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Joe Biel is a self-made autistic publisher and filmmaker who draws origins, inspiration, and methods from punk rock to sell millions of books. Biel is the founder and CEO of Microcosm Publishing, Publishers Weekly's #1 fastest-growing publisher of 2022 and #3 in 2023/2024, and WorkingLit, the software responsible for Microcosm's aforementioned success—now available for other publishers. Biel has been featured in Time, Esquire, Art of Autism, Reading Glasses, Bulletproof Radio, Spectator (Japan), G33K (Korea), and Maximum Rocknroll, as well as NPR and PBS. Biel is the author of A People's Guide to Publishing, Autism Relationships Handbook, Unfuck Your Business, Enduring Legacy of Portland's Black Panthers, and dozens more. Biel is the director of five feature films and hundreds of short films, including Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland, $100 & a T-Shirt, and the Groundswell series. Biel lives in Portland, OR.

Neurodivergent Pride #6: Masking

by Joe Biel Editor, Eliot Daughtry Contributor, Niko Boskovic Contributor, Margaret-Michael Dubois Contributor and fly Illustrator

The third installment of this zine series about what it means to be neurodiverse, and what the neurodiverse experience…

$4.95

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Patch #102: Fix Shit Up

Patch #102Fix Shit Up

by Joe Biel Author

Are you tired of fucking shit up? Don’t worry, we all make mistakes but they are all fixable! Why not start with your…

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How to Ride Slow: Bicycling in the age of whatever topic is trending on social media this minute

by Joe Biel Author

Bicycling has many obvious health benefits, but the least obvious one is the mindful act of bicycling. Rather than…

$4.00

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Neurodivergent Pride #5: Autistic People Interacting with Authority

by Temple Grandin, Ph.D Author, Joe Biel Author, Margaret-Michael Dubois Author, Kriss De Jong Author, Ricki Bransen Illustrator and Eliot Daughtry Editor

The R-word has been used against us as hate speech for decades. Neurotypicals have tried to dictate our motives,…

$4.95

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Bicycle Culture Rising #4: How Kittie Knox Made Bicycling for Everyone

by Joe Biel Author

In the 1890s, bicycling was a cultural activity for the wealthy elite, with a bicycle costing about twenty weeks of a…

$4.95 2 comments

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Pin #046Pro Choice

by Joe Biel Author

Because abortions should be safe, legal, available, and shame-free. Smash the stigma with this 1" round pinback button…

$1.50 3 comments

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(We’ve All Got) Baggage: Envisioning an Ideal Community and Engaging It With Our Own Problems and Hangups

by Dawson Barrett Author, Joe Biel Author, Joseph E. Green Author, Cheyenne Winters Author, Dr. Faith G. Harper Author, 6 more

If Microcosm was a person, they'd be in their early twenties, chock full of the messy connotations that this era of…

$7.95

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How to Boycott: Make Your Voice Heard, Understand History, & Change the World

by Joe Biel Author

From Chick-Fil-A to the Boston Tea Party, Nike to Women's Suffrage in the U.S., United Farm Workers to the Woolworth's…

$6.99

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Punks Around #4: The Minot, North Dakota Punk Scene 2001-2018

by Joe Biel Author and Alexander Herbert Series Editor

Minot may only be the fourth largest city in North Dakota, but it's a key player in the punk ecosphere. Home to the…

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A People's Guide to Publishing: Building a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business From the Ground Up

by Joe Biel Author and Jane Friedman Foreword

Second edition coming in February, 2026 So, you want to publish books.  Drawing on 24 years of experience operating an…

$19.95 14 comments

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Gin Blossoms: Suicide, Corporatism, Addiction, Creativity, and the Lessons of Doug Hopkins

by Joe Biel Author

"Hey Jealousy," "Found Out About You"... most of the hits from the Gin Blossoms' 1992 breakout album, New Miserable…

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Punks Around #3: The Minot, North Dakota Punk Scene 1989-2000

by Joe Biel Author and Alexander Herbert Series Editor

In 1999 our show in MInot, North Dakota was canceled but the locals said that we could still come hang out. I gave them…

