How Should a Publisher Pitch a Book to an Author? | A People’s Guide to Publishing

So you’re a publisher with a brilliant idea for a writer you want to work with. How do you start that conversation? Is it even worth having? This week on the pod, Joe and Elly share a bit of their experiences on getting authors to write for them, and how it can be structured.

Prefer an audio experience? Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app.
Get the People’s Guide to Publishing here, and the workbook here!
Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes and happenings at Microcosm? Subscribe to our newsletter!

May Zine Blast

When we said Year of Zines we meant it!

We publish new zines each and every month (you read that right!), and we want to make sure you don’t miss any that could help you change your life and the world around you. So every month this year, we are sharing a roundup of what’s been released, and maybe a few sneak peeks at what’s ahead in the zine pipeline. Let’s dive in!

Queer Mediations for Dark Times by Rosśa Crean
Trauma specialist, multidimensional artist, and magickal practitioner Rosśa Crean draws upon their work with clients and their own experience with abuse and recovery in this powerful selection of reflections, prompts, and musings to support others navigating dark times.

Resist Monopolies: How to Fight Corporate Control and Support an Economy that Matters by Ron Knox
What can we do to resist monopolies in a world that tells us they’re too big to fail and too strong to fight? We take them on anyway! Written by a worker for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, this zine documents the battles and triumphs of the growing antimonopoly movement, and shows how you, too, can fight against corporate control where you live and work.

Queer Platonic Relationships: A Guide to the Aro/Ace Spectrum, Friendships, Zucchinis, and Other Terms by Athens Webster
What happens when you leave the relationship mold of romance and sexuality—or when you try to negotiate boundaries, expectations, and intimacy platonically? This zine is your guide to learning more about the history of Queer Platonic Relationships, what it means to be in a QPR, and other commonly used terms (glossary included!).

The Sexual Assault Survivor’s Guide to the Legal Process by Emma Alice Johnson
This step-by-step zine is designed to be a written companion to the legal process following incidents of sexual violence, because while helpful resources may be offered (such as a victim advocate), progress and updates are often communicated quickly and verbally, leaving survivors little time to process or make deliberate decisions about their cases.

Books and Math: A Manifesto on Publishing Tools by Joe BielElly Blue, and Sara Balabanlilar
Learn what you need to succeed in book publishing—and more importantly, how to determine what success means for you. For fellow publishers, future publishers, book industry comrades, systems nerds, and other kindred spirits, this zine is packed with what you need to know about distribution, automation, data analysis, and how to blaze your own bookish path—without making our same mistakes.

Dangerous Gifts: Using Internal Family Systems to Channel Your Madness and Transform Your Life by Sascha Altman DuBrul
For the sensitives, the imaginatives, for anyone who has struggled to fit in or see the world in the normative way, this compassionate zine offers new pathways for thinking about—and treating—different kinds of psychological distress through the lens of Internal Family Systems, and through recognizing the connections between individuals’ mental wellbeing and the health of their communities, families, environments, and social structures.

Ticks and How to Love Them by Emma Alice Johnson
From identifying their markings to cool trivia (fossilized ticks have been found on dinosaur feathers in amber?!), Emma Alice Johnson shares her diverse array of tick-based knowledge, and busts some tick memes and myths along the way. Even if love is too tall an order, this zine will fill you in on useful tick facts, features, and types, which will help keep you stay safe and attuned to your surroundings.

To stay on top of the latest Microcosm news, including the zines digest delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter! Also often includes cute pet pics and good (bad) puns.

How do I publish thematically? w/ Jelani Memory of A Kids Co | A People’s Guide to Publishing

Readers love knowing what to expect from a publisher. Having consistent theming in your titles can help with discovery, trust, and bringing readers back for more.

But how do you find your theme? And what happens if you want to diverge from your theme? Jelani Memory of A Kids Co is back on the pod this week to talk about it!

Prefer an audio experience? Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app.
Get the People’s Guide to Publishing here, and the workbook here!
Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes and happenings at Microcosm? Subscribe to our newsletter!

Celebrating International Workers’ Day

Happy May Day!

Every year on the first of May, International Workers’ Day (also recognized as May Day, Labour Day, and Worker’s Day), working people worldwide join hands in their fight for dignity, freedom, and the fruits of their labor. Falling at the same time as ancient rites honoring the season’s turn toward summer, May Day is an international celebration of power in the hands of the people. Here is a sampling of books, zines, and more to help you get in the spirit. Labor is entitled to all it creates! Shop the full list or check out these Microcosm-published favorites below:

History of May Day by Alexander Trachtenberg
This history of the struggle to establish worker rights and the formation of a national day of action offers readers a glimpse at labor history. Includes efforts to corrupt the workers’ movement in the United States, and the attempt to subvert the workers’ movement through the foundation of Labor Day.

On The Books: A Graphic Tale of Working Woes at NYC’s Strand Bookstore by Greg Farrell
This David and Goliath story is a first-hand comic strip account of the labor struggle at NYC’s legendary Strand bookstore in the summer of 2012. Told by Greg Farrell—an employee of the store who interviewed numerous other members of the staff—the book examines the motives and actions of those involved, including the store, the staff, the union local, and the people of New York City.

Punching Out: Solidarity on the Factory Floor by Martin Glaberman
In 1952 Marty Glaberman was a Detroit autoworker who witnessed a series of workers who’d be promoted to steward and become ineffective negotiators. Why? This zine is Glaberman’ attempt to answer to the question asked in every coal mine, worker shop, ship in port, steel mill, and auto plant was forever: was it selfish betrayal or bureaucracy that killed any prospects of solidarity in even the most active union worker?

A People’s History of May Day: 1886-Present by Crimethinc
Connect with the powerful history of May Day, from its origins as an ancient celebration of spring to present-day actions led by workers, anarchists, and communities to uplift labor and people’s history. This zine provides a pocket-sized glimpse into the legacy of this beloved radical holiday, with vignettes of May Day by year, citing specific actions, successes, struggles, and demands from around the globe.

Firebrands: Activists You Didn’t Learn About in School edited by Shaun Slifer and Bec Young, with art from Justseeds
This illustrated history celebrates American changemakers and revolutionaries that are often left out of public narratives about our shared past. These firebrands hail from around the world, from the 1500s to today. Instead of focusing on the powerful, rich white folks so often featured in textbooks, these gorgeous portraits with accompanying biographies recognize the work of grassroots organizers, revolutionaries, visionaries, anarchists, workers, and artists.

P.S. We can’t fit it all here, but check out our Labor tag for more like this.
P.P.S. We also carry a lot of cool and thematically appropriate posters. Hang them on your wall or bring them to the march! 

Unfuck Your Communication: Using Science to Connect, Collaborate, and Make Yourself Heard

A toolkit for successful relationships

In so many facets of our lives, it can be surprisingly hard to speak up, listen well, and find mutual understanding. At some point, all of us will experience an unfortunate miscommunication with a friend or intimate partner, and sometimes there’s just no escaping a difficult conversation with a family member or colleague.

Rather than eating your words or running from confrontation, learn to communicate confidently and listen empathetically with the help of Dr. Faith G. Harper, bestselling author of Unfuck Your Brain and Unfuck Your Intimacy. In this no-nonsense guide, you’ll find conversational templates, guidance for setting boundaries, and tips for talking effectively at home, at work, at school, in everyday encounters, and even with social services and other bureaucratic entities—all of which form a handy toolkit for successful communication.

Read on for a sneak peek at Unfuck Your Communication: Using Science to Connect, Collaborate, and Make Yourself Heard by Dr. Faith G. Harper, available for preorder from our site (shipping starts 6/3/25!) or your local bookseller (officially hitting shelves 7/1/25)!

(more…)

How do you market a book publisher? w/Jane Friedman | A People’s Guide to Publishing

How do you market your press? It’s not just social media and newsletters. Everything from your cover design, format choices, to who is on your marketing team tells the story of your publisher. Jane Friedman is back to talk to Joe and Elly about staying true to your brand and representing your press.

