A collection of advice, opinions, lists, and notes from our studio practice as ANEMONE, and conversations with friends and peers making risograph books. It’s an argument in favor of making things as an artist publisher, rather than waiting on traditional publishing. For making books that are art, and seeing the act of publishing as an art practice.

Get a print copy in the mail via Riso Bookstore or a digital version (with three digital formats: e-reader, PDF, print-at-home PDF).

This is an iterative publication: there’s more to add, more to improve. We'll continue to add to this publication: updates to this book, the latest PDF and epub copies, clickable links, and other updates and notes.

---

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Artist publishing (vs. self-publishing)
3. What draws people to buy artist publications?
4. Don't wait on traditional publishing
5. The opportunity of small numbers in publishing
6. A super simple way to make a publication
7. Some ways of making publications
8. Which printing method?
9. Getting publications out in the world
10. Artist publishing reading recs

Links

Some clickable links to things referenced within the text:

• Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts (ILSSA)
• Impractical Labor Status Check
• How I sold 10,000 books without a publisher
• what Ulises Carrión calls bookworks
• Amelia Greenhall
• ANEMONE
• Spectrolite
• Amy Bornman
• All Well Workshop
• Robin Sloan's Leverage newsletter
• Antenne Books
• Idea Books
• On Publishing: Graphic Designers who Publish

---

Related titles

• Notes on Risograph Bookmaking (forthcoming)
• Taking Care Of Yourself as an Artist Publisher

---

PRINT ISBN 978-1-63979-026-5 EPUB ISBN 978-1-63979-029-6

DES001000 DESIGN / Book

ART024000 ART / Techniques / Printmaking

BUS060000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Small Business

First Printing of 300, May 2024. Risograph printed by ANEMONE on an MF-9450. Imposition and color separation via Spectrolite app, available at https://spectrolite.app for free for Mac. Collated by hand, folded and stapled with a Stitch-n-Fold B2000.

WRITING, DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY/ Amelia Greenhall EDITING/ Robert Baxter THANK YOU/ Reclaim Clay Collective (RECC), Zine Hug, Living Room Press EARLY READERS/ india johnson, Adam Greenhall, Amy Bornman, Romello Goodman, Sarah Casson, Jayes Caitlin, Daren Todd, Alex Barsky