So you know what a Community Supported Agriculture Farm is, right? My idea is to become a Community Supported Publisher.
My name is Grace Potts, and I’ve been homeschooling for the last 24 years. I have eight children, one husband, and an old Suburban. A lifetime ago, my father tried to warn me that I wasn’t really cut out for being employed, and should probably go to culinary school. I think he figured that with a culinary education I could work anywhere if I needed to, and always eat well. Because I was not cut out for being employed… I did not follow those instructions. Eventually I *did* get the message, and made a life doing work that I’ve believed in. Raising children, mostly. Nothing will ever be as challenging or rewarding as following my children wherever they’ve needed to go, and then to stay behind when they were ready to do it alone. My youngest child is now seven, the most fantastic person I’ve ever met, and is growing tired of being micromanaged. It seems the time has come for me to find my work for the next 24 years. Given my deep love of books and learning- publishing and sharing books seems like an obvious fit. But you guys have seen the economy, right? You’ve seen the publishing industry? …Yeah, so have I.
That’s where you come in. If you love independent bookstores, and independent publishing- you can help get books you care about published, by purchasing a membership in the publishing house. My plan is to publish what I know best: children’s books, homeschooling books, home-scale food production, and also an annual celebration of Public Domain Day: reprinting a volume that has entered the public domain. I’ll also offer an annual art calendar and journal. I’m calling it Free Range Books- because that captures most precisely how I feel about raising children, learning, and agriculture.
Free Range Books will offer advances to authors/artists and leave their ownership rights in tact, never use generative AI for any part of this process, sell primarily through independent book stores, and lastly- create beautiful physical volumes. We reserve the right to publish run-on sentences as needed.
In exchange for an annual membership fee, members will receive digital copies of every book published the coming calendar year, digital access to every book in the catalog, at-cost copies of the physical books produced, and physical copies of the art calendar and journal. I’d like to find 500 members at a $250 membership price by November 30 with publishing dates in 2027.
You can pledge a membership in Free Range Books through our campaign here.
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