An Anarchist’s Guide to Writing & Publishing

🎙️ New episode: Margaret Killjoy on "The Sapling Cage" & creating a more horizontal world

Courtney Kocak

and

Margaret Killjoy

May 23, 2025

Hey Bleeders!

This week on the podcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with the brilliant

Margaret Killjoy

—author, podcaster, activist, and all-around fascinating person. Her latest novel, The Sapling Cage (out now from Feminist Press!), kicks off a witchy fantasy trilogy with a trans protagonist at its heart.

Margaret first started writing The Sapling Cage around 2015–2016, but it took almost a decade to find the right publisher—an encouraging reminder that patience is key when it comes to publishing!

In this episode, we dive into the evolution of Margaret’s creative process, her experiences across the indie and traditional publishing spectrum, and how her anarchist politics inform not just her fiction but her approach to getting it out into the world.

Here are some of my favorite takeaways from our convo:

🎁 Working with a good editor is a gift

Margaret gave a shoutout to her editor Margo at Feminist Press and editors everywhere:

“I love working with editors… I don’t think that authors are in a very good place to make the final read-through of a book because we’re too close to it.”

Like, imagine calling a surcoat a tabard—an eagle-eyed editor can save you from the embarrassment of medieval armor mix-ups! ⚔️😂

So don’t fear the red pen (or hundreds of comments and tracked changes). It’s magic for cleaning up your story and catching those pesky details.

📚 Traditional vs. indie publishing

Margaret’s publishing journey has been all over the map: indie presses, co-ops, traditional houses, and even ghostwriting. Her philosophy?

“I think that indie versus mainstream publishing or whatever—it’s not a dichotomy I ever need to commit myself to one side or the other of.”

On the benefits of traditional publishing:

“Mainstream publishing offers credibility. It also offers a chance to see what's involved in high production values because I think production values do matter… Publishing is distribution, it is design, it is editing, it is blurbs, it is promotion.”

Why one might go with self-publishing instead:

“When you self-publish a book, you're going to keep 85 percent [of the money] and so obviously you need to sell a lot fewer books in order to make a living as an author.”

The sweet spot? Hybrid authors who move between both worlds, leveraging the credibility and support of traditional publishing and the financial upside and creative control of self-publishing. ⚖️

✊ Writing as activism

For Margaret, activism and writing have intersected in powerful ways, starting with a fateful interview:

“It started with me writing Ursula Le Guin a letter, being like, ‘Hey, I am a young anarchist-writer. I love your work. Can I interview you about what it means to be an anarchist and a fiction writer both?’… And I am honestly blessed and my life was changed by the fact that she wrote back and said yes.”

Le Guin emphasized that writing is activism and can be your unique contribution to the cause. It’s about using your craft to support your values—even if you’re not on the front lines organizing rallies every weekend. (But it’s great if you find time to stuff envelopes for Planned Parenthood too!)

✍ Heinlein’s rules of writing

Margaret swears by Heinlein’s simple yet effective advice:

You must write.
You must finish what you start.
You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.
You must put it on the market.
You must keep it on the market until sold.

Write. Finish. Submit. And most importantly: Repeat.

There are so many more gems in this episode—from the power of outlines to how Margaret juggles multiple projects without losing her mind.

🎧 Listen to Margaret’s episode now!

Happy bleeding,
Courtney

P.S. Check out my guest appearances on Margaret’s fantastic podcast Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff!

I’m teaching some upcoming workshops you might be interested in:

So… ROLL CALL! 🗣️

If/how do your politics inform your writing and career?

The Bleeders

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