+ If I live in St. Louis, where can I pick up the book?

If you order through a local STL bookstore or retailer, you can pick it up there or ask them to ship your order. Otherwise, the HOSTL books are avaialable on the HOSTL website and we can ship worldwide.

+ Why did you make a book?

Our stories typically only get a day of playtime on social media before the next one goes up, but the messages and lessons in them are still so relevant. That’s why we set out to further honor and elevate the stories and the people who tell them. By taking the content offline and accessing a wider audience who can experience everything in person, our hope was to:

• Give the gift of reflection that takes place when you hold and read a book

• Offer something concrete and tangible with unique value, separate from only sharing these stories on social media

• Generate another avenue to talk about themes addressed in these stories specific to STL

• Memorialize and permanently share the powerful points of view we’ve heard from the people who know St. Louis best

+ I’d like a copy of the book, but I can’t afford it.

Thanks to a grant from the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis, we donated one copy of the HOSTL book to all St. Louis City and County libraries. If you’d like more books in the library system or even at a school library, help us make this possible by asking them to request books from us.

+ I have a reading disability or visual impairment; how can I access the book?

We welcome opportunities to make the HOSTL book accessible to more people. If you can help us produce and distribute this publication to help a wider audience enjoy it, please contact us at humansofstl@gmail.com.

+ How can I get a copy if I’m featured in the book?

This publication wouldn’t be possible without you! As a thanks for sharing your story, we reserved a complimentary copy for every human fatured in the book. If we weren’t able to get in touch with you already to get a model release signed and update your contact info, please write us at humansofstl@gmail.com. We will hold on to your copy for you until November 2024.

+ Is there going to be a Humans of St. Louis book tour?

We are looking forward to sharing all the behind-the-scenes of how and why this book came to be! If you’d like to invite HOSTL for a speaking engagement and offer book copies to the audience, reach out to us at humansofstl@gmail.com or over our social media channels with information about dates, times, and your ask.

+ Are you doing a follow-up book to the first one?

Whew! We’ve certainly got the stories and always keep feeding the site. For now though we're focusing on our follow-up print run to the first.

Note that the cover price was slightly increased since the original budget was set for a 2018 Kickstarter. And, hey, if you’d like to help sponsor another print run or buy books in bulk, let us know.

+ I can see all of the HOSTL posts for free online. Why should I buy a book?

In our digitally-based world, it’s easy to forget the impact that a real, physical photo can have. We want to share the stories we’ve gathered of a St. Louis that is both familiar and unknown — in a book, in your library, to give as a gift to your friend or loved one who moved away from St. Louis years ago, or so you can put a bookmark in that one story that made you laugh, weep, or just feel a little closer to STL. The compilation is to memorialize Humans of St. Louis in a tangible record that can be a gift to us all.

+ Do you ship outside the US?

Yes! So far, books have been sent to Australia, Chile, France, Kenya, Italy, the UK, and Taiwan. Prices will be higher for international S&H, and that will be reflected during checkout. If you encounter an issue during checkout, e-mail us at humansofstl@gmail.com.

+ When did the 1st print run arrive and when did you sell out? And the second?

1st run: October 19, 2022 - November 16, 2022 2nd: Week of June 12, 2023 - TBD!

+ When did the 2nd print run arrive?

Since we reached a critical amount of pree-orders, we sent the book to print again. We estimated is would take through Spring 2023 and it came Summer 2023 since with shipping production and shipping from overseas it takes longer. For updated info, signup for our newsletter here to keep up with date and times.

+ Something went wrong with my order. Who do I contact?

Please email us at humansofstl@gmail.com.

+ Who would appreciate receiving this book?

Anyone who has a connection to St. Louis. Perhaps they're from STL, or they're a transplant, or lived here and carry fond memories of their time in the city. Maybe they are coming to STL for work, school, or a new relationship and want to get a taste of St. Louis before arriving. Are you looking for a maningful gift for your employees, volunteers, donors, or staff to say thanks? Or do you need a prominant coffeetable book welcoming visitors and clients? The HOSTL book makes a great gift for holidays, events, class and boardroom discussions. You name it!

+ Who’s making money off of this?

Humans of St. Louis is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which tells the stories of people in St. Louis. HOSTL has one lead storyteller, a handful of team storytellers, a volunteer board, and a volunteer editing team. While working to see this mission of storytelling grow in the St. Louis region, the organizational costs of running HOSTL are supported by funds raised through print sales, exhibitions, presentations, facilitations, grants, and commissioned storytelling work.

The money raised in the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the first book run helped cover the project’s writing, design, editing, marketing, printing, and distribution. We budgeted so everyone in the book could receive a complimentary copy. In addition, each month in the first year once the book is printed and available, we’ll be donating books or a portion of new book sales to places that address the type of needs we’ve often seen from our featured humans we meet.

+ Who published the book?

We did! In order to be able to make all the decisions from the cover to what stories are in the book, we decided to self-publishe. We're now proud to say the HOSTL book is #STLMade! See our team to meet the local talent who designed, fundraised, wrote, edited, and championed this big and bold St. Louis project. The first book run is also funded in part from 445 backers who pledged to our HOSTL Kickstarter campaign in July 2018. Regional Arts Commission generously helped support the second print run. Contributors are recognized in the acknowledgment section on our website. And those who donated at a certain level or higher are also recognized in print on one of our favorite pages at the end of the book.

+ If you’re keeping this all local, why isn’t the printer in St. Louis?

Self-publishing a book is expensive. To maximize the possibility of getting the book made and keep costs affordable, we looked for the closest (and also best) printer we could find. Originally, we planned to print with Versa Press, in East Peoria, Illinois — about three hours northeast of St. Louis. However, with supply chain issues and paper shortages during the pandemic, we had to make the difficult decision to look for another printer. Luckily, we found Callawind Book Publishing in Montreal to help us navigate our self-publishing process and print in China. The end result is professional, high-quality, and just the look we set out to achieve.

+ What if I want to donate something and didn't get in during the Kickstarter?

If you’re interested in making a donation towards the book project, your contribution will go toward additional print runs to:

• Gift complimentary copies to subjects in the book

• Purchase copies for schools, libraries, and other organizations

Donations can be made here, or please contact us at humansofstl@gmail.com.

+ How else can I help support the book project?

Tell your friends, loved ones, and coworkers about HOSTL’s storytelling by sharing our stories, our website, or the link to order books for themselves. Know a company would like to buy in bulk? Please connect us. You can also invite HOSTL to give a presentation at your school or business and buy books in bulk for the audience, you can donate to the non-profit, or you can purchase framed prints to display HOSTL stories as an exhibition around town. We also have a volunteer sign-up if you’d like to help the team deliver to local retailers. We definitely need the extra hands!