For artists & designers who want to publish

After twenty years of making books featuring artists from Bogota to Jakarta, from the Caribbean to Russia, one thing I’ve realised is the most valuable thing we can share isn’t just the art — it’s the process, it’s the behind-the-scenes stuff.

So this Substack is now officially leveling up: we’re keeping the free digest and adding a paid tier for people who want the nuts-and-bolts of art & design publishing.

• Creative truth: what still works for us (and what doesn’t) in indie publishing - insights, deep dives.

• Numbers + craft: print runs, formats, margins, commissioning, straight from our spreadsheets.

• Access: From private Q&A’s, + behind-the-scenes from the studio, insights from our latest books (we’re always working on books)

Coming this Thursday → The Art of Commissioning
Our first paid post lands Thursday with a focused deep dive on commissioning (and development).
Why start there? Because if you mess up commissioning a title, and this could be an expensive coffee table book or a low-print run zine, you blow format, budget, marketing, and eventually your print run which impacts money and time.

We’ll share a quick downloadable PDF guide to commissioning art & design books.

Upgrade to get Thursday’s download.

Free vs Paid
Don’t stress — everyone still gets our twice-monthly free digest. Paid crew get: weekly deep dives, downloads, insights and more behind-the-scenes from the studio.

I’ve just come back from Brand Licensing Europe (London) with some quick takeaways for the artists in the room.

• F&B is heating up: illustrators in food & beverage — your time is coming. It’s definitely worth thinking about curating your F&B illustrations if you are thinking of licensing or even commissions in general.

• Toys & games look strong for 2026. To be fair Brand Licensing people always say this but I can’t see toys and games in terms of retail

• Nostalgia/new-stalgia is still converting — package your IP accordingly.

• Have a read here of the top licensors 2025, and for those who don’t know how to position themselves in terms of their artwork and licensing we’ll be sharing a primer on licensing your artwork soon.

I’ll also be at Frankfurt Book Fair (tomorrow!) say hi on Notes and any paid crew will get a live Q&A and if you ask nicely, I can go and check on your favourite publishers and ask them what they have coming.

— Thanks all, Suridh Hassan - over and out!

P.S. What’s your biggest question about commissioning and developing a book or zone? Drop it below and myself and the crew will come up some answers!