Market First Publishing launches platform publishing model

Market First Publishing debuted July 23, 2026, in Charleston with a model that builds a book’s audience before publication and delivers readers on launch day. Founder Josh Schwartz, co-founder Joseph Lawrence, and Executive Editorial Consultant Bob Batchelor are behind the new independent publisher.

Why it matters: - Market First Publishing is trying to solve one of publishing’s oldest problems: how to make sure a book has readers before it reaches the market. - The company’s model could appeal to authors who want marketing support during the writing process, not only after a book is finished.

What happened: - Market First Publishing launched July 23, 2026, in Charleston, South Carolina. - The company opened its website with a model it calls Platform Publishing. - The model is designed to build a book’s readership while the manuscript is still being written. - The company was founded by Josh Schwartz and Joseph Lawrence. - Author and cultural historian Bob Batchelor joined as Executive Editorial Consultant.

The details: - Market First Publishing says it invests resources in every title it signs. - The company plans to build audience attention during production so publication day opens with readers already in place. - The company describes its approach as one where the author writes and the publisher carries the book to readers from the start. - Schwartz said the company builds the audience while the book is still being written, so readers are already there when the book is published. - 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 holds a master’s degree in Publishing from George Washington University, where Schwartz lectures on book marketing. - Lawrence is a published poet who writes in classically metered verse. - Batchelor is the cultural historian and biographer behind Stan Lee: A Life, The Bourbon King and Roadhouse Blues. - The new website, marketfirstpublishing.com, introduces the Platform Publishing model and invites readers and prospective authors to follow the company.

Between the lines: - Market First Publishing is positioning itself against two common publishing paths: traditional publishing, which often starts marketing after a book ships, and hybrid publishing, which typically markets as a fee-based service. - By saying it invests in the titles it signs, the company is signaling a more publisher-driven model than a service-only arrangement. - The pitch also reframes publishing as an audience-building exercise, not just a production process.

What's next: - Market First Publishing says it will continue growing around the Platform Publishing model. - The company is inviting authors and readers to follow its development through its website. - The publisher’s next test will be whether it can consistently build audience demand before release and convert that into book sales.

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