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Sep 30, 2024 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
Often, over here in publishing-adjacent Substackia, some viral story will hit, and then five or so smart people write responses in their newsletters. I usually sit those out, because the others ahead of me in line did the job, and well, already. But the latest topic that many are discussing is being taken up by the three people I most respect in this field, and on a topic smack dab in my purview. The three posts are form Ann Kjellberg at , Jane Friedman at The Hot Sheet, and at SHuSH.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
I originally published this in 2021; since then, the cost to produce a book has risen quite a bit—paper and printing costs have at least doubled. But comments about how books are too expensive are also more common, with consumers as well as indie booksellers citing overly high publisher-set prices. I maintain that for the most part, books are still too cheap, and propose a few ways we could all be more flexible about pricing. Books used to be much more expensive than they are now.
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Jun 10, 2024 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
Costco recently announced it would stop selling books year round. I learned this news in my remaining small corner of social media, Bluesky, from an already-viral post from a famous writer encouraging people not to worry; we can just “support your local bookstore” followed by lots of fist bump replies. On its face, “support your local bookstore” is an anodyne, good suggestion.
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Mar 12, 2024 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek |Connie Schultz
In July Belt is publishing a book I edited, Best of the Rust Belt. The tagline: “the best personal essays from a contested region.”The book is a selection of a few dozen essays, mainly from Belt’s City Anthology series, that discuss life in a place that many call the Rust Belt (and others chafe at that name, preferring “Great Lakes Region” or “Midwest” or “Heartland” or “Postindustrial Midwest” or some such.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
January sale! $16 for the year if you sign up using this link. I’ve had some queries re: my next book proposal course, so I’ve set one up for early summer. Hope that date works for those who are interested in joining. We are deep into a production phase here at Belt, which means we are working with authors on final stages before publication. So I’m reminded of questions I often receive (and used to ask!) from authors, as well as questions that more authors should probably ask.
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Dec 6, 2023 | 
poetrybulletin.substack.com | Emily Stoddard |Casie Dodd |Anne Trubek
Hello, poets — how are your hearts? Mine is a strange mix of grief and assuredness right now. The feeling that the work to be done is very clear and urgent (I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so steady in my small efforts to make change?), but running through that clarity are the names and faces of the children, families, animals, trees, waters that are being harmed and lost every day that the bombing continues.
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Oct 24, 2023 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
I am over the moon seeing all the reviews, takes, and “book adjacent essays” surrounding Dan Sinykin’s Big Fiction, officially out today. I must now add that I’ve read some but not most of the book (do you know how you avoid certain things because they are “too close” to what you are supposed to be working on? That’s me, with this book. I’ll get to it when the noise in my head settles down).
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Sep 4, 2023 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
“Who buys Belt books?” is a question I’m often asked. There are different ways to answer this. Most of our books are purchased wholesale through our distributor by vendors, who then sell them at retail to customers.1 But which accounts buy the most wholesale units? The answer can be found in our “Top Sheet”, as in this example from our distributor, Ingram.
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Aug 2, 2023 | 
millersbookreview.com | Joel Miller |Kathleen Schmidt |Anne Trubek
¶The redemption of Barnes and Noble. Ever since You’ve Got Mail, B&N has played the heavy in narratives about bookselling (or did at least until Amazon showed up and knocked them down). Given the chain’s size and propensity to disrupt local markets, the villain characterization proved convenient. But as both a consumer and publishing executive I never really agreed with it. And I’m delighted to see the company’s recent turnaround; after years of struggling, B&N is poised for a significant comeback.
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Jul 30, 2023 | 
notesfromasmallpress.substack.com | Anne Trubek
Last chance to sign up for my book proposal course! If the fee is a hurdle email me and we can arrange for a discount. It’s easy to see publishing as in decline. People read less (this is true according to studies as well as anecdotally amongst my friends, two of whom, both English PhDs, recently told me they don’t read anymore. “It’s my livelihood!” I tell them, urging them to try harder). There was a slew of layoffs and imprint closings over the past few weeks over the Big Five world.
