Market First Publishing launches with audience-first book model

Market First Publishing opened July 23, 2026 with a new “Platform Publishing” approach that builds a book’s readership before publication. The Charleston-based publisher says the model aims to give authors a ready audience on launch day and pairs the launch with editorial leadership from Bob Batchelor.

Why it matters: - Market First Publishing is pitching a different path for authors: build demand before a book is released instead of trying to find readers afterward. - The model could reduce the launch-day marketing burden for writers and change how an independent publisher develops new titles.

What happened: - Market First Publishing launched today in Charleston, South Carolina. - The company opened its website and introduced a model it calls Platform Publishing. - The model is designed to grow a book’s readership while the manuscript is still being written. - Market First Publishing was founded by Josh Schwartz and Joseph Lawrence. - Author Bob Batchelor joined as Executive Editorial Consultant.

The details: - Market First Publishing says it invests resources in every title it signs. - The company says it begins audience development 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, so readers are ready by publication. - Schwartz founded the book-marketing and leadership-branding agency Pubvendo in 2017. - Schwartz has worked across the manuscript-to-retail 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 ran 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. - Schwartz lectures on book marketing at George Washington University. - Lawrence said the company was built so a finished manuscript enters a room that is already full of readers. - Bob Batchelor will guide the company’s editorial standards. - 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 and introduces the Platform Publishing model to readers and prospective authors.

Between the lines: - The launch frames Market First Publishing as neither a traditional publisher nor a fee-based hybrid publisher. - The company is positioning audience-building as part of the publishing process itself, not a post-publication add-on. - That approach is meant to combine editorial development and marketing into one package for authors.

What's next: - Market First Publishing is inviting readers and prospective authors to follow the company as it grows. - The company will likely use its first signed titles to prove whether pre-publication audience-building can deliver stronger launch results.

The bottom line: - Market First Publishing is betting that books sell better when their audiences are built before the first copy ships.