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.
Is the daily grind getting you down? You’re not alone! More than half of working adults in the U.S. say they’re experiencing at least some degree of that dreaded late-stage-capitalism affliction: burnout. But workplace well-being needn’t remain out of reach. With a focus on actionable alternatives, Self Care Won’t Save Us examines the mash-up of money and morality that got us into this mess alongside practical ways we can get ourselves out of it.
Author Caroline Moore digs into hustle culture’s takeover of the way we do business, how its rise has allowed work to creep into every aspect of our daily lives, and how we can re-envision what work is and what it should mean to us. Exploring possibilities like co-op models, shorter working weeks, policy changes in the workplace, and other simple adaptations to help you to thrive, this book offers real tools to battle burnout, rather than burning you out with more burnout facts. Whether you’re a business owner, a union steward, a new employee, or a freelancer, this is the working person’s guide to making positive change for ourselves and each other.
Read an exclusive excerpt of Self-Care Won’t Save Us, shipping now from our site or from a shop near you!:
This week on the pod, Teresa Bergen, author of the zine (and now paperback book!) “Sober Travel Handbook” joins Joe, Elly, and Bernie talk traveling without drinking, the rise in mocktail culture, sobriety and recovery, and everything that went into developing the zine into a full book.
Get “Sober Travel Handbook”: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/47854
Make your next event even more special—and accessible
The ultimate guide to creating welcoming, safe, and accessible gatherings for everyone. With detailed strategies and illustrative examples, How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences uses principles of design justice to share how to put on truly inclusive occasions built for the needs and abilities of all. If you’ve ever attended or hosted conferences, organize events for fun or for a living, or if you have ever thought, “I guess these spaces just aren’t made for me and I wish I could change that,” this book is written for you!
Expert events organizer Alex D. Ketchum provides the ethical framework of what true inclusion in action means, considering a broad variety of identities and experiences such as economic hardship, childcare needs, racial and ethnic identities, disabilities, neurodivergence, and more. Whether you’re hosting an academic symposium, an activist meeting, a feminist zinefest, or a comics con, Ketchum offers a step-by-step guide through the planning and execution process, with useful tips, timelines, and templates along the way. This book is an indispensable companion to building events and conferences from an ethic of care, allowing us to cultivate authentic community and to create the better world we desire—together.
Have you ever wanted to organize a public event? Do you dream of hosting a battle of the bands, film screenings, concerts, poetry readings, art shows, teach-ins, lectures, seed exchanges, zine workshops, and panels? What about a conference? Maybe you already have experience doing this work but you have noticed that inequities from the society-at-large are replicated at your events, despite best intentions.
The goal of this book is to provide event and conference organizers of all levels with the tools to make their events accessible, sustainable, and rooted in social justice principles. Whether you are new to organizing or highly experienced, this book will provide frameworks and practical tips to create inclusive events. No matter the kind of event or conference you are interested in organizing, whether large or small, online, in-person, hybrid, synchronous, or asynchronous, this book includes what you need to know. From the smallest details (such as what to have in your bag on the day of the gathering) to large topics (such as choosing a location, selecting presenters, funding, designing publicity materials, working with community partners, etc.)
This book draws on my experience organizing hundreds of public events, including:
100+ events for Disrupting Disruptions: The Feminist and Accessible Publishing, Communications, and Tech Hybrid Speaker and Workshop Series
Several conferences, including:
Queer Food Conference (Boston and Montréal)
Food, Feminism, and Fermentation Conference
Circuits de consommation, a food, feminism, and technology conference
Multiple Feminist Research Colloquiums
I have also organized concerts, book launches, pumpkin festivals, sports tournaments, dances, parties, potlucks, podcasting workshops, film screenings, rallies, marches, and parades. As both an organizer and attendee, I have paid attention to what worked, what did not work, and what could be improved. I will also share insights from other event organizers, disability justice activists, feminist educators, and queer designers.
How we do the work is the work. In this book, I hope to help you organize events and conferences that reflect the ethos that inspired your event in the first place. We will explore how decisions over signage, outreach, website design, food, pricing, venue, technology, and so much more can foreground queer, feminist, accessible, socially just, and inclusive principles. This book will help you host an event or conference in which everyone who takes part feels included, supported, and valued!
This book begins in Part 1 by exploring the foundations of inclusive event and conference organizing. Part 2 focuses on event organizing. Much of the content in Part 2 informs Part 3, which focuses specifically on conference planning. Part 4 focuses on your needs as an organizer.
One other note: Part 2, the section on events, can inform your conference organizing decisions . . . because conferences are, in essence, a series of smaller events, grouped together.
While each section of the book builds on the next, I encourage you to flip to different sections as they are most useful for you. Templates for your event and conference organizing are distributed throughout the book. If your phone has word detection capabilities, you can turn your camera app on and select the text so you can use the templates more readily. Adjust them to your needs.
Finally, although I may mention certain applications and software, technology is ever-evolving. I encourage you to focus more on the technological capabilities of any tool (whether paper, email, computer software, or a phone app) and how they can serve the values of your conference rather than the exact software I discuss.
This book contains information that will help guide your decisions to ensure that your event is inclusive and reflects your goals and values.
Breaking it off? Got dumped? Parting ways with a pal? Ouch, that hurts. Even beyond the heartache, embarrassment, and logistical strain of the moment, breakups can summon up all our old baggage to play havoc with our lives and heads.
Dr. Faith G. Harper, bestselling author of books like Unfuck Your Brain and Unfuck Your Intimacy, brings you a kind, relatable, and plain-language guide to all things break-up: deciding to do it (or not), doing the thing, and picking up the pieces afterward to build a life that suits you better than ever. Whether or not the breakup was your idea, or if the partnership was romantic, sexual, or platonic, no matter the seriousness of the bond or the shared responsibilities and finances involved, parting ways can be a canon life event with powerful transformational potential as you rise from the wreckage. And it’s never too late to come back to your best self.
Keep reading for an excerpt of Dr. Faith G. Harper’s Unfuck Your Breakup,shipping now from our site and available through your favorite purveyors of indie books!
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.
Read on for a sneak peek at What Rides at Nightedited 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!
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 Actwas 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!!!
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!
Queer Mediations for Dark Times by Rosśa Crean Trauma specialist, multidimensional artist, and magickal practitioner Rosśa Crean draws upon their work with clients and their own experience with abuse and recovery in this powerful selection of reflections, prompts, and musings to support others navigating dark times.
Resist Monopolies: How to Fight Corporate Control and Support an Economy that Matters by Ron Knox What can we do to resist monopolies in a world that tells us they’re too big to fail and too strong to fight? We take them on anyway! Written by a worker for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, this zine documents the battles and triumphs of the growing antimonopoly movement, and shows how you, too, can fight against corporate control where you live and work.
The Sexual Assault Survivor’s Guide to the Legal Processby Emma Alice Johnson This step-by-step zine is designed to be a written companion to the legal process following incidents of sexual violence, because while helpful resources may be offered (such as a victim advocate), progress and updates are often communicated quickly and verbally, leaving survivors little time to process or make deliberate decisions about their cases.
Books and Math: A Manifesto on Publishing Toolsby Joe Biel, Elly Blue, and Sara Balabanlilar Learn what you need to succeed in book publishing—and more importantly, how to determine what success means for you. For fellow publishers, future publishers, book industry comrades, systems nerds, and other kindred spirits, this zine is packed with what you need to know about distribution, automation, data analysis, and how to blaze your own bookish path—without making our same mistakes.
Dangerous Gifts: Using Internal Family Systems to Channel Your Madness and Transform Your Life by Sascha Altman DuBrul For the sensitives, the imaginatives, for anyone who has struggled to fit in or see the world in the normative way, this compassionate zine offers new pathways for thinking about—and treating—different kinds of psychological distress through the lens of Internal Family Systems, and through recognizing the connections between individuals’ mental wellbeing and the health of their communities, families, environments, and social structures.
Ticks and How to Love Themby Emma Alice Johnson From identifying their markings to cool trivia (fossilized ticks have been found on dinosaur feathers in amber?!), Emma Alice Johnson shares her diverse array of tick-based knowledge, and busts some tick memes and myths along the way. Even if love is too tall an order, this zine will fill you in on useful tick facts, features, and types, which will help keep you stay safe and attuned to your surroundings.
To stay on top of the latest Microcosm news, including the zines digest delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter! Also often includes cute pet pics and good (bad) puns.
Portland, Oregon, is a queer city in the queerest state in the US. It’s also a place where, like anywhere in this country, you can experience bigotry, violence, and discrimination. Out of these contradictions bursts this sparkling collection of first-person stories—a heady mix of fiction and fact—written by contributors from across the queer spectrum and beyond, serving vulnerability, humor, and realness.
Immerse yourself in familiar scenes and landmarks like Washington Park, Caffe Mingo, the Silverado, Powell’s City of Books, Umbra Penumbra, St. Mary’s Academy, the Lloyd Center Mall, Hawthorne Boulevard, Food Front Co-op, Darcelle XV, a ghost bike installation, a backyard barbecue, a call center during third shift, and the many bridges over the Willamette River. Read Gabby Rivera’s original story that became the hit novel Juliet Takes a Breath. Revel in David Ciminello’s tale of a waiter who falls in love with a straight guy from the café next door. Learn Marc Acito’s answer to the question “Where do you find hot men in Portland?” Elevate your vocabulary with Stevie Anntonym’s “Lesbian Lexicon.” Whatever your orientation, these accounts of queer and trans life in the Rose City will make you see the world and your place in it from a different angle.
This new edition of the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology includes a poem by Nastashia Minto and stories by Christa Orth and Kalimah Abioto.
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.
To stay on top of the latest Microcosm news, including the zines digest delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter! Also often includes cute pet pics and good (bad) puns.
