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emdash8212's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. Granted, I'm a bit of an odd duck, and am obsessed with DIY publishing, so you can take my review with a grain of salt. But here it is anyway.
Good Trouble is a fascinating look inside the mind of a creative person who has, against ridiculous odds, in spite of titanic personal challenges, through incredible changes in a struggling industry, made a career for himself and built a recognized, respected brand and a profitable publishing company.
The book begins with Joe's childhood in the midwest, living with a disabled father and abusive mother. It starts to get really interesting as Joe discovers the punk scene, and with it, the zine community. Reading about his experiences with the pre-internet zine community made me nostalgic for a time I missed, where folks discovered shared interests and built community around zines through writing letters and meeting at punk shows. The amount of work, dedication, and risk-taking he describes is truly staggering.
In spite of the fact that undiagnosed Aspergers makes Joe's romantic life and interpersonal interactions challenging to impossible for much of his life, he seems to have a strong intuitive understanding of community building, and shows the reader how he built his publishing community and sustained it over two decades.
Many readers might wish for a little less of the nitty-gritty publishing details; I actually wished for more. I was fascinated by his descriptions of submissions, editorial decisions, print runs, how one title would sell incredibly well and leave his company, Microcosm, solidly in the black, then an uninformed choice or bad luck with a warehouse or office space would drop them right back into the red. One thing I was surprised by was how calmly Joe describes those setbacks, though it was hard to tell whether that's because time and later success have made the original setbacks seem less momentous, or whether that's a happy peculiarity of Joe's personality.
The book also gave me great insight into the way Joe thinks, as a person with Aspergers, though I'm not sure how much would be fair to ascribe to other people who live with the syndrome. Still, it was really interesting to see how his logic and approach to socializing and relationships differs from my own, and made me feel generally like I should work harder to meet people where they are and try for clear communication.
Even though the book focuses specifically on independent publishing, anyone trying to establish or sustain a creative career or venture will likely find a lot to interest them. Just the sheer audacity of starting and running a small independent company, in spite of the myriad forces that make such a venture almost impossible, is heartening. The fact that Microcosm is celebrating its 20th anniversary is testament to the fact that Joe Biel, through skill, talent, luck, and grit, has built something great. I can't wait to see what's next.
Good Trouble is a fascinating look inside the mind of a creative person who has, against ridiculous odds, in spite of titanic personal challenges, through incredible changes in a struggling industry, made a career for himself and built a recognized, respected brand and a profitable publishing company.
The book begins with Joe's childhood in the midwest, living with a disabled father and abusive mother. It starts to get really interesting as Joe discovers the punk scene, and with it, the zine community. Reading about his experiences with the pre-internet zine community made me nostalgic for a time I missed, where folks discovered shared interests and built community around zines through writing letters and meeting at punk shows. The amount of work, dedication, and risk-taking he describes is truly staggering.
In spite of the fact that undiagnosed Aspergers makes Joe's romantic life and interpersonal interactions challenging to impossible for much of his life, he seems to have a strong intuitive understanding of community building, and shows the reader how he built his publishing community and sustained it over two decades.
Many readers might wish for a little less of the nitty-gritty publishing details; I actually wished for more. I was fascinated by his descriptions of submissions, editorial decisions, print runs, how one title would sell incredibly well and leave his company, Microcosm, solidly in the black, then an uninformed choice or bad luck with a warehouse or office space would drop them right back into the red. One thing I was surprised by was how calmly Joe describes those setbacks, though it was hard to tell whether that's because time and later success have made the original setbacks seem less momentous, or whether that's a happy peculiarity of Joe's personality.
The book also gave me great insight into the way Joe thinks, as a person with Aspergers, though I'm not sure how much would be fair to ascribe to other people who live with the syndrome. Still, it was really interesting to see how his logic and approach to socializing and relationships differs from my own, and made me feel generally like I should work harder to meet people where they are and try for clear communication.
Even though the book focuses specifically on independent publishing, anyone trying to establish or sustain a creative career or venture will likely find a lot to interest them. Just the sheer audacity of starting and running a small independent company, in spite of the myriad forces that make such a venture almost impossible, is heartening. The fact that Microcosm is celebrating its 20th anniversary is testament to the fact that Joe Biel, through skill, talent, luck, and grit, has built something great. I can't wait to see what's next.
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