Market First Publishing launches with audience-first book model

Market First Publishing launched today with a “Platform Publishing” approach that builds a book’s readership before publication. The Charleston-based publisher says the model is designed to give authors a ready audience on release day, not a post-publication marketing scramble.

Why it matters: - Market First Publishing is trying to change the timing of book marketing by building demand while a manuscript is still in progress. - The approach could give authors a launch-day audience and reduce the burden of post-publication promotion. - The company says its model is meant to combine publishing and audience-building from the start.

What happened: - Market First Publishing launched today in Charleston, South Carolina, with a model it calls Platform Publishing. - The company was founded by Josh Schwartz and Joseph Lawrence. - Bob Batchelor joined as Executive Editorial Consultant. - The new website, Market First Publishing, introduces the model and invites authors and readers to follow the company.

The details: - MFP says it builds a readership during production and delivers the book to that audience when it goes on sale. - The company says authors will not market alone and will not wait until after publication to start building interest. - Schwartz said the company builds the audience while the book is still being written, so readers are already in place by publication day. - Schwartz founded the book-marketing and leadership-branding agency Pubvendo in 2017. - Schwartz has worked across the manuscript-to-retail supply chain with Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. - Schwartz has also worked with Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan. - Lawrence has led editorial at a book publisher and run his own imprint. - Lawrence completed a master’s degree in publishing at George Washington University. - Schwartz lectures on book marketing at George Washington University. - Batchelor is a cultural historian and biographer known for Stan Lee: A Life, The Bourbon King and Roadhouse Blues.

Between the lines: - The model is a direct contrast with traditional publishing, which generally starts marketing after a book ships. - The company also positions itself against hybrid publishing by saying it is not a fee-based service. - MFP is signaling that audience development is part of the product, not an add-on. - That pitch may appeal to authors who want clearer marketing support before launch.

What's next: - MFP says it will keep growing its platform and invites prospective authors to engage with the company through its website. - The company’s first test will be whether its audience-first approach can deliver measurable reader demand at release. - MFP says it will continue investing in the titles it signs from the first page to the last reader.