Shortly before the pandemic, I took up learning to play the ukulele. And just like with any instrument, it takes practice to improve my skill.

Practice is trying to the best of your ability and learning from your mistakes. And that made me consider my work in a similar way. As a practice.

I practice business. The business of publishing.

I practice with ways of connecting people through storytelling. I practice playing an enthusiastic role in the spread of imaginative ideas. I practice sharing stories with people that say something interesting about our culture. I practice marketing and sales of books. I practice coming up with strategies and systems for innovating small press book publishing and helping authors reach readers.

This is my practice. It’s not perfect. But the more mistakes I make, the more I learn. Change happens incrementally and over time. It takes persistence and perseverance. I’ve been learning and figuring it out as I go for over twenty years. I’m practicing.