Posts By: microcosm

Submitting AI to Publishers w/ Jane Friedman | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

Can publishers tell if you submit work with A.I.? Does it matter if they can’t even tell?

Jane Freidman of “The Bottom Line” joins Joe and Elly this week to talk about what publishers mean with A.I. disclosures, what presses are looking out for, and how authors can communicate with their publishers about it.

Check out Jane’s articles here: https://janefriedman.com/

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!

What Rides at Night: Queer, Feminist, Fantastical Bicycle Halloween Stories

Have a queer and bikey Halloween!

When the veil thins, the bicycle revolution rises—along with thirteen new, original, spooky stories for the thirteenth volume in the series! 

Gather ‘round, ghoulfriends, and peer into this enchanting collection of ghost stories, tall tales, and feminist fictions simmering with cyclist power. This monster mashup of thirteen queer and quirky stories grants us a glimpse into the world beyond this one, where community, creativity, and bike culture reign—a world where DIY zombies start a monster zine collective to fight their oppression by “normals,” time moves backwards as bones are covered again with flesh, cryptids defend fellow outcasts from bullying, and teen crushes take an otherwordly (though not unwelcome!) turn. Whether shared with your feminist book club, passed around the Halloween house show, or read alone on a dark and stormy night, each story is a spell, reanimating the land of the living with more fun, imagination, and bike rides.

Featuring original stories from Elly Bangs, Jessie Kwak, Nell Hanson, Mildred Locke, Kortney Nash, Dawn Vogel, N. Anaar, Erin Cullen, Grace Desmarais, Kay Hanifen, Siri Caldwell, Summer Jewel Keown, and Valerie Hunter.

Read on for a sneak peek at What Rides at Night edited by Summer Jewel Keown and series editor Elly Blue, available for preorder from our site or your local bookseller, heading to a shelf near you!

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Hot Pants: Do-It-Yourself Gynecology and Herbal Remedies

Hot Pants, long an underground classic, offers great basic sexual health information along with tried and true herbal treatments for common gynecological problems. “Patriarchy sucks,” the authors begin. “It’s robbed us of our autonomy and much of our history. We believe it’s integral for women to be aware and in control of our own bodies.” In that spirit, diagrams and herbal remedies teach you how to diagnose and heal many basic problems, including bladder infections, inducing your period, easing cramps and PMS, aphrodisiacs, and dealing with pregnancy. You’ll learn herbal remedies to ease every stage of your menstrual cycle. This book deserves a place next to your copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Unfuck Your Holidays: Survive Old Traditions, Create New Ones, and Celebrate (or Not) on Your Own Terms

Make holidays joyful, not dreadful

Holidays can be magical—and they can also suck so hard. Need to make a plan for Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, or other holidays? Trying to figure out how (or if) to observe a birthday or difficult anniversary? This holiday survival guide from Dr. Faith G. Harper, bestselling author of Unfuck Your Brain and Unfuck Your Boundaries, is for anyone who’s ever struggled with the expense, drama, loneliness, pressure, and feelings that go along with so many of those big days on the calendar.

Learn coping, logistical, and conversational strategies for making it through a family holiday dinner without bloodshed. Figure out how to go your own way next year (and how to have that conversation). Gain skills and recipes for hosting your friends or chosen family. Navigate religious, political, and dietary differences. Whatever you celebrate (or would prefer not to), this funny, level-headed, helpful book offers perspective and tools for making all holidays more meaningful and less stressful.

Read an exclusive excerpt of Dr. Faith’s latest, Unfuck Your Holidays, shipping now from our site or available in stores October 7, 2025:

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Queerness in Horror Movies, w/Joe Carlough & Gina Brandolino | People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

Don’t get scared straight! Joe Carlough & Gina Brandolino, authors of the new book QUEER HORROR: FUN AND FREAKY PERSPECTIVES ON MACABRE MEDIA, join Joe and Elly this week to talk about horror, coming out, their favorite movies, and more.

Get “Queer Horror” here.

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 Holidays: Survive Old Traditions, Create New Ones, and Celebrate (or Not) on Your Own Terms

Holidays can be magical—and they can also suck so hard. Need to make a plan for Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, or other holidays? Trying to figure out how (or if) to observe a birthday or difficult anniversary? This holiday survival guide from Dr. Faith G. Harper, bestselling author of Unfuck Your Brain and Unfuck Your Boundaries, is for anyone who’s ever struggled with the expense, drama, loneliness, pressure, and feelings that go along with so many of those big days on the calendar.

Learn coping, logistical, and conversational strategies for making it through a family holiday dinner without bloodshed. Figure out how to go your own way next year (and how to have that conversation). Gain skills and recipes for hosting your friends or chosen family. Navigate religious, political, and dietary differences. Whatever you celebrate (or would prefer not to), this funny, level-headed, helpful book offers perspective and tools for making all holidays more meaningful and less stressful.

Does AI help publishing? with Jane Friedman | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

Ah, AI. We’re hearing about it constantly, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon. From “fair use” in recent court cases to bad advice from Anthropic, Jane Friedman of The Bottom Line is back to talk with Joe and Elly about AI, especially in the publishing world.

Is it useful? WE haven’t found anything that AI does well, have you? Let us know!

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!

Note: There are a few hops, skips, and jumps in the video do to some connection issues. It shouldn’t be too noticeable, but we are aware of it!

Incorporating Zines Into Our Marketing and Production Strategy | A People’s Guide to Publishing

Zines are small, often subject-focused booklets that can range in topic from how much you love your cats, to fixing your bike, to protest safety tips. How do we incorporate zines into our regular marketing and production strategy? Joe and Elly tell all this week on the podcast!

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!

Dying to Meet You: Confessions of a Funeral Director

Navigate death and grieving with greater openness, honesty, and preparation thanks to the supportive expertise of Singapore’s leading “life celebrant.” Growing up with a hardworking undertaker father known as the Coffin King, death was the family business for Angjolie Mei—but that didn’t make it any easier to understand, or grief any easier to feel. When her father died unexpectedly, leaving debts but no end of life instructions, Mei found herself taking up his funeral director business, not only to provide for her family, but to help others see death as an opportunity for dignity and celebration. “A funeral,” she writes, “is life’s graduation ceremony,” and we should honor it and plan for it accordingly.

Striving to shift cultural perspectives on death and grief as well as to address common questions too often shrouded in mystery and taboo, Mei shares her craft’s most important lessons with wit and grace, from the process of embalming to helping children understand a loved one’s passing, taking care to include customs from diverse religious and cultural traditions. This candid and thoughtful glimpse behind the morgue’s curtain affirms the importance of grieving and ritual, acknowledging that death is part of any life well-lived.

Conferences, Promos, & More: How Booksellers & Publishers Work Together | A People’s Guide to Publishing

Continuing our series on tradeshows, bookselling, and bookseller/publisher relationships, this week we’re back at PNBA! Hear from booksellers and publishers on how they think they collaborate well, and what they wish the other party knew.

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!

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