{"id":7021,"date":"2026-05-07T03:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T03:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/?p=7021"},"modified":"2026-05-06T22:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T22:33:19","slug":"a-microcosm-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/a-microcosm-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"A Microcosm Makeover!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"646\" data-id=\"7030\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1024x646.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7030\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1024x646.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1.png 1480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it started<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"647\" data-id=\"7031\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7031\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1024x647.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM.png 1476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it&#8217;s going<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Holy cats! It\u2019s a whole new look for the <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/\">Microcosm website<\/a>\u2014and some exciting new features. We\u2019ve been honing our software behind-the-scenes for decades, but this is our first public-facing website makeover since 2012!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For 30 years, we\u2019ve had a riotously maximalist ecommerce website. And it\u2019s worked\u2014pretty well. But lately, you\u2019ve been telling us what you want it to do better and we\u2019ve been scribbling notes and making plans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new features primarily fall into two categories: discoverability and ease. Read on for an overview of what\u2019s changed \u2026 and how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or watch this video&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.loom.com\/embed\/948545a2a86a432298ca23fc403dd20b\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Discoverability and Personalized Recs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"75\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"want help finding cool things?\" class=\"wp-image-7027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM.png 310w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM-300x73.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You wanted to see more of what you wanted\u2014and fewer things you would never buy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We pride ourselves on our curation across a broad range of topics. And we know that not all those topics are what everyone is looking for. Especially since we\u2019ve spent the years since 2020 adding thousands and thousands of titles to our \u201ccurated website.\u201d It\u2019s easy to get lost in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new features help you find what you\u2019re looking for, plus the hidden gems you didn\u2019t know you needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you run a lefty home and garden shop and want to know what\u2019s selling well for gardening season, plus some activist zines to put by your register\u2026&nbsp; but you don\u2019t want to have to wade through a page of anarchist history and 90s punk retrospectives before you find what you need. But who are you kidding, you probably want those too! Oh, no? Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe you want to buy every new issue of <em>Cometbus<\/em> and <em>Fluke<\/em> as it comes out. You don\u2019t particularly need to see a bunch of pagan guides, children\u2019s books, or political rhetoric\u2014but would love to take a gander at the music scene histories that just came back into stock, and maybe queer pride stickers and patches for your newly out nibling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever you\u2019re looking for, we\u2019ve got you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To get personalized recommendations:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Click on the \u201cHelp me find cool stuff\u201d button on the right side of the front page at microcosm.pub and tell us a bit about who you are and what you\u2019re looking for.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create an account and save those preferences so that every time you come back, you\u2019ll see what\u2019s new and recommended for you, both within and near your categories.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Want to see even more? Use the search bar at the top and refine your results with filters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We use math and relational databases to personalize these recs\u2014never AI, ew. And we will never share your preferences with another company. Or load up your browser with marketing cookies. Or creepily bombard you with ads for whatever you were recently discussing with a friend with your phone turned off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ease of Ordering for Stores<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"microcosmpublishing.com\/ordering\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"647\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1024x647.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM.png 1476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>More and more stores are carrying books. And more and more of them are trying to get away from ordering on platforms owned by billionaires. So we\u2019ve been hearing more and more of a question that we\u2019re sorry you\u2019ve had to ask: \u201chow do I place a wholesale order?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosm.pub\/order\">How to Order page<\/a> is easy to find, in the top nav bar. All of our discounts and terms are spelled out with loving clarity. If you\u2019re ever left wondering, please drop us a line and we\u2019ll clarify for you (and probably also update our language so it\u2019s clear to everyone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Plus . . .<\/strong> stores can now order thousands more titles on our website. Our full stock in our larger Cleveland warehouse is now easily available to resellers (and soon will be to regular folks buying for themselves).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resellers<\/strong>, you can now put anything you want in one cart, and we\u2019ll split off backorders after you check out. Add a cancel date to your order and we\u2019ll be delighted to honor it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bookstore buyers<\/strong>, check out our Catalogs for frontlist and forthcoming seasons. (We are making even more improvements just for you, dear booksellers, in our 2.0 release.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More nerdy Microcosm lore<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>We were early adopters of Web 1.0 and had one of the first ecommerce websites. We were also one of the first (and still very few) publishers to offer online ordering for bookstores and other resellers. This experience has made us, counterintuitively, want to be extremely deliberate about changing our website\u2014we know too well the stakes of getting it right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1024x568.png\" alt=\"A screenshot from a 2002 website, listing punk and political books\" class=\"wp-image-7023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1536x851.png 1536w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-2048x1135.png 2048w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1320x732.png 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A page from our &#8220;Books (A-F)&#8221; catalog page in 2002, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our mission is forever to get life-saving, world-changing tools into readers\u2019 hands. Our website has always been one of our key ways of doing that. This redesign has been a multi-layered labor of love two years in the making. We hope you love it too\u2014and that you send us any kudos, bugs, feature requests, and wild ideas that come to you as you use it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most important, go out there and do that thing you&#8217;ve always dreamed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Love,<br>Everyone at Microcosm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>P.S. Still hate the internet? We sure do get that. You can always ask us for a <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\">paper catalog<\/a> of all our published books. We make a new one every year with a new comic on the back, and we&#8217;d be delighted to send you one, or a stack to put in your local flyer spots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"798\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-798x1024.jpg\" alt=\"a huge, fold-out catalog of books on a poster.\" class=\"wp-image-7024\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-798x1024.jpg 798w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-234x300.jpg 234w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-768x986.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup.jpg 935w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Microcosm&#8217;s 2025\/2026 paper catalog \/ map folding skills test. On the other side is a comic about the power of zines!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holy cats! It\u2019s a whole new look for the Microcosm website\u2014and some exciting new features. We\u2019ve been honing our software behind-the-scenes for decades, but this is our first public-facing website makeover since 2012!&nbsp; For 30 years, we\u2019ve had a riotously maximalist ecommerce website. And it\u2019s worked\u2014pretty well. But lately, you\u2019ve been telling us what you&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/a-microcosm-makeover\/\" title=\"Read A Microcosm Makeover!\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogifesto","category-in-the-news"],"my_excerpt":"<!-- wp:columns -->\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\"><!-- wp:column {\"width\":\"100%\"} -->\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\"><!-- wp:gallery {\"linkTo\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped\"><!-- wp:image {\"id\":7030,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1024x646.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7030\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it started<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":7031,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7031\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it's going<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image --><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:gallery --><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:column --><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:columns -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Holy cats! It\u2019s a whole new look for the <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/\">Microcosm website<\/a>\u2014and some exciting new features. We\u2019ve been honing our software behind-the-scenes for decades, but this is our first public-facing website makeover since 2012!&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For 30 years, we\u2019ve had a riotously maximalist ecommerce website. And it\u2019s worked\u2014pretty well. But lately, you\u2019ve been telling us what you want it to do better and we\u2019ve been scribbling notes and making plans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Our new features primarily fall into two categories: discoverability and ease. Read on for an overview of what\u2019s changed \u2026 and how to use it.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Or watch this video...<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:html -->\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.loom.com\/embed\/948545a2a86a432298ca23fc403dd20b\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:html -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Discoverability and Personalized Recs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":7027,\"sizeSlug\":\"full\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"want help finding cool things?\" class=\"wp-image-7027\"\/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>You wanted to see more of what you wanted\u2014and fewer things you would never buy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We pride ourselves on our curation across a broad range of topics. And we know that not all those topics are what everyone is looking for. Especially since we\u2019ve spent the years since 2020 adding thousands and thousands of titles to our \u201ccurated website.\u201d It\u2019s easy to get lost in there.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Our new features help you find what you\u2019re looking for, plus the hidden gems you didn\u2019t know you needed.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Maybe you run a lefty home and garden shop and want to know what\u2019s selling well for gardening season, plus some activist zines to put by your register\u2026&nbsp; but you don\u2019t want to have to wade through a page of anarchist history and 90s punk retrospectives before you find what you need. But who are you kidding, you probably want those too! Oh, no? Okay.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Or maybe you want to buy every new issue of <em>Cometbus<\/em> and <em>Fluke<\/em> as it comes out. You don\u2019t particularly need to see a bunch of pagan guides, children\u2019s books, or political rhetoric\u2014but would love to take a gander at the music scene histories that just came back into stock, and maybe queer pride stickers and patches for your newly out nibling.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Whatever you\u2019re looking for, we\u2019ve got you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>To get personalized recommendations:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:list -->\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Click on the \u201cHelp me find cool stuff\u201d button on the right side of the front page at microcosm.pub and tell us a bit about who you are and what you\u2019re looking for.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Create an account and save those preferences so that every time you come back, you\u2019ll see what\u2019s new and recommended for you, both within and near your categories.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Want to see even more? Use the search bar at the top and refine your results with filters.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<!-- \/wp:list -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We use math and relational databases to personalize these recs\u2014never AI, ew. And we will never share your preferences with another company. Or load up your browser with marketing cookies. Or creepily bombard you with ads for whatever you were recently discussing with a friend with your phone turned off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ease of Ordering for Stores<\/strong><\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"lightbox\":{\"enabled\":false},\"id\":7028,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"custom\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"microcosmpublishing.com\/ordering\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7028\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>More and more stores are carrying books. And more and more of them are trying to get away from ordering on platforms owned by billionaires. So we\u2019ve been hearing more and more of a question that we\u2019re sorry you\u2019ve had to ask: \u201chow do I place a wholesale order?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Our new <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosm.pub\/order\">How to Order page<\/a> is easy to find, in the top nav bar. All of our discounts and terms are spelled out with loving clarity. If you\u2019re ever left wondering, please drop us a line and we\u2019ll clarify for you (and probably also update our language so it\u2019s clear to everyone).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>Plus . . .<\/strong> stores can now order thousands more titles on our website. Our full stock in our larger Cleveland warehouse is now easily available to resellers (and soon will be to regular folks buying for themselves).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>Resellers<\/strong>, you can now put anything you want in one cart, and we\u2019ll split off backorders after you check out. Add a cancel date to your order and we\u2019ll be delighted to honor it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>Bookstore buyers<\/strong>, check out our Catalogs for frontlist and forthcoming seasons. (We are making even more improvements just for you, dear booksellers, in our 2.0 release.)<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading {\"level\":1} -->\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More nerdy Microcosm lore<\/strong><\/h1>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We were early adopters of Web 1.0 and had one of the first ecommerce websites. We were also one of the first (and still very few) publishers to offer online ordering for bookstores and other resellers. This experience has made us, counterintuitively, want to be extremely deliberate about changing our website\u2014we know too well the stakes of getting it right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":7023,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1024x568.png\" alt=\"A screenshot from a 2002 website, listing punk and political books\" class=\"wp-image-7023\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A page from our \"Books (A-F)\" catalog page in 2002, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Our mission is forever to get life-saving, world-changing tools into readers\u2019 hands. Our website has always been one of our key ways of doing that. This redesign has been a multi-layered labor of love two years in the making. We hope you love it too\u2014and that you send us any kudos, bugs, feature requests, and wild ideas that come to you as you use it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Most important, go out there and do that thing you've always dreamed of.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Love,<br>Everyone at Microcosm<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>P.S. Still hate the internet? We sure do get that. You can always ask us for a <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\">paper catalog<\/a> of all our published books. We make a new one every year with a new comic on the back, and we'd be delighted to send you one, or a stack to put in your local flyer spots!<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"lightbox\":{\"enabled\":false},\"id\":7024,\"width\":\"840px\",\"height\":\"auto\",\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"custom\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\"><img src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-798x1024.jpg\" alt=\"a huge, fold-out catalog of books on a poster.\" class=\"wp-image-7024\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Microcosm's 2025\/2026 paper catalog \/ map folding skills test. On the other side is a comic about the power of zines!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","my_excerpt_rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"646\" data-id=\"7030\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1024x646.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7030\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1024x646.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.01\u202fAM-1.png 1480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it started<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"647\" data-id=\"7031\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7031\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1024x647.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.03.42\u202fAM.png 1476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">How it&#8217;s going<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Holy cats! It\u2019s a whole new look for the <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/\">Microcosm website<\/a>\u2014and some exciting new features. We\u2019ve been honing our software behind-the-scenes for decades, but this is our first public-facing website makeover since 2012!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For 30 years, we\u2019ve had a riotously maximalist ecommerce website. And it\u2019s worked\u2014pretty well. But lately, you\u2019ve been telling us what you want it to do better and we\u2019ve been scribbling notes and making plans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new features primarily fall into two categories: discoverability and ease. Read on for an overview of what\u2019s changed \u2026 and how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or watch this video&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.loom.com\/embed\/948545a2a86a432298ca23fc403dd20b\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Discoverability and Personalized Recs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"75\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"want help finding cool things?\" class=\"wp-image-7027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM.png 310w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.25.53\u202fAM-300x73.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You wanted to see more of what you wanted\u2014and fewer things you would never buy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We pride ourselves on our curation across a broad range of topics. And we know that not all those topics are what everyone is looking for. Especially since we\u2019ve spent the years since 2020 adding thousands and thousands of titles to our \u201ccurated website.\u201d It\u2019s easy to get lost in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new features help you find what you\u2019re looking for, plus the hidden gems you didn\u2019t know you needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you run a lefty home and garden shop and want to know what\u2019s selling well for gardening season, plus some activist zines to put by your register\u2026&nbsp; but you don\u2019t want to have to wade through a page of anarchist history and 90s punk retrospectives before you find what you need. But who are you kidding, you probably want those too! Oh, no? Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe you want to buy every new issue of <em>Cometbus<\/em> and <em>Fluke<\/em> as it comes out. You don\u2019t particularly need to see a bunch of pagan guides, children\u2019s books, or political rhetoric\u2014but would love to take a gander at the music scene histories that just came back into stock, and maybe queer pride stickers and patches for your newly out nibling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever you\u2019re looking for, we\u2019ve got you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To get personalized recommendations:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Click on the \u201cHelp me find cool stuff\u201d button on the right side of the front page at microcosm.pub and tell us a bit about who you are and what you\u2019re looking for.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create an account and save those preferences so that every time you come back, you\u2019ll see what\u2019s new and recommended for you, both within and near your categories.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Want to see even more? Use the search bar at the top and refine your results with filters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We use math and relational databases to personalize these recs\u2014never AI, ew. And we will never share your preferences with another company. Or load up your browser with marketing cookies. Or creepily bombard you with ads for whatever you were recently discussing with a friend with your phone turned off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ease of Ordering for Stores<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"microcosmpublishing.com\/ordering\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"647\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1024x647.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM-1320x833.png 1320w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.29.49\u202fAM.png 1476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>More and more stores are carrying books. And more and more of them are trying to get away from ordering on platforms owned by billionaires. So we\u2019ve been hearing more and more of a question that we\u2019re sorry you\u2019ve had to ask: \u201chow do I place a wholesale order?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our new <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosm.pub\/order\">How to Order page<\/a> is easy to find, in the top nav bar. All of our discounts and terms are spelled out with loving clarity. If you\u2019re ever left wondering, please drop us a line and we\u2019ll clarify for you (and probably also update our language so it\u2019s clear to everyone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Plus . . .<\/strong> stores can now order thousands more titles on our website. Our full stock in our larger Cleveland warehouse is now easily available to resellers (and soon will be to regular folks buying for themselves).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resellers<\/strong>, you can now put anything you want in one cart, and we\u2019ll split off backorders after you check out. Add a cancel date to your order and we\u2019ll be delighted to honor it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bookstore buyers<\/strong>, check out our Catalogs for frontlist and forthcoming seasons. (We are making even more improvements just for you, dear booksellers, in our 2.0 release.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More nerdy Microcosm lore<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>We were early adopters of Web 1.0 and had one of the first ecommerce websites. We were also one of the first (and still very few) publishers to offer online ordering for bookstores and other resellers. This experience has made us, counterintuitively, want to be extremely deliberate about changing our website\u2014we know too well the stakes of getting it right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1024x568.png\" alt=\"A screenshot from a 2002 website, listing punk and political books\" class=\"wp-image-7023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1536x851.png 1536w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-2048x1135.png 2048w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-8.15.43\u202fAM-1320x732.png 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A page from our &#8220;Books (A-F)&#8221; catalog page in 2002, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Our mission is forever to get life-saving, world-changing tools into readers\u2019 hands. Our website has always been one of our key ways of doing that. This redesign has been a multi-layered labor of love two years in the making. We hope you love it too\u2014and that you send us any kudos, bugs, feature requests, and wild ideas that come to you as you use it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most important, go out there and do that thing you&#8217;ve always dreamed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Love,<br>Everyone at Microcosm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>P.S. Still hate the internet? We sure do get that. You can always ask us for a <a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\">paper catalog<\/a> of all our published books. We make a new one every year with a new comic on the back, and we&#8217;d be delighted to send you one, or a stack to put in your local flyer spots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/catalog\/other\/8988\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"798\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-798x1024.jpg\" alt=\"a huge, fold-out catalog of books on a poster.\" class=\"wp-image-7024\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-798x1024.jpg 798w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-234x300.jpg 234w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup-768x986.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/poster-catalog-books_blowup.jpg 935w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Microcosm&#8217;s 2025\/2026 paper catalog \/ map folding skills test. On the other side is a comic about the power of zines!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7021"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7048,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions\/7048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microcosmpublishing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}