Glenn Fleishman Interrogates the Past

What’s Up in Early November

Some happenings:

Getting heart surgery next week! Psyched to do it, frankly. Will feel better afterwards. If you’d like to help with medical expenses and lost income, buying a book as a gift (for yourself or another) would be an amazing thing. I’ll be shipping books through Nov. 12 before there’s a gap. Update, Dec. 17: It went great and I’m well into returning to normal!
I updated a host of ebooks for Take Control Books, where I’m also executive editor. We introduced a discount program, Take Control Premium, where, for $14.99, you get 50% off any book you buy over the next 365 days—including updates from previous editions. I believe I currently have 14 active books, and a few of those have additional updates coming in the next week!
My client Ben Zotto’s amazing book on the history of Sphere Computers

Special Edition of Shift Happens for Sale

You might remember that I worked for years with Marcin Wichary on his book set Shift Happens: three volumes, over 1,300 pages, shipped in a slipcase! The edition sold out in early 2024. However, Marcin has given me permission to sell a few unopened copies with unique extras that were offered in the highest tier of the crowdfunding campaign. (Marcin’s kindness in letting me sell these gems stems from my upcoming surgery, the cost of it, and lost income; you can read about that here, in A Heart-to-Heart.)

I have three of these sets, two of which I sold on eBay, one at a time. If you’re interested in the third set, you’re welcome to get in touch. (The third set sold in December.)

Bookselling

The 1970s Personal Computer Company You Never Heard Of

An OSI C1P: Ohio Scientific, Inc., Challenger 1-Port (via Vintagecomputer.net )

I lived through the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and early 1980s as a single-digita and double-digit youth. I used a Commodore PET and Radio Shack TRS-80 (models 1 and 3) in junior high, spent way too much time at a local computer store using their Apple IIs and other computers, and owned my very own OSI C1P (Ohio Scientific Corp.) in 1980.

I’ve also read dozens of books about personal computer history, some written contemporaneously, and some decades later. When Ben Zotto contacted me last year about a manuscript for a book about Sphere Computers, a Utah-based PC pioneer, my reaction was, “WHAT? WHO? WHEN? WHAT? UTAH?” Then I settled down and edited his book, now titled Go Computer Now! after the cheery headline on one of the many ads Sphere flooded magazines with during their

Personal

A Heart-to-Heart

Hi, folks, a little personal news. In mid-November, I'm getting my aortic valve replaced via open-heart surgery. As scary as that sounds, my prognosis is excellent. This is fairly personal health news, and I'm posting publicly for two reasons.

First, I am so grateful for the friendships and collegial connections formed online. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, I wanted to say thank you.

Second, of course, is the sad issue of money and American healthcare and disability support. We have a reliable insurer who approved all testing and procedures. However, the substantial out-of-pocket cost after insurance and the lack of earnings during recovery are the crux. My wife and I work for ourselves. Like most freelancers, we don't make money when we're not working, and my wife will initially be devoting significant time to my care.

I’ll be unable to work at all for a few

Bookselling

Signed Copies of How Comics Are Made

If you’d like a signed copy of How Comics Are Made, including an optional inscription, I’ve made this available in my store.

Bookselling

What People Are Saying about How Comics Are Made

Exciting day for me: the release of the bookstore edition of How Comics Are Made! Over the last few months, I’ve solicited and collected quotes from artists, writers, readers, and others about their reaction to the book. If you’re curious about whether it’s for you, these might help! (You can download to read as a PDF, too.)

Bookselling

Seattle Times Q&A on How Comics Are Made

In advance of the June 3 release date of How Comics Are Made, a new printing of my 2024 book, Rebekah Denn interviewed me for The Seattle Times about how the book came to be and my interests! It’s exciting to appear in the local newspaper. Andrews McMeel Publishing acquired the book last year after I shipped my edition, and as happy as I was with the printing I arranged and oversaw, I am equally squealing over this edition—mine was a softcover with french flaps; the new one is hardcover with a dust jacket and endpapers! Due to advantages of scale, its list price is just $40, which seems very reasonable in today’s market.

