Throwback time! This week on the pod, we’re revisiting an old-school episode, where Joe and Elly report back after helping out on the shipping floor. Did our systems hold up? What did they learn in the process? (Spoiler alert: A bit!)
Maureen Karb is a field sales rep and with Como Sales, a rep group that focuses on indie publishers selling to indie bookstores. Because of what she does, Maureen has a great knowledge and perspective on what’s new and trending at bookstores. From romantasy and horror to new types of bookstores opening all over the country, this week on the pod, join Maureen, Joe, and Elly to talk about what’s hot (and what’s not) in book world.
It’s been said more and more frequently that reviews from trade publications don’t sell books the way they used to. Why is that, and what DOES sell books?
This week on the pod, Jane Friedman of the Bottom Line is back to talk with Joe and Elly about the movement away from book critique to book content, what book reviews are good for, and what, if anything, they can do to help sell books.
For more valuable insights about the book industry from Jane, check out The Bottom Line.
When you’re young, broke, and in search of a life of adventure, Making Stuff and Doing Things is the most useful book on the planet. It’s been called “more important than the Bible.” It’s an indispensable handbook full of basic life skills for the young punk or activist, or for anyone who’s trying to get by, get stuff done, and live life to the fullest without a lot of money.
The book started as a series of zines, with dozens of contributors setting down the most important skills they knew in concise, often hand-written pages. If you want to do it yourself or do it together, this book has it all, from making your own tooth paste to making your own art and media, feeding, clothing, cleaning, and entertaining yourself, surviving on little, living on less, and staying healthy on all your life’s adventures. You’ll never be bored again.
Keep reading for an excerpt of this latest edition of Making stuff and Doing Things, the enduring bestseller edited by Kyle Bravo—shipping now from the Microcosm site or available at an indie retailer near you!
From Ginsberg’s Howl to libraries, from prisons to Palestine
You’re invited to the book revolution!
Fight back against censorship and empower your community with this close look at the book banning movement.
In a moving, compulsively readable call to arms for readers everywhere, Danny Caine, bestselling author of How to Resist Amazon and Why and How to Protect Bookstores and Why, offers an expertly-crafted confrontation of far-right, Christian nationalist attempts to reshape American culture through ban campaigns targeting schools, libraries, bookstores, and prisons, with the aim to silence marginalized identities in life and in literature.
From the first-ever banned books display at San Francisco’s City Lights in the 1950s to the rapid rise of so-called Moms For Liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic to attempts to silence Palestinian authors, Caine charts the course of repressive censorship campaigns, along with the creative and sometimes unlikely activists who’ve stood up against them. Each chapter is based on a particular book banning episode, bolstered by research and legal precedent, and concludes with helpful takeaways for further reading or resistance. Throughout, Caine approaches these heated issues with gentle openness harkening back to his work as a public school teacher and a bookseller. He emphasizes our collective responsibility towards art, free speech, and each other.
Perimenopause is a time when our souls long for change.
The mood swings and physical discomfort as our reproductive system winds down can make it feel like our bodies and brains are betraying and victimizing us. Our Sacred Cycleauthor Mary McDonald, a therapist who works with people with PMS, PMDD, trauma, and other reproductive health issues, reframes that betrayal as an intervention and opportunity. With inclusive language and compassionate, practical understanding, she brings affirmation, insight, and science to help us navigate our out-of-control emotions, let go of what no longer serves us, and step fully into our power and wisdom.
McDonald invites us to examine what the huge moods of midlife are really telling us. She offers an explanation of what is actually going on with our hormones, offering the facts behind our feelings from the internalized patriarchal messages that lead us to mistrust and mistreat our bodies and minds. The map she draws for our journey is one of shadow work and soul retrieval, a hero’s journey in which we stop trying to “fix” ourselves and rediscover the person we were supposed to be. The greatest prize is to finally get to meet the wise, experienced, and unapologetically authentic soul we were always meant to become.
Keep going to read an excerpt of Mary McDonald’s The Perimenopause Journey! Available now through our site, or via your favorite independent Microcosm peddler 🙂
This week on the podcast, join Danny, Elly, and Joe as they talk about the interplay of book bans and freedom movements the world over, how you can defend books, and the work and the conversations and interviews that shaped “How to Defend Books.”
Get Danny’s books on the Microcosm website, or your local indie bookstore!
To find out more about book bans and challenges, click here.
At this point, most of us are familiar with checking the air quality when we go outside during certain times of the year, or ventilating when using chemicals or it’s the flu season. But how familiar are you with the air in your home on a day to day basis? From radon, ozone, particulate matter, and more, there’s a lot you can do to keep breathing easy, and we’ve got a book to help!
This week on the podcast, “Air Self-Care Handbook” author Melissa Wrolstad joins Joe & Elly to talk about development of the book and how to take care of your air.
Drawing on 30 years of experience operating an independent publishing company, Microcosm founder and CEO Joe Biel has written the most accessible and comprehensive guide to running a successful publishing business. You’ll learn all the skills of the trade, including how to:
Develop your individual books to connect with readers on a practical and emotional level
Choose between offset printed, digitally printed, and ebook formats and work effectively with printers
Build an authentic niche so you can reach your audience and sell books directly
Understand if and when you’re ready to work with a distributor or large online retailer
Create a budget and predict the cost and income of each book so your company stays in the black
Decide what work you need to do yourself and what can be done by others
Plan for sustainable growth
Featuring interviews with other upstart independent publishers and funny anecdotes from publishing’s long history as well as detailed charts and visuals, this book is intended both for beginners looking for a realistic overview of the publishing or self-publishing process and for experienced publishers seeking a deeper understanding of accounting principles, ways to bring their books to new audiences, and how to advance their mission in a changing industry. All readers will come away with the confidence to move forward wisely and a strong sense of why publishing matters today more than ever.
Keep going to read an excerpt of Joe Biel’s A People’s Guide to Publishing! Available now through our site, or via your favorite independent Microcosm peddler 🙂
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!
