diff --git a/simple_iot.h b/simple_iot.h
index bee6829..d9b6c1a 100644
--- a/simple_iot.h
+++ b/simple_iot.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ public:
 	bool act_on(String topic, IOTActionHandlerFunction f);
 	bool report_on(String topic, IOTReportHandlerFunction f, unsigned long update_interval, bool use_cache);
 	void log(const char* fmt, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 2, 3)));
+	void publish(String topic, String payload, bool retain=false);
 };
 
 /**
@@ -338,10 +339,23 @@ void SimpleIOT::_mqtt_callback(char* top, byte* pl, uint len) {
 }
 
 void SimpleIOT::_mqtt_publish_report(String topic, String report) {
+	publish(topic, report, true);	
+}
+
+/**
+ * Publishes a message via MQTT.
+ *
+ * @param topic The topic to publish to. Will be appended to base_topic.
+ * @param payload The payload to publish.
+ * @param retain Whether to ask the broker to retain the message.
+ */
+void SimpleIOT::publish(String topic, String payload, bool retain) {
+	if (!_mqtt_enabled) return;
 	String final_topic = String(_mqtt_topic);
 	final_topic.concat(topic);
-	_mqtt_client.publish(final_topic.c_str(), report.c_str(), true);
+	_mqtt_client.publish(final_topic.c_str(), payload.c_str(), retain);
 }
+
 /***** End of MQTT stuff *****/
 
 /***** HTTP stuff *****/