To celebrate the book’s availability in stores worldwide, I’m doing a release event at Ada’s Technical Books & Café in Capitol Hill (Seattle) at 6 pm on June 3! If

Bookselling

How Comics Are Made in Bookstores June 3

Cover of How Comics Are Made , the Andrews McMeel Publishing edition

Last year, I published How Comics Were Made, a look at the whole process from an newspaper cartoonist’s hands to the printed page, under my own imprint after a very successful Kickstarter campaign. It sold well over 2,000 copies, and the whole process was delightful. After the Kickstarter campaign, Andrews McMeel Publishing was in touch about acquiring future printings and editions. My self-published version sold out in March, and a very slightly different new printing appears in bookstores as How Comics Are Made on June 3! You can pre-order the new printing from bookstores worldwide; I’ve assembled a list of links to indies and chains alike.

To celebrate the book’s release, I’m having an event with two syndicated cartoonists at Ada’s Technical Books in Seattle. Georgia Dunn of Breaking Cat News and Brian

Books

New Week, New Work: Six Colors, Take Control

This week I made two big changes in my career that I’m happy to share.

First, I’ve taken the title of Executive Editor at Take Control Books, a publisher I’ve worked with from their launch in 2003 by Adam and Tonya Engst and since 2017 for Joe Kissell and Morgen Jahnke. Over that time, I’ve written so many titles I can’t remember them all, partly because of updates, mergers, and splits of books into new works.

As executive editor, I will take on more editorial responsibility, particularly with editing books, but also in updating titles where the author has opted to move on to other projects, such as iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, a series updated each new operating system revision for many years by Josh Centers. To help Take Control Books expand, I’ll be consulting with Joe on how to find new readers

Bookselling

Testing Out New Kickstarter Features

Kickstarter has had long periods in which it has changed little about how to build, run, and manage post-campaign details. These lulls have been punctuated with major changes. When I got ready to launch the campaign for Six Centuries of Type & Printing earlier this year, I noticed that the company had added and tweaked lots of features. Some may have been in place for a year or more, but I believe only one was available when I launched How Comics Were Made in February 2024.

I started using Kickstarter to fund my book and art projects about 15 years ago. Six Centuries was my 11th! My 9 successful campaigns have ranged from raising $3,000 to over $165,000. I also managed the project for Shift Happens, which brought in $750,000 in its crowdfunding stage. I’m always looking to see what I can test and what I

Bookselling

Advance Copy of How Comics Are Made

My publisher, Andrews McMeel, just sent me a few advance copies of the upcoming bookstore edition of How Comics Are Made, which hits the shelves June 3, 2025. I did a modest unboxing so you can see the new cover components and the great job their printer did on this mass-market edition. I’m quite pleased in every regard!

You can snag a copy ahead of time by pre-ordering from many fine bookstores of all sizes. I’ve provided a list of pre-order links for a range of from local stores up to international behemoths. The book will be available June 3 in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and in the rest of the world either in June or early July!

Bookselling

Books in a Time of Trade War

Update April 2, 2025, and noted where that’s the case.

I didn’t set out to print books in Canada to stake out a political position, although it’s indirectly become that.

A few years ago, when I was obtaining bids for my client-author Marcin Wichary (Shift Happens) to print his books, we checked in with Hemlock Printers in Burnaby, B.C., Canada (adjacent to Vancouver). This was 2021 and then 2022. The Canadian border had been closed for a while. The future of the COVID pandemic’s direction remained unsure. And we had wanted to go on press—to be there while the book was printed. Hemlock came highly recommended but their pricing was somewhat above the printer we chose, Penmor Lithographers in Lewiston, Maine. We felt that in a pinch, we’d be able to get to Maine and possibly not to Vancouver.

When I was planning