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Perfect Mix Tape Segue #7: Still Alive in Tree House

by Joe Biel Author

During a period of transition, our protagonist takes refuge by living in a literal treehouse. For the first time in his…

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Neurodivergent Pride #3: The Survivors Issue

by Joe Biel Editor, Temple Grandin, Ph.D Contributor, Eliot Daughtry Contributor, Aaron Poliwoda Contributor and Partly Robot Contributor

The life expectancy of autistic people is 36 years old. The most likely cause of this is suicide. Autistic people are…

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Sticker #409: Defend Our Movements

Sticker #409Defend Our Movements

by Joe Biel Author

Ongoing movements are what allows us to create a better world in the future, and a big part of the work is defending…

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Sticker #406: Representation Means Safety

Sticker #406Representation Means Safety

by Joe Biel Author

It's so important to see people like us represented in the government, in our workplace, in our schools, in the media…

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Sticker #408: Purebread Princess

Sticker #408Purebread Princess

by Joe Biel Author

We all know that the real princesses are made entirely of bread. Don't we? Are you a purebread princess - one of these…

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Neurodivergent Pride #1: Autistic Pride in a Neurophobic World

by Joe Biel Editor, Temple Grandin, Ph.D Contributor, Ricki Bransen Contributor, Eliot Daughtry Contributor, Aaron Poliwoda Contributor, Tammy Porter Contributor and Partly Robot Contributor

The R-word has been used against us as hate speech for decades. Neurotypicals have tried to dictate our motives,…

$6.99 2 comments

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Chainring Heart Feminist Fist

by Joe Biel Author, Elly Blue Author and Cecilia Granata Illustrator

Show your feminist bicycle power with this enamel pin based on Cecilia Granata's re-imagining of the Schwinn bicycle…

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big patch #101: Bicycles Allowed Full Lane

big patch #101Bicycles Allowed Full Lane

by Randy Albright Author and Joe Biel Author

In Oregon and many places across the globe, a bicycle is allowed to occupy a whole lane of traffic (alone or with a…

$8.00 5 comments

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Bicycle Culture Rising #2: The Portland Police's Peculiar War Against Bicycling 1993-2007

by Joe Biel Author

It's the revamped second edition of the Expozine Award Winning zine of police documents, now with commentary! Last time…

$6.00 6 comments

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A People's Guide to Publishing Workbook: Build Your Book Business from the Ground Up

by Joe Biel Author

Plan out your publishing empire, from mission to budgets, with this workbook companion to Joe Biel's A People's Guide to…

$4.95

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$50 Superpack: Get To Know Joe

by Joe Biel Author and Super Pack! Author

Over the course of 23 years, Microcosm's founder Joe Biel has written eight books across a wide band of subject matter.…

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Patch #244: Autistic Lives Matter

Patch #244Autistic Lives Matter

by Joe Biel Author

From day-to-day difficulties in socializing, inflexible routines, and sensitivity to noises to the fact that a…

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Bicycle Culture Rising #1: Participatory & Grassroots Bicycle Movements

by Joe Biel Author

A social history and tactics lesson about the participatory and grassroots bicycle movements and their impact and…

$4.95 12 comments

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Bikequity: Money, Class, & Bicycling

by Elly Blue Editor, Joe Biel Contributor, Cheyenne Winters Contributor, Gretchin Lair Contributor, Adonia E. Lugo, PhD Contributor and Katura Reynolds Contributor

Bicycling has the radical potential of equalizing our transportation system, creating more equitable opportunities from…

$9.95 3 comments

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Sticker #036: Minimum Wage: The Latest Gateway Drug

Sticker #036Minimum Wage: The Latest Gateway Drug

by Joe Biel Author

Minimum wage is so far below a living wage, that it's no wonder people turn to mind-altering substances to distract…

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Patch #238: Feminist Chainring Fist

Patch #238Feminist Chainring Fist

by Joe Biel Author, Elly Blue Author and Cecilia Granata Author

Sometimes it's hard to sