We originally founded Belt in 2013 to promote voices from the Rust Belt, and we have expanded our focus to include smart narrative and serious nonfiction on any topic, as well as commercial fiction with a regional foothold. In addition to our recent titles, our ongoing series include neighborhood guidebooks, city anthologies, and our 50 Maps of American cities.

We are excited to tell overlooked stories, particularly those written by writers from underrepresented backgrounds and flown-over places. We especially love books about urbanism, social history, labor, cultural criticism, and progressive politics. We are also drawn to scholarly research made plain. We publish everything from memoir to writing guides to cookbooks about regional cuisine.

We privilege strong writing above all. Our authors make us who we are.

Our titles have been longlisted for the PEN/Galbraith award for nonfiction, named “Best of the Year” by NPR and Publishers Weekly, and reviewed by the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement, Harper’s, the New Yorker, the New Republic, and dozens of other outlets.

We value horizontal loyalty, writers over markets, the long game over the quick hit. We prioritize maintaining a sustainable business, including setting realistic workplace expectations.

We are a worker-owned and women-led LLC. 

All our books are printed in the USA. 

All our authors receive traditional publishing contracts and industry-standard royalties. We are distributed by PGW; Nordlyset handles our subrights. 

We welcome both agented and unagented submissions at query@beltmag.com. 

We make books.

 

Our Team

Anne Trubek is the founder and publisher of Belt Publishing and Belt Magazine. She is the editor of Voices From The Rust Belt (Picador, 2018), the author of The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting (Bloomsbury, 2016) and A Skeptic's Guide To Writers' Houses (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and numerous other publications. Prior to founding Belt she was Associate Professor of English at Oberlin College.
anne@beltpublishing.com

Michael Jauchen is the senior editor at Belt Publishing and has worked with Belt since 2016.  Before moving into editing full time, he was an associate professor of English and creative writing at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Rumpus, and many other publications.
michael@beltpublishing.com 

Meredith Pangrace is one of Belt's creative directors, and has been Belt's designer since we launched in 2013. She combines fine art training with graphic design, and is the editor of Rust Belt Vegan Kitchen. She also plays accordion for Maura Rogers and the Bellows.
meredith@beltpublishing.com

David Wilson is one of Belt's creative directors, and a designer and illustrator based out of Ohio who has worked for companies such as The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, and Harvard in addition to Belt. When not creating work for clients he is busy making independent comics, zines and short films. His book Rust Belt Arcana, with Matt Stansberry, was published by Belt in Fall 2018. His book of comics, The Everyday, is out in 2020 from Parafine Press.

William Rickman, a Midwest-converted New Yorker, is the orders and fulfillment manager with Belt Publishing. He also coaches high school and adult competitive rowing in Cleveland. When not doing Belt or rowing things, he keeps busy with beekeeping, travel, biking, reading, and checking out live music.
bill@beltpublishing.com

Phoebe Mogharei is Belt Publishing's publicist. Her writing has appeared in Chicago magazine, the Chicago Reader, Electric Literature, and the Chicago Review of Books. She joined Belt in 2022 and lives in Brooklyn.
phoebe@beltpublishing.com

Sales

Belt is distributed by Publishers Group West (PGW). You may access our forthcoming titles on Edelweiss.

We offer individual vendors, libraries, reading groups, book clubs, and other groups wholesale rates. Please contact bill@beltpublishing.com to inquire about pricing.

Media inquiries: please contact phoebe@beltpublishing.com 

Academics: For desk or exam copies, please email bill@beltpublishing.com

Rights are handled by Nordlyset Agency. Please contact Jennifer@nordlisetagency.com 

Mailing Address

Belt Publishing
13443 Detroit Ave., Ste. 2
Lakewood, OH 44107

Query Us

We accept proposals for nonfiction and commercial novels. Send queries pasted in the body of an email to query@beltmag.com. If we are interested, we will request a full proposal.

 

Booksellers, Librarians, & Media

Interested in hearing about our forthcoming releases and publicity updates, with links to Digital Review Copies? Email phoebe@beltpublishing.com to get added to our industry newsletter.