Q & A with Eli Sachse

July 07, 2026

We catch up with the author of Next-Level Ally: How to Support Your Queer and Transgender Friends, now in paperback!

Eli Sachse, BSN, RN is a queer, transgender artist, author, and activist. He is the founder of LGBTQ Merced, GLSEN Merced, and the Merced Pride Center at the MAC. He has worked as a freelance writer for MyHealthTeam.com and Sonoma Medicine, and is the author of the zines Sex Without Roles and Next-Level Ally.

We caught up with Eli just after the spring release of Next-Level Ally, once a best-selling zine, now a full-length paperback. Want to know how they became a writer, or started in advocacy work, or what their favorite book genre is? Keep reading!

What inspired you to write your book?

I’ve been organizing and advocating for queer and transgender people in my rural California community of Merced since 2018. Things that I’ve seen and experienced while trying to interface with local government, school systems, and allies of varying levels of commitment have been disorienting and mind-boggling, to say the least. So, some of this book was an exercise for me in deconstructing and understanding my own experiences. From gaslighting, to big promises that evaporate without a sound, to just plain rejection of ideas and plans by leadership, it’s been quite a journey.

For example, I worked for Merced County for two years. Near the end of those two years, I approached my director about starting a pride affinity group for county employees. She actually sent an email to me with a sentence in all-caps forbidding me from trying. I still have trouble understanding why she would feel so strongly against the idea. Starting an internal affinity group would not even necessarily even be visible to the public, ever. Where would any controversy come from? To me, it seems like the most low-stakes step towards pride activities possible. I still don’t see what she thinks the dangers are by allowing me to organize a pride group at work.

Alongside that, I’ve worked with people who have turned out to be meaningful allies, and continue doing real work and speaking up for queer and trans folks in my community. Thinking about how they approach the problem differently is just something I do naturally, so writing about it just made sense to me.

Also, being as visibly out as I am, I am approached by people of all walks of life and working in every industry for advice on how to better support queer and trans people. People quickly identify me as a kind ear to hear the questions they might be afraid to ask others, so talking with would-be allies has just become part of my life, for better or worse.

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Unfuck Your Wellness: Using Science to Evaluate Acupuncture, Hypnosis, Aromatherapy, Cannabis, and Other Healing Modalities

June 25, 2026

Debunk the junk and get healthy with remedies that work

Learn to discern between science-backed health strategies and harmful health scams from Microcosm’s bestselling author. Dr. Faith Harper, author of books like Unfuck Your Brain and Unfuck Your Body, explores popular alternative treatments like sound healing, mindfulness and meditation, and herbal supplements. She applies the rules of scientific inquiry to each one, asking key questions like: What science do we have? What should we look out for? How do we discern quality? Which claims have merit, which might be possible, and which are ridiculous? She walks you through the body-mind connection, the placebo effect, and how to critically read a scientific study.

In these pages, you’ll find tools to determine for yourself what treatments are worth spending your money on and what will really help you feel better, and learn to advocate for yourself within and outside of the medical establishment. Bolstered by research and sprinkled with swearing, this book celebrates just how damn cool the human body and mind are, putting the power of healing in your hands.

For fans of the podcast If Books Could Kill and anyone who’s fallen down a rabbit hole of internet research and wants help separating fact from fiction.

Make healthy choices and keep reading for an excerpt from Dr. Faith’s latest, Unfuck Your Wellness, available now from out site or a Microcosm peddler near you!

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Your Book Is Your Business: Money-Making Sales Strategies

June 04, 2026

Call it a hobby, side gig, side hustle, or whatever you’d like—but treat it like a business.

Take your book from a single product you feel like you have to hustle to a foundational piece of your prospering entrepreneurial enterprise with the help of this encouraging, no-nonsense guide to promoting—and profiting from—your writing, whether or not you have a relationship with a traditional publisher.

Joylynn M. Ross is a bestselling author with decades of experience in multiple genres. She shares her insider knowledge of how to treat your writing as a business. She walks you through the nitty-gritty, behind-the-scenes details of literary finances, from finding grants to printing options to cover pricing. Ross’s straightforward, tried-and-true advice is accessible, actionable, and practical, told in brief vignettes readers can easily refer back to, or easily share with others. You don’t need to rely on fast trends, conventional wisdom, or expensive freelance support to make sure your work succeeds and your reach continues to grow.

Don’t be discouraged: Roll up your sleeves and dive in for a more successful publication, a more profitable business, and a more empowered writing community.

Read on for an excerpt from Your Book Is Your Business, shipping now from our site and available everywhere you find Microcosm titles on June 9th.

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Next-Level Ally: How to Support Your Queer and Transgender Friends

June 04, 2026

Speak up, take action, and protect your community

How do you show up for the LGBTQ+ people in your life? You’ve figured out pronouns, you vote, and you don’t say hateful things, but you have a lot of unanswered questions and the strong feeling that you could be doing more. You’re committed to educating yourself, but where to start?

Author and activist Eli Sachse has created a practical guide to being a better friend, family member, partner, colleague, and community member to your trans and queer friends. With anti-queer and trans bias and oppression on the rise, it’s more important than ever for allies to step up with radical empathy. Allyship is a skill that anyone can learn, and Sachse is a kind, clear teacher.

With a focus on direct and effective communication, Sachse has filled this book with real-world examples for everyday people. Learn when and how to speak up at work and online without doing more harm than good. Create more inclusive conversations and challenge misgendering and harmful jokes. Learn to see and question your own implicit biases and assumptions. Celebrate and affirm your friends. Become a better friend, manager, or parent. Volunteer, march, and create true safe spaces. Further chapters advise people working in health and mental health professionals, educators, and law enforcement in how to do better by the trans and queer people they serve.

Read on for an excerpt from Next-Level Ally, shipping now from our site and available everywhere you find Microcosm titles!

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A Pocket Guide to Pride Flags: An Illustrated History of Queer Community Symbols

May 15, 2026

Beyond the rainbow.

Find your own flavor of pride with this definitive guide to pride flags of all stripes—their history, meanings, legacies, and cultural significance around the world. A whole spectrum of stories has unfolded since the original rainbow flag debuted in the 1970s. For the first time, here are over 30 pride flags collected together, accompanied by details about their symbolism, creators, usage, and sometimes controversial histories. It’s all presented with graphic flair by Icelandic designer and comedian Sindri “Sparkle” Freyr.

If you’re LGBTQ, you’re likely familiar with your community flags, but you’re not the only ones! Kinksters, bears, sex workers, and drag performers—there’s a flag for you. If you’re nonbinary, intersex, agender, genderqueer, disabled, polyamorous, two-spirt, ace-aro, or demi—you’ve got a flag, too. These flags and the motives behind them show us that there really is room for everyone. With both queer visibility and heteronormative hatred on the rise around the world, this bold, stylish celebration of vexillology (the study of flags!) shows how these symbols can help us share who we are, how we define ourselves, and where we find community.

Keep reading to learn more about pride flag history in this first-of-its-kind guide, shipping now from our site or available June 2 at your local Microcosm dealer.

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Your Dick Made Me Believe in Magic: Hot T4T Stories Wherein Gay Trans Witches Destroy Transphobia (Queering Consent)

April 14, 2026

Drink deeply from this steamy cauldron of spellbinding t4t scenes featuring transmasculine hotties practicing erotic witchcraft.

Sigils in an eco-friendly nightclub lead to unexpected encounters; a horned god delivers more than just spiritual blessings to his devotees of self-made men; a video-game playing demon and his roommate coax a ghost through his unfinished business; a budding practitioner’s querent pulls oracle cards for “erotic bliss” and “uninhibited release”; and a green witch’s attempt to identify an unusual psychotropic plant takes a tendril-filled turn.

Each story is linked to a cast of bewitching boys with different body types, boundaries, and backgrounds, all engaging each other in consensual and super sexy rendezvous—each one magically hotter than the next. Ground yourself for some wild magic!

Indigenous Punk: A Definitive Guide to the Native, Aboriginal, and Pacific Islander Metal and Rock ‘n’ Roll Musicians Who Changed Music

April 13, 2026

Adapt the dominant culture on your own terms

Native artists have always been central to hard, heavy music: surf rock, hard rock, heavy funk, straight edge, thrash, rap metal, grunge, grind core, and especially black metal. Natives have made their own uniquely Indigenous hard music forms, prehispanic metal in Latin America, Navajo rez metal, and experimental ambient metal in the far north.

Beginning with Link Wray’s trailblazing guitar sound that gave birth to punk and metal as we know them today and culminating in contemporary acts like the all-female, Māori doom metal and punk band Death and Hatred to Mankind, this eye-opening, encyclopedic history of Native bands and musicians spans the last 60 years. Historian and professor Al Carroll teaches us to listen critically to spot imposters and bigotry, while celebrating the explosion of Indigenous bands during the rise of thrash and later nu-metal, how Native artists in the so-called U.S. gained popularity and radio play overseas while their releases were censored in the States, and the “harder than you” grit of bands originating on Pacific islands.

There’s something in this book for every hard music fan. Pick it up if you’re looking for a new way to see the music and culture around you or inspiration to create something of meaning to your own community and roots. Get ready to learn about your new favorite band, deepen your understanding of the music you love, and think critically about the dominant culture.

Want to find your new favorite band? Read on for an excerpt of Dr. Al Carroll‘s Indigenous Punk, or preorder your own copy from our site, shipping after April 16th.

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Your Dick Made Me Believe in Magic: Hot T4T Stories Wherein Gay Trans Witches Destroy Transphobia (Queering Consent)

April 10, 2026

High-heat, sexy, supernatural stories

Drink deeply from this steamy cauldron of spellbinding t4t scenes featuring transmasculine hotties practicing erotic witchcraft. Sigils in an eco-friendly nightclub lead to unexpected encounters; a horned god delivers more than just spiritual blessings to his devotees of self-made men; a video-game playing demon and his roommate coax a ghost through his unfinished business; a budding practitioner’s querent pulls oracle cards for “erotic bliss” and “uninhibited release”; and a green witch’s attempt to identify an unusual psychotropic plant takes a tendril-filled turn.

Each story is linked to a cast of bewitching boys with different body types, boundaries, and backgrounds, all engaging each other in consensual and super sexy rendezvous—each one magically hotter than the next. Ground yourself for some wild magic!

Keep reading for an excerpt from River Huckleberry Kero’s Your Dick Made Me Believe in Magic, the latest release in our Lambda-Award-winning Queering Consent series! Preorder from our site for direct shipping from Microcosm’s warehouses starting April 15th; available to order or pick from your preferred retailer’s shelves starting May 13th.

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Making Stuff and Doing Things: DIY Guides to Just About Everything

March 23, 2026

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!

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How to Defend Books and Why: Book Bans and How We Fight Them

March 20, 2026

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.

Keep reading for an excerpt from Danny Caine’s How to Defend Books and Why, available now through our site or arriving on indie shelves near you on 6/2/26!

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