For booksellers, the regional trade shows are a beloved time for community, connection, and learning about the latest reads from their favorite publishers. Are they as effective for publishers? Joe and Elly had a chance to chat with other publishers and booksellers at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Forum last year to find out what brought them to the show.
Our biggest fan (pictured above) knows how much we care about the things we sell, and want to make sure you can afford them too. (Unlike, you know… other places.)
So we’re doing an anti-billionaire blowout warehouse sale.
There are even MORE books included in the sale than last time, so to help, we’ve made a few special toplists with popular subjects to get you started. There are some great picks in punk, witchy things, and a bunch of Microcosm-published titles!
Plus, you can use the subject search filter at the top of the page to narrow things down by category, like if you want to search for all the books included that are published by us.
The sale runs until July 18th, so you still have a little time to snag yourself a book (or two!) as treat. Or maybe a friend is going through it right now and needs a boost. (Aren’t we all)?
Thanks for support our shenanigans. <3 Microcosm
Fun fact: We had actually totally forgotten about Prime Day being this week when we were planning this out, and are grateful for even MORE excuses to use fan puns. Let’s blow them away.
There are a lot of horrors to being a human, but there’s a lot of joy and wonder too. This week on the pod, Cola Pop Creemees author and illustrator Desmond Reed joins Joe and Elly to chat about comics, mental health, and experiencing every emotion.
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.
Do you have a passion that you want to obsess about in a love letter to the world? In this new edition of Microcosm’s popular DIY guide to zine-making, Joe Biel updates the information provided in the first edition (edited by Biel and the late and great Bill Brent) to address zine making in today’s digital and social-media-obsessed world, featuring a new foreword by St. Louis zinester and literacy worker Ymani Wince.
Covering all the bases for beginners, Make a Zine! hits on more advanced topics like Creative Commons licenses, legality, and sustainability. Says Feminist Review, “Make a Zine! is an inspiring, easy, and digestible read for anyone, whether you’re already immersed in a cut-and-paste world, a graphic designer with a penchant for radical thought, or a newbie trying to find the best way to make yourself and your ideas known.” Illustrated by an army of notable and soon-to-be-notable artists and cartoonists, Make a Zine! also takes a look at the burgeoning indie comix scene, with a solid and comprehensive chapter by punk illustrator Fly (Slug and Lettuce, Peops). Part history lesson, part how-to guide, Make a Zine! is a call to arms, an ecstatic, positive rally cry in the face of TV book clubs and bestsellers by celebrity chefs. As says Biel in the book’s intro, “Let’s go!”
So you’ve got your company. You’ve got your book. You’ve got an idea. But how do you get it out into the world?
Releasing the first book as a press can be a lot like making the first pancake—you learn a lot in the process. There are a lot of traps and pitfalls presses can fall into, and Jane Friedman of the Hot Sheet is back to talk to Joe and Elly about how a press can get their first book out there.
Microcosm VP Elly reports on one woman’s quest to befriend the bean beverage trade
Elly prepares for the Fest
Last week, I attended Coffee Fest in Portland. Cafes are one sector where Microcosm’s business is holding steady, despite the fact that we haven’t been doing much much to reach out to them. I wanted to learn how to better serve these shops and see what I could learn, so I spent one Friday walking around a giant Oregon Convention Center hall, recklessly accepting every sample someone offered me and talking to a lot of really kind people about the many facets of the coffee biz.
But actually, our data revealed that coffee shops tend to buy more in line with stores we classify as Gift: places that use books to convey a vibe. Our top bestsellers to these accounts, by a wiiiide margin, are the coloring books My Vag and Stoner Babes. One store owner, Katie Prinsen of the gorgeously curated Prince Coffee here in Portland, spelled out why: “Atmosphere and vibe are key in any coffeeshop,” she explained during a panel on merchandising. She aims for her shelves to “look like beautiful art” and believes that “books are in line with a perfect morning coffee experience.” I couldn’t agree more!
Interestingly, most of the cafe owners and buyers I spoke with at the trade show don’t sell books yet—and they assumed the same thing I did, that their customers would just want books about coffee. It’s easy to think of themselves as running a specialty store, and surely some of them are, with people coming in to sample different blends, do cuppings, and gain a coffee education. But I suspect that most would do better thinking of themselves as gift stores, or even something more akin to a bookstore (yet another market channel!)—places where customer purchases are driven by the atmosphere.
Our Walking with Ramonamakes an appearance in the convention center’s Magic Box!
I know when I go to a coffeeshop I love, it’s because they’ve created a welcoming place to talk with friends or have a moment of calm to reflect on my day (or take a break from reflecting on my day). I’m almost never thinking about coffee, except to enjoy my beverage. The last thing I bought from a coffeeshop was a branded sticker that said “Keep it local!” from the aptly named Kind Coffee, where I keep coming back because they always effusively compliment my dog.
I came away from Coffee Fest with a caffeine buzz and an appreciation for the basic kindness of people who go into this industry built on creating hospitable third places. I also came away thinking in new ways about “stores that don’t normally carry books,” which make up the majority of our customer base. I wonder how many of them we could better serve by inviting them to think of themselves as a different type of store than they usually do. It’s so easy to put ourselves, and each other, into boxes; and so glorious to have the moment of connection when a customer lights up, seeing something on your shelves that they didn’t even realize they wanted.
Want to keep learning along with me? I’m going to a garden show next and am excited to share whatever insights grow from that fertile ground! Stay tuned right here.
Marketing Manager Abby (hi) recently did a presentation for some of our store and library customers, featuring some of our new titles, old favorites, and insights on what The People are buying these days. Elly also joined us for a few minutes to run through our fun new buying portal for stores. It was a good time. We might even do it again!
(If you want to skip the cool new portal and get straight to the books, jump to 8ish minutes in!)
Tariffs! We’ve talked a lot about how they affect American bookstores and publishers. But what has the impact been for our neighbors to the North? Our friend Kim Werker of Nine Ten Publications sat down with us to talk about being a niche publisher in Canada, how knowing who you are makes you a better publisher, and of course, tariffs.
