How do you experience every emotion? w/Desmond Reed | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

July 03, 2025

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.

Check out Desmond’s books 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!
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Dying to Meet You: Confessions of a Funeral Director

July 03, 2025

Understand cross-cultural experiences of death

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.

Read on for a sneak peek at Dying to Meet You: Confessions of a Funeral Director by Angjolie Mei, available for preorder from our site or your local bookseller (shipping August 5th, 2025)!

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Make a Zine!: Start Your Own Underground Publishing Revolution

June 27, 2025

Share your passions and find your community!

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!”

Read on for a sneak peek at Make a Zine!: Start Your Own Underground Publishing Revolution by Joe Biel, shipping now from our site or available to order from your local bookseller!

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How does a press release their first book? w/Jane Friedman | A People’s Guide to Publishing

June 26, 2025

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.

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!

Adventures at Coffee Fest

June 19, 2025

Microcosm VP Elly reports on one woman’s quest to befriend the bean beverage trade

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.

To prepare for the event, I pulled together a list of our books and products that have been hits with coffee shops. We talk a lot about market segmentation at Microcosm, and I had assumed that coffee shops would mostly be what we classify as Specialty accounts: places with a deep expertise in one topic, looking to share new facets of that topic through books and zines. In this case, books about coffee and tea, how to make it, its growing regions, coffee culture, etc.

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 Ramona* makes 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.

“The Bookshelf and Beyond” Microcosm Spring ’25 Spectacular | A People’s Guide to Publishing Podcast

June 19, 2025

We tried a new thing!

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!)

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!

How Do Tariffs Affect Canadian Publishers? w/ Kim Werker | A People’s Guide to Publishing

June 12, 2025

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.

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!

Hardcore Happiness: A Graphic Journey to Find Punk’s Positivity

June 11, 2025

Hardcore punk and therapy, the perfect combo

When you listen and scream along to your favorite punk or hardcore band, does that help your mental health or reinforce your frustrations? Artist Reid Chancellor leads us on a tour through hardcore musicians that have struggled with mental health and written about it in their songs, from Gorilla Biscuits to Youth of Today and beyond.

Picking up on threads that first appeared in Hardcore Anxiety, this new, engaging graphic narrative will be deeply relatable to anyone who has ever grappled with identity, fear, and loss in the mosh pit. Chancellor props open the door towards seeking mental health support with humor and vulnerability, asking the question, “Why aren’t there more hardcore songs about seeing your therapist?” That’s a song we all might need to hear.

Read on for a sneak peek at Hardcore Happiness: A Graphic Journey to Find Punk’s Positivity by Reid Chancellor, out now and available from our site or your local bookseller!

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How can publishers lower information barriers? w/ Jelani Memory | A People’s Guide to Publishing

June 05, 2025

Publishing a book can feel like this insurmountable wall that you have to climb over while also screaming that your writing is valid. How can publishers make it more accessible to writers, from submitting a manuscript to marketing? Jelani Memory of A Kid’s Co is back to talk about it!

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 Horrors of Being a Human Q&A

May 30, 2025

A conversation with Desmond Reed

Desmond Reed is an award-winning Boston-based cartoonist and illustrator best known for his web comic The Cola Pop Creemees. His debut graphic novel, The Cola Pop Creemees: Opening Act, was published by Birdcage Bottom Books in April 2023. Later that year, MIT appointed Desmond a 2023/2024 Residential Scholar in recognition of his work in comics. Before becoming a cartoonist, he worked for nearly a decade as a paralegal at a premier litigation, labor, and employment law firm located in Boston. Desmond is represented by Daniel Lazar of Writers House.

Our team chatted with Desmond to celebrate his latest Cola Pop Creemees creation, The Horrors of Being a Human, in which the eponymous band experience every emotion. Want to know what Desmond is writing, drawing, and reading? Find out in our conversation below!

What inspired you to write your book?

I wanted to write a book that communicated complex and difficult feelings in a palatable and enjoyable way. There is a lot of wackiness throughout The Horrors of Being a Human, and the main characters are total cartoons, but their stories are actually pretty heavy, dealing with topics such as trauma, depression, and addiction.

What was it like to publish with Microcosm?

It was an absolute dream to publish with Microcosm, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart! Everyone was so friendly, capable, and supportive. It felt like we were all just having fun and then a book magically appeared! I have been a fan of Microcosm for a while and it is an incredible honor to now be a part of their impressive roster. They are such a unique and innovative publisher…I feel like they exist in their own universe. I’ve never really fit into an obvious category within the world of cartoonists, and so I feel like Microcosm and I are kindred spirits. I love that we found each other and have joined forces to make this book a reality!

What was the submission/query process like for you?

The submission process is tough for almost everyone, and I’m no exception! Rejection is just part of the game as publishers are way more likely to say no than yes (if anything at all). All I can do as a cartoonist and author is work hard enough to put myself in a position to get lucky, and so, again, I feel unbelievably fortunate to have teamed up with Microcosm on this project. It is the perfect home for The Horrors of Being a Human.

What else have you written?

If you like The Horrors of Being a Human, there is actually a whole other graphic novel starring the same cast of characters – and it’s really good! The Cola Pop Creemees: Opening Act was published in 2023 by Birdcage Bottom Books and is also available through Microcosm. Both are standalone books and don’t require reading the other to know what’s going on, but why not just order both at the same time? Live a little! Beyond those two graphic novels, I have self-published a ton of comics and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life—I’m a machine! I also have a wild amount of comics available on my Instagram @desmondtreed. [Desmond also wrote LEFTY, a comic drawn entirely with his left hand after an injury, following Cola Pop Creemees songwriter Mona Gertrude]

What are you currently reading?

I just finished reading Acting Class by Nick Drnaso and thought it was incredible. It’s like no other graphic novel I’ve ever read. I don’t want to say anything specific about the story, but there is this sense of unease that exists alongside a calm art style, muted palette, and deliberate pacing that creates a really cool vibe. Highly recommend!

What’s the best book you read in the last year?

I know this is cheating, but it is a tie between Complete & Utter Malarkey by November Garcia and Unended by Josh Bayer. Both of these works are original, enjoyable, and true works of art. To me, the most important aspect of a graphic novel is a unique point of view, and these books absolutely knocked it out of the park in that regard (and every regard)!

What’s next for you?

I’m almost ready to pitch a much more experimental THIRD Cola Pop Creemees graphic novel! It’s all brand new and I’m really excited about it. I also have about 100 pages of unreleased Cola Pop Creemees material that didn’t fit into the first two books. What should I do with it all?! I’ve been drawing these comics for five years straight so maybe after 3.5 books I’ve earned a break and I can just coast for a while? I guess it all depends on how well The Horrors of Being a Human performs – buy as many copies as you can!!!

Want to keep hangin’ with Desmond? Check out The Horrors of Being a Human: A Cola Pop Creemees Comic, out now on our site or wherever you buy your books!