Prefer an audio experience? Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app.
Get the People’s Guide to Publishing here, and the workbook here!
Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes and happenings at Microcosm? Subscribe to our newsletter!

Does AI innovate books or just add noise? w/Yehuda Niv of Spines | A People’s Guide to Publishing

AI has been a topic of near-constant debate in publishing the last few years. Is it a great democratizer, making writing, editing, and publishing accessible to everyone? Or is it just adding lower-quality, uncreative slush to the pile? This conversation became even more prominent a few months ago with the launch of Spines, a company that says “harnessing the power of cutting-edge AI, Spines revolutionizes every facet of the publishing journey, including proofreading, formatting, cover design, distribution, and marketing across all major channels and platforms.” Yehuda Niv, founder and CEO of Spines, joins Joe and Elly on the podcast this week for a discussion about AI, traditional publishing vs Spines model, and whether or not data actually supports the argument that AI is the great publishing disruptor.

Prefer an audio experience? Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app.
Get the People’s Guide to Publishing here, and the workbook here!
Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes and happenings at Microcosm? Subscribe to our newsletter!

Unfuck Your Brain Graphic Guide: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers

A classic made accessible for adults and teens

Your brain has a mind of its own. And sometimes, even when it’s doing its best, it can feel like it’s out to get you. If you’ve ever had a meltdown in class, suffered emotions nobody understands, or found yourself shutting down at the worst time, you know this all too well.

Thankfully, this graphic guide is here to help you understand your brain and retrain it to better respond to serious upheavals as well as everyday indignities. Sit with Dr. Faith as she explains her insights and neuroscientific nerdiness (and swearing) in the form of a nonfiction graphic novel with artwork by Gerta O. Egy. If you’re struggling with trauma, depression, anxiety, anger, grief, or addiction, or if you just want to have a more chill response to life, this guide will help you get your brain back on track so you can take on the world.

Read on for a sneak peek at  Unfuck Your Brain Graphic Guide: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers bDr. Faith G. Harper & Gerta Oparaku Egy available for preorder from our site (shipping starts 5/27/25!) or your local bookseller (officially hitting shelves 6/24/25)!

(more…)

The Horrors of Being a Human: A Cola Pop Creemees Comic

The band experiences a wide range of emotions

Experience every emotion and endure life’s ups and downs with this series of short comics. Featuring Desmond Reed’s unique style of fluid, cartoony lines, these everyday vignettes strike a variety of emotional chords as they tell the story of the fictional band the Cola Pop Creemees.

This standalone volume follows the adventures of the wacky personalities behind the group, letting us in on their candid thoughts and outsized reactions to experiences ranging from the chaos of the grocery store to memories of heartbreak at religious summer camp to a bona fide zombie apocalypse. Their antics will make you laugh as you reflect on life’s difficult moments and emotions. As one character muses, “Am I a strong person for doing things while feeling sad, or am I a weak person for feeling sad to begin with?” Dramedy has never looked so squiggly . . . or relatable.

Perfect for fans of BoJack Horseman, this collection serves both as an entry point to the popular web comic and as a continuation of its familiar characters and scenarios. Includes “Memories,” winner of a 2022 MICE Mini-Grant.

Read on for a sneak peek at  The Horrors of Being a Human: A Cola Pop Creemees Comic by Desmond Reed, available for preorder from our site (shipping starts 5/6/25!) or your local bookseller (officially hitting shelves 6/3/25)!

(more…)

What is the Impact of Book Bans? | A People’s Guide to Publishing

Book bans have seen an astronomical increase in the last few years. How are they impacting the book industry, booksellers, and publishers? We had the opportunity to check in with book professionals at a recent conference about what alarms them about book bans, their experiences, what kinds of books are banned, and what we can do to fight bans and challenges

Prefer an audio experience? Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app.
Get the People’s Guide to Publishing here, and the workbook here!
Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes and happenings at Microcosm? Subscribe to our newsletter!