Page Two Books, a boutique hybrid publisher in Vancouver, B.C., has introduced a business imprint, Simplified. Established in partnership with business author Mike Michalowicz, Simplified will publish books written by and for entrepreneurs, and will emphasize collaboration and co-marketing among its authors.
Michalowicz, who is selecting and helping to position the Simplified list, took the imprint’s name from his motto, “entrepreneurship simplified.” Page Two co-founders and co-CEOs Jesse Finkelstein and Trena White anticipate publishing 10 Simplified titles each year, and the inaugural winter 2026 list will include Michalowicz’s personal finance book The Money Habit: The Worry-Free Way to Financial Independence, and plans are in the works for a book by productivity and small business specialist John Briggs. Page Two, which specializes in nonfiction by leading subject matter experts, is distributed by Macmillan in the U.S. and internationally, and by Raincoast in Canada.
White met Michalowicz through his writing partner AJ Harper, author of the Page Two title Write a Must-Read. “I kept hoping we might have a chance to publish him, because he has his finger on the pulse of what entrepreneurs are thinking about and a mission to eradicate what he calls ‘entrepreneurial poverty,’ ” White said. “Mike came to us with the idea” for an imprint, “and he will be using his own platform, a formidable email list, and a podcast” to spread the word about Simplified.
Simplified represents an opportunity to build a community of authors, White added, and this will complement the peer-learning sessions and literary salons Page Two already offers its authors. “Publishing can be a lonely process, and often publishers don’t do a lot to bring their authors together,” White said. “The intent of this imprint is for the authors to be highly collaborative and co-market each other’s books.”
Michalowicz, who published six books with traditional publishers before coming to Page Two, says his past publishers hesitated to introduce him to his fellow authors in the business space. He began looking for an imprint that encouraged authors to work together, to combat the seclusion of the writing and publishing process. “I think authorship is the only business in the world where if I promote my competitor, I’m actually giving myself more exposure and more opportunity,” Michalowicz told PW.
When envisioning Simplified, Michalowicz thought about his core business principles. “First of all, there is something special about face-to-face time,” he said, so he wanted author meetups to foster genuine relationships. “The other thing is deliberate cross-references in our own books—specifically and intentionally saying, ‘Hey, here’s another resource for you’ ” to the reader. He believes readers will promote favorite authors by word of mouth, and those authors can flag other worthy titles without sacrificing a thing. “I think those books that are crushing it will continue to do so,” and they have the potential to lift their cohort, Michalowicz said.
For Simplified, Michalowicz will be looking for authors who “introduce the creative side in business, and that could be in marketing, in sales, in product creation,” he said. He sees innovation and human storytelling as necessary counterpoints to the practical advancements of AI. And he wants his authors to bring their charisma as well. “For authors, the book is the t-shirt at the end of the concert, but people want the concert too,” Michalowicz said. “You’ve got to be a performer. And that’s definitely one thing AI can’t do.”
This article has been updated.
