INSANE!!! Iām so grateful for this double recognition for McAtlas in the 2025 James Beard Awards presented by @capitalone , in the Reference, History, and Scholarship books category and the Visuals category. This is particularly surprising as a self-published project with no institutional support, so I consider it a team win for the small army of people that had my back throughout the process. Thank you to everyone that worked on the project, bought copies, wrote articles, shared my weird content, and of course the @beardfoundation judges for recognizing the work. See you in Chicago! šā¤ļø
#books #publishing #food #restaurants #mcatlas
You may have noticedāMcAtlas is not yet on Amazon Prime. This project is independently financed and published, and so thereās a lotta love for the community of local bookstores, especially culinary ones, that have supported the book. They have had an unobstructed run during the first holiday season of McAtlas.
You might say, Gary isnāt it crazy to not have McAtlas correctly listed on the platform that controls 80% of all book distribution? Yes, it is! About as crazy as spending all of your own money flying around the world to self-publish a social anthropology of a fast food chain. š¤”š¤”
So support your local bookstoreāespecially @kalnyc@nowservingla@booksaremagicbk āthey are such an important part of our communities and currently the only way you can still get a McAtlas in time for Christmas!
Endless thanks to my longtime photojournalist friendsāboots on the ground pros in their own rightāwho went all hands on deck helping me move and ship books during this very indie launch the past month.
Day 1 of printing McAtlas!! Most publishers wouldnāt dare let their authors onto the factory floor to give the final thumbs up on color balance while sheets come off the printers, as any disruptions at this point can cost $$$$ābut since Iām self-publishing this project, here I am getting in the way!!
More behind the scenes content of what itās like to make your own book coming soon! In the meantime check out McAtlas.com for more info on the project and to grab a copy!
#books #publishing #food #restaurants #mcatlas
Ring in the new year the way you wanna spend the next 365ā¦ hanging with friends, restocking, and selling! McAtlas reloaded at @winsonbakery Williamsburg and East Village.
Thanks to @trigg.brown and @photokushh !
NO PUBLISHER. NO DISTRIBUTION. NO MARKETING BUDGET. Yet at the end of 2025, there are almost 10,000 copies of McAtlas out in the wild.
This year required reaching deep into the bag of tricks, whether it was renting a U-Haul and handing out books to James Beard Award attendees in see-through bags (Marty Mauser, eat your heart out!), or a holiday season breakthrough of the TikTok algorithm that nearly emptied out the remaining supply of books.
It is with extreme gratitude that I got to live out this dream, and I am humbled by the support of so many friends and strangers. Thank you!!! Hereās to a healthy and creatively fruitful New Year š
Thank you to the Associated Press @apnews@litalie for including McAtlas in its 2025 holiday gift guide! Sixteen years ago I was grinding away on the streets as a freelancer for them, getting almost trampled to death in Times Square when the Giants ended the Patriots perfect season, sneaking onto rooftops to peer into celebrity apartments, and other fun stuff like that. The career really does come full circle! (++ loving the @beardfoundation shoutout!)
I have so much to be grateful for, but Iāll never get over the magic of having strangers from all over the world interested in my work. THANK YOU for supporting the project and for choosing to spend your hard earned dollars on me. Iāll make a book delivery any time in any weather.
