Do book reviews matter? | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

Trying to get high-profile reviews for your books can feel like a rat race. So many publishers competing for the same space in the same publications (and space in readers’ brains). But do reviews really matter? Are they worth the time publishers put into getting them?

This week on the podcast, we’re back with the booksellers and publishers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association tradeshow to get their thoughts on the importance of book reviews.

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!
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Is There a Cult for That? Facts and Activities for Fanatical Fun

Humor for cult survivors and true crime enthusiasts

As this ride called life starts to feel more like a perilously rickety rollercoaster, people are seeking any kind of stability they can grab onto, and—whoops!—suddenly they’re in a cult. In this tongue-in-cheek yet refreshingly generous dive into the contemporary cult craze, Mary Beth Chapman explores what defines a cult and why Americans (and the media) are so fascinated with them. Rather than focus on the foolishness of cult members, Chapman explores the contributing factors like capitalism, isolation, and overwhelm that lead people to seek firmer spiritual footing in the first place.

Served up with humor, self-awareness, and fun charts, the book also includes tips for starting your own cult, including how to choose your idol and how to hire the just the right charismatic cult leader, plus activities like word salad mad libs, red flag bingo, and your very own cult leader paper dolls. Perfect for cult questioners, kool-aid critics, and zealots for fun facts, the quest for the one true path just got a fresh dose of snarky good times.

Read on for an early peek at Is There a Cult for That? Facts and Activities for Fanatical Fun by Mary Beth Chapman, available for preorder from our site or your local bookseller, heading to a shelf near you (available in stores October 7, 2025)!

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2026 Slingshot Organizers

Any activist’s necessity for over 30 years, the Slingshot organizer is a day planner that fits your radical life. Every page has unique illustration, and important dates, birthdays, and events in radical history are marked. 

More than just a calendar and date book, the Slingshot includes space to write your phone numbers, a contact list of radical leftist groups around the globe, a menstrual calendar, info on police repression, and extra note pages to record all your important revolutionary ideas. It also lists popular activist and alternative cultural holidays. As if that weren’t enough, it also teaches you key phrases in multiple languages; phrases such as “freedom and mutual aid” and “where is the library?” 

Get ’em here.

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!
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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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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!

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!
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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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