Save Your Food: The Sustainable Joy of Storing, Canning, Drying, and Fermenting

March 06, 2026

Stretch your food budget farther

Whether you are overwhelmed by the bounty of your home garden or you want to get smarter about using what’s in your fridge, this friendly and informative guide will walk you through the steps to preserving and storing your own (delicious!) food. In her trademark welcoming style with charming illustrations, Raleigh Briggs offers up her knowledge on canning, brining, fermentation, drying, and storing everything from fresh vegetables to fish. With step by step instructions, recipes, and helpful tips, this guide will allow you to embrace a more sustainable, low-waste, and cost-saving relationship to food while empowering you with new skills. Eat healthy and cheap all year round!

Keep going to read an excerpt of Raleigh Briggs’s Save Your Food! Printing came through early, so it’s available NOW through our site, well in advance of the technical October 2026 pub date!

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Joyful Feminist Writing- On Bikes! w/ Summer Jewel Keown | A People’s Guide to Publishing

March 05, 2026

For over 10 years, Elly has been publishing a series called “Bikes in Space,” full of joyfully feminist (and often queer) genre short stories ON BIKES. One of our longest term contributors is Summer Jewel Keown, who also edited the most recent edition, “What Rides at Night” This week on the pod, Elly and Summer have a chat about bikes, the Bikes in Space selection process, and queer Halloween.

Check out all the Bikes in Space books Summer has contributed to, and get your own copy of “What Rides at Night”! https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/artist/summer-jewel-keown/

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!

Do Book Awards Matter? | People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

February 26, 2026

Book awards! There are a lot of them out there. Our books have even won a couple! But are they success indicators? Does a book or author winning an award mean anything for the publisher? How can a publisher use an award in their marketing?

Jane Friedman of The Bottom Line is back to chat with Elly and Joe about awards, cash grabs, and the array of experiences out there.

Want more industry insights? Check out The Bottom Line!

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!

Lessons Learned: New Edition of People’s Guide to Publishing | People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

February 19, 2026

In 2018, we released “A People’s Guide to Publishing,” detailing everything Joe and the Microcosm team had learned through the years about starting, running, and sustaining an independent publishing company. For Microcosm’s 30th anniversary, we’ve released a second edition of the book, expanded to include even MORE lessons Joe’s learned over the last few years, and how to apply them to your publishing company. This week on the pod, join Joe and Elly as they talk about what’s new in the second edition of “A People’s Guide to Publishing!

Get the book here: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3663

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!

The Air Self-Care Handbook: Breathe Easier and Protect Yourself from Pollution

February 16, 2026

Protect your most valuable asset

Want a simple and effective way to improve your health? Hoping to survive the next wildfire smoke event without going through ten inhalers? Breathe easier with the practical support of this air care handbook, where you’ll find expert guidance on air quality and effective steps that you, a non-scientist, can take to preserve—and enhance—your own air health.

Sustainability consultant, engineer, and healthy building design expert Melissa Wrolstad handily distills the technical aspects of healthy air best practices, including strategies that people on any budget can implement with no need for fancy tools or training, and guides you through air exercises you can do in buildings you frequent. You’ll be equipped with the principles of indoor and outdoor air quality, understand common pollutants such as dust, smog, and radon, and learn strategies for how to protect yourself, your pets, and your loved ones from their effects. Written with passion and tons of research, The Air Self-Care Handbook offers insight and expertise at a time when reliable, non-governmental resources are more crucial than ever.

Keep going to read an excerpt of Melissa Wrolstad’s Air Self-Care Handbook, out now and available on our site or through your favorite bookseller!

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Rad Bugs: Brain Worms, Ticks that Cure Cancer, and Other Tiny Marvels

February 13, 2026

Who runs the world? It’s bugs, actually!

Get acquainted with the little creepy crawlies who make our world go ’round in this enthusiastic and informative love letter to the beauty of bugs by Karyn Light-Gibson, the author of Bug Life. This time around, Light-Gibson introduces us to under-appreciated insects like fleas, lice, silverfish, and earwigs. And then she opens up the wide world of non-insect invertebrates, taking us on a rollercoaster ride through the world of scorpions, spiders, ticks, millipedes, and even crayfish and snails.

She offers fascinating, fun, and sometimes gross facts about how each of these bugs has shaped our world, from ancient times to today. She debunks common myths (no, you probably do not actually eat eight spiders per year). And she gives guidance on how humans can co-exist more peaceably with these creatures we often fear or see as pests—but who we also rely on for a viable ecosystem.

Read for the trivia night facts, to help cure your arachnophobia, or if you just want to gain a new appreciation for more of the tiny creatures that we share the planet with but rarely stop to get to know.

Keep going to read an exclusive excerpt of Rad Bugs, available everywhere 3/10/26, shipping now from our site!

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30 Years of Growing Worlds: It’s Microcosm’s Birthday! | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

February 12, 2026

In 1996, Microcosm started in a small closet in a poorly insulated house. It wasn’t intended to be a job or an organization, or even a business. Thirty years later, this has turned out to be one Microcosm’s strengths. We’ve always intended to solve a very real problem, no matter how unrealistic the set of circumstances and challenges.

This week on the podcast, hang out with Joe and Elly as they take you through Microcosm’s origins, how we got here, and what lessons they’ll be taking into the next 30 years.

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 Nonprofit: Change the World Without Losing Your Mind or Values

February 09, 2026

Vanquish dysfunction so you can do the good work

Idealists, gather round! How do you pursue your passionate cause to the fullest while still meeting your own needs? How do you solve the world’s problems without perpetuating problematic dynamics in your organization? How do you put your energy into fighting for liberation instead of fighting with your board?

Therapist Dr. Faith G. Harper and business leader Joe Biel, co-authors of Unfuck Your Business, bring their decades of experience in nonprofits to lend perspective and practical approaches to your thorniest issues with serving the public good. In these pages, you’ll learn to work more effectively with your team, resolve interpersonal conflicts, deal with severe dysfunction, and unpack your own baggage. If you’re struggling as a volunteer, worker, or board member, or starting a new not-for-profit or charity and want to create an organization that’s aligned with your values, there’s key wisdom here for you.

Read an exclusive excerpt of Unfuck Your Nonprofit, shipping now from our site or from a shop near you!:

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Self Care Won’t Save Us: How to Fight Burnout with Solidarity and Social Change

February 06, 2026

Get off the hamster wheel and into the streets!

Is the daily grind getting you down? You’re not alone! More than half of working adults in the U.S. say they’re experiencing at least some degree of that dreaded late-stage-capitalism affliction: burnout. But workplace well-being needn’t remain out of reach. With a focus on actionable alternatives, Self Care Won’t Save Us examines the mash-up of money and morality that got us into this mess alongside practical ways we can get ourselves out of it.

Author Caroline Moore digs into hustle culture’s takeover of the way we do business, how its rise has allowed work to creep into every aspect of our daily lives, and how we can re-envision what work is and what it should mean to us. Exploring possibilities like co-op models, shorter working weeks, policy changes in the workplace, and other simple adaptations to help you to thrive, this book offers real tools to battle burnout, rather than burning you out with more burnout facts. Whether you’re a business owner, a union steward, a new employee, or a freelancer, this is the working person’s guide to making positive change for ourselves and each other.

Read an exclusive excerpt of Self-Care Won’t Save Us, shipping now from our site or from a shop near you!:

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What is marketing? | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

January 29, 2026

Marketing is made up many things. Direct outreach, broad social media posts, newsletters, and so much more all play a part, depending on what you do. But in the constant chase for analytics and making the numbers go up, it’s important to remember that first and foremost, marketing is about building relationships.

Today on the pod, check out a recent staff education session where we put some of our big brains together to learn the ins and outs of marketing, how it works for Microcosm, and more.