Whisper House Press

Notes from the desk of the editor are offered in the interests of personal posterity and transparency for writers and other potential editors who wish to learn from my experience.

the editor

Two items today: reporting on the launch of Costs of Living (including its first week of sales) and how I’m handling the pressure-cooker I’ve created for myself.

First is the report on the launch of the first anthology.

We had a successful launch (you can find a video of the event on instagram). Ten or so attendees (facebook ads did not translate to sales, once again—someone tell me what I’m doing wrong!), including a pair I met at a farmers’ market last month and some folks who’d been into the store earlier that day. Two contributing authors showed for readings.

Online, authors to whom I’d provided individualized promotional graphics branded with WHP attitude posted at a rate of about 50%, I’d say, and maybe five or six of them did the lion’s share of promotions. Note to self (and to you would-be contributors to anthologies): These are the folks I’m going to be extra happy to work with again. The others have done excellent work, but boy howdy that last extra push can make a big difference, and I need partners in promoting our small press, so the public-facing side of things matters.

(My understanding is that, from tiny presses to the very biggest, this stuff matters to all of us. Not being present online is not likely a deal-breaker—but having one, and having a respectable public presence where you’re not out there saying insane and awful things, can make a deal more likely.)

Not counting presales (~ten) and kickstarter copies (~30), we’ve sold 22 copies in the first week online and 5 in person. Bad? Good? I have no idea. As I build up a catalogue for the press (more on this in the next post), I’ll be in a position to compare sales and track trends. I’ll do more reporting on this as I gather more, and more specific, data.

Second is the pressure-cooker thing.

I published my own work in March of 2024, and I had some fifty people at the launch. I sold a few hundred copies over the course of the year that followed. I felt successful. I was not nervous.

Compare that to this time around, in a material sense working on others’ behalf: I’m nervous. I’m not sure what “success” means. I fear I’ll let down my authors. I’ve lately been dreaming more often about being a guest on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, or joining the writers’ rooms at SNL or other comedy programs. (Okay, you need to know: These are the forms my stress dreams have taken over the last year or two.) I spend more of my days working to promote Costs of Living and more of my days thinking about how to promote the book, worrying that I’ve left something out, that I could be doing more (one can always do more), and that generally I’ve messed something up.

But when I gather my nerves and calm my wits, or vise versa, I realize: I’ve done a whole lot for this book, have done as good a job as one person without a ton of media connections can do, have edited well, and am representing my contributing authors well… I’ve done all the things a person could reasonably be expected (or hoped) to do, and I’m setting up the press to keep making new things in the next few years.

Essentially: I’m doing better than I’m feeling. I try to remember that, to give myself forced breaks between times I’m working on the press’s main projects, and letting myself breathe a bit, focusing on the here and now.

The truth is, stress over working has always been part of my story, and I work extremely well under some duress (importantly, I also work well without that angst), so there’s a subconscious temptation, I fear, to settle into it and ride out the anguish. I need to remember: The work will be worse if I’m stressed—not better. Stay here, now. Everything is going pretty danged well. I’m doing a good job. My contributing authors have been universally positive about their experience working with me, and I’ve given none a reason to worry over anything they’ve signed on for.

In short: It’ll be okay, and it’s okay now.

Coming up: LOTS OF EVENTS. Two this weekend (one at Central Book Exchange in Sugarhouse in SLC UT and one at the Barnes & Noble around the corner from the CBE).

til next time…

Steve

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