Unbannable. Unbeatable. Distributed out of a backpack!
In this Year of Zines, we’re exploring all kinds of ways to dig into our DIY roots in the ever-expanding underground, where art and ideas to flourish beyond the clutches of the mainstream—and the powers that enforce it.
In this spirit of kicking it old school and under the radar, we made this flyer that you can print and distribute yourself in and around your community. Print and copy, grab a stapler, and head out into your small world armed with resources to empower your kindred, comrades, and neighbors!
From library bulletin boards to lamps posts to the local infoshop, reclaim the commons while spreading the zinester spirit. This flyer features cool stuff we proudly publish, but we want to be just one piece of a thriving autonomous network of zine creators crafting passionate pocket publications about what they love and why. You can help make it happen. So pick up your tools, invite a friend, and join the cause—zines forever!
If you have a zine you think makes a good fit with Microcosm, give our submissions guidelines another look and get in touch!
Jelani Memory (of DK Publishing and A Kid’s Co) is back to talk about The Workshop Method, how Kid’s Co is able to get subject matter experts to write quality kidlit, often in under a day. With over 200 books under their belt that have been created through the Method, it’s a proven successful way to get words on pages to help kids learn.
We publish new zineseach and every month (you read that right!), and we want to make sure you don’t miss any that could help you change your life and the world around you. So every month this year, we are sharing a roundup of what’s been released, and maybe a few sneak peeks at what’s ahead in the zine pipeline. Let’s dive in for March!
A Pocket Guide to Natal Astrology: Birth Chart Basics by Maia Sky This zine will empower you to navigate your astrological fundamentals while fostering a deeper appreciation for the intricacies of the ancient art and science of astrology. Whether you’re birth chart curious or an avid student of the stars, this expertly-organized and highly-detailed guide will build your knowledge and confidence in essential astrological information, from signs and houses to aspects and angles and lots more.
Public Speaking for the Awkward & Overwhelmedby Elly Blue and Joe Biel Have you ever clammed up, lost your train of thought, or stumbled over a word during a presentation? Talking in front of people can be hard, but fear no more! Elly Blue and Joe Biel put their heads and their 40+ years of combined public speaking experience together to create this zine of helpful suggestions, strategies, and practices, ready to support you any time you have to yap in front of—and really connect with—an audience.
Bigenital Revolution: My (Very) Graphic Guide to Nonbinary Gender-Affirming Phalloplastyby Hyde Goltz and Jey Pawlik Go on a journey with Hyde Goltz, one of the first people to ever have bigenital surgery—basically, they have two functional sets of genitals. Hyde shares the intimate details of their experience getting this revolutionary surgery as a nonbinary person. Graphic, humorous, and heartwarming, this comic is for anyone who wants guidance and encouragement for this process—or to understand the experience of a loved one who’s pursuing it.
Sabotage & How to Master Itby Office of Strategic Services and Joe Biel Read along to see 1) how the state weaponizes individual actors to disrupt collective efforts, 2) tactics to watch out for in your groups and collaborations (and within yourself!), 3) ways regular people can hack back against destructive forces through simple, nonviolent means that require no tools, skills, or training. Why let the CIA have all the fun!
Baking with Baddies: How to Succeed in Business, from a Multidimensional Cookie Creativeby Via Carpenter For bakers, business owners, and budding entrepreneurs, this zine gives you a step-by-step guide to small business success. From refining your mission to networking, getting tax help to dealing with burnout and discrimination, this zine is full of sound advice that can be applied to all kinds of small business and start-up situations.
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Do you have an idea for something that you want to share with the world but don’t know where to start? Want to make a living without selling your soul? Have a business plan but can’t afford to buy anything up front? This book is for you.
Punk Rock Entrepreneur is a guide to launching your own business using DIY methods that allow you to begin from wherever you are, right now. Caroline Moore talks (and illustrates!) you through the why and how of business operations that she learned over years booking bands, organizing fests, sleeping on couches, and making a little go a long way. Engaging stories and illustrations show you the ropes, from building a network and working distribution channels to the value of community and being authentic. The second edition features a new introduction by Lookout! Records co-founder Larry Livermore.
With first hand accounts from touring bands and small business owners, this book gives you the inspiration and down-to-earth advice you’ll need to get started working for yourself.
Will Trump’s tariffs affect books? Broadly—not really, especially if you’re doing a lot in house. But there are still a few things you might want to know.
Fun fact: This episode was originally recorded in 2018, and focuses more on tariffs in China, but time is a flat circle and we’ve come right around to it being relevant again.
How do you handle negative book reviews? Should you even handle them? What kinds of criticism do you engage with, and what’s the best way to go about it? Jane Friedman of The Hot Sheet to chat with Joe and Elly about the pros and cons of critical feedback.
Over at WorkingLit, Microcosm’s cloud-based accounting and inventory management software for publishers, we’ve made a new addition to the team! Meet Sara.
Sara Balabanlilar has been a bookseller, event organizer, undercover gallerist, and co-founder of queer sci-fi bookshop Paraspace Books. Before she came on board with WorkingLit, she was the Marketing & Sales Director at Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive.
What inspired you to take this job? During the time I’ve spent in the bookselling and publishing industry, the “numbers” side has interested me greatly (my favorite part of sales conferences has always been the presentation on market trends—I know, I know). While I entered the book industry through creative event organizing and marketing, I’m a steadfast systems person. I love finding/learning systems that work, integrating them, and helping everyone else with the details. WorkingLit is investing in back-end/operations expertise, while providing a book worker-led disruption to the HUGE industries that want to rule our creative worlds. And to many hardworking publishers, the numbers side gets complicated fast. I hope to be a part of the solution. Let WorkingLit do the math.
What should publishers reach out to you about? You can contact me about marketing and sales, alongside any app support you need, from help with onboarding to day-to-day tech support. As a person with bookstore and publishing experience, I can help translate your requests to the folks working on the technical side – and answer your questions in ways that make sense to the publishing world. I’ll be your go-between as our team makes changes on the back end and introduces new features.
Got a question or request? Hit me up. No issue is too wacky. If you’re thinking about it, someone else probably is too. Let’s make WorkingLit work for us, together.
What’s one thing you wish you’d known when you were starting out in publishing? I’m going to go even further back. In my first bookstore job, my boss sat me down with an end-of-year P&L report and we went through each line item. I remembered many of the individual sales that went into that concise document, but didn’t know how to connect those small dollar amounts with the huge (hm… modestly-sized) year-long Profits and Losses document I was seeing. I thought of the data analysis as an occasional opportunity to peek behind a heavy curtain, which would remain closed until the end of next year’s Q4. Oooh, mysterious.
Y’all. There doesn’t have to be a curtain! We don’t have to mutter incantations to see which books are doing well, which are missing out on potential growth, and which need an extra marketing push. With the right tools, it’s all good 8). Additionally, I wish I could tell my ten-years-ago self, perky event coordinator and sci fi nerd that I was, how much I’d grow to enjoy the analysis and bookkeeping side of things anyway.
What’s your superhero origin story? Gosh, what’s the origin of any reader… I was a lonely kid who traveled a lot and always had a shelf or suitcase of books for company. That about sums it up! Plus, what’s a superhero without a little mystery around their origin story
The real superheroes were the books and the people who made them, honestly.
Can we meet your cats? I was hoping you’d ask. Meet Nickea, my queen, my familiar, my #1. And Pico, oobleck panther.
Want to learn more about WorkingLit or just welcome Sara to the team? Reach out to her at sara(at)workinglit.com!
You likely pass all kinds of plants and herbs in your day to day. But do you know who they are? Where they come from? Maggie Herskovitz can help! Her new book, “An Urban Field Guide to the Plants, Trees, and Herbs in Your Path” recently released, and this week on the pod she joins Joe and Elly to talk about the book’s story, cover design, and how she got into plant identification.
How do you raise your kids to be functional adults with big hearts, especially in the current timeline?
This week on the podcast, Bonnie Scott and Dr. Faith, authors of Unf*ck Your Parenting, join Joe and Elly to talk about the book’s journey and what’s new, respecting your kid, book bans, and more.
Bugs are everywhere! Humans often think of insects as gross or creepy, but we couldn’t survive without them.
In this love letter to bugs, biologist, linguist, and bug enthusiast Karyn Light-Gibson introduces us to an array of our notable neighbors, from bees to bedbugs, caterpillars to butterflies, ladybugs to katydids, and so, so many more. With informative glee and striking illustrations, she identifies the many bugs we encounter every day and delves into their place in science, history, art, literature, culture, cuisine, and even warfare.
You’ll learn so many cool facts about flies, beetles, moths, aphids, cicadas, bedbugs, crickets, cockroaches, and the other creeping, crawling, and flying critters that make our world go round. For every human, there are 1.4 billion insects in the world, playing a vital part of our ecosystem. A small percentage of bugs can be dangerous or spread disease, but the vast majority are our allies as indicators of environmental health, pollinators of our food, and a key part of the food web we rely on. Even the most wary readers will come away with a new perspective on the tiny creatures around them and a serious appreciation of just how important—and cool—bugs are.