will be profitable. Spoiler: We kinda think they’re stretching the truth. Watch or listen for insights into what (if anything) this means for your own publishing….

Mergers and acquisitions, small press style

October 06, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly answer a reader question: someone runs a small press and wants to know how they can become an imprint of a larger press. We speak about this from experience: in 2014, Elly’s very tiny press merged with Microcosm, and we talked about what worked, what didn’t, and how it’s going now.

What’s a fair deal for anthology authors?

September 29, 2022 — by Elly Blue

On this week’s People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly answer a reader question! The question-asker edited an anthology, with all the authors donating their work and all proceeds going to a nonprofit cause. One author decided that the way the contract handled rights wasn’t fair, and now the publisher isn’t sure they did the right thing. We get into contracts, rights, and how to handle authors who sound off about you on social media. Whew, that’s a lot of ground in under 12 minutes.

How do you protect your book title and pen name?

September 23, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly tackle a question we get asked a lot—do you need to trademark your book’s contents or title, or your pen name? Joe lays down some intellectual property and copyright lore, and the answers might surprise you.

Do half of all new books sell less than 12 per year?

September 15, 2022 — by Elly Blue

This week on the People’s Guide to Publishing podcast, Joe and Elly tackle a bit of viral misinformation that’s making the rounds: The myth that more than half of new books by major publishers sell less than a dozen copies a year. (The first comment on this newsletter, from someone at NPD Bookscan laying out actual stats, is our primary source.) Don’t get us wrong, the numbers for most books put out by the biggest publishers are astonishingly bleak. But not that astonishingly bleak.