Parisian Phoenix Publishing

A few weeks ago (or maybe a month or two), I talked about cleaning my desk. Since then, I’ve emptied a bookshelf, reorganized and purged business supplies and developed a system for tracking and storing inventory. Because, guys, I’ve reached the point where I need a system for tracking, storing, and transporting inventory.

It’s still imperfect. Because while I purchased 15-quart latched Sterilite containers for all my books (272 individual books in my home and available for sale right now with at least a dozen more on the way), and 18-quart containers for those larger-than-usual books, and 30-quart containers for those prolific authors with more than three titles… They are also stacked in precarious columns in my kitchen.

They are both organized and a threat to our personal safety.

I have yet to do my end-of-year filing or gather more of my 2025 tax-related documents… But I have contacted Lehigh Valley with Love about our proposed advertising package for February that includes a podcast episode. (That’s the final leg of our advertising money obtained from the Pennsylvania Creative Entrepreneurship Grant awarded by the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. I have solidified the 2026 production schedule with dates and timelines (and it does indeed look like we are now booking into 2027, folks). I even prepared a calendar for client projects.

And did a bang-up job prepping for my class at Northampton Community College. (It’s not too late to enroll, PUBL102: “Self-Publishing,” or as I like to say, Fundamentals of Print Publishing, because regardless of how you plan to publish, you need to understand how a book gets assembled. And it’s on Zoom so you don’t have to be local… (Speaking of which, paid subscribers now have access to last semester’s slides from “Pathways to Publication.” See below.)

Today, I strengthened my commitment to whittling through my unsolicited submissions pile, though I must admit while working on this one I do get easily distracted.

And I have an exciting upcoming announcement regarding the publication of our 50th book in print. Watch for that!