Market First Publishing launches audience-first book model

Market First Publishing launched in Charleston on July 23, 2026, with a new Platform Publishing model that builds readership before a manuscript is finished. The independent publisher says the approach is designed to give authors an audience on publication day, not after the book is already on sale.

Why it matters: - Market First Publishing is trying to change one of publishing’s biggest pain points: getting readers to notice a new book. - The company’s Platform Publishing model is built to create demand before release, which could reduce the gap between publication and discovery. - Authors are meant to get marketing support from the start, instead of carrying the launch alone.

What happened: - Market First Publishing launched today in Charleston, South Carolina. - The company opened its website and introduced its Platform Publishing model. - Founders Josh Schwartz and Joseph Lawrence launched the independent publisher. - Author and historian Bob Batchelor joined as Executive Editorial Consultant. - The company said the model builds an audience while a manuscript is still being written and delivers readers on publication day.

The details: - Market First Publishing says it invests resources in every title it signs. - The publisher says it develops an audience during production so publication day starts with readers already in place. - Josh Schwartz said the company builds the audience while the book is still being written, and that the work and its readers should arrive together. - 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. - Joseph Lawrence has led editorial at a book publisher and run his own imprint. - Lawrence has shepherded books from raw manuscript to finished work. - Lawrence is a published poet who writes in classically metered verse. - Lawrence completed a master’s degree in publishing at George Washington University, where Schwartz lectures on book marketing. - Lawrence said the company was built so a finished manuscript walks into a room that is already full. - Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian and biographer whose books include Stan Lee: A Life, The Bourbon King and Roadhouse Blues. - The new website is the company’s announcement site and invites readers and prospective authors to follow the company as it grows.

Between the lines: - Market First Publishing is positioning itself between traditional publishing and hybrid services by tying marketing directly to title investment. - The company is framing readership as part of the publishing process, not a separate post-publication task. - That pitch is aimed at authors who want built-in promotion without paying only for services after the book is done.

What's next: - Market First Publishing is inviting readers and prospective authors to track its growth through its new website. - The company is expected to use the Platform Publishing model across the titles it signs. - The market will test whether audience-building during production translates into stronger launches for its books.

The bottom line: - Market First Publishing is betting that books sell better when the audience is built first and the manuscript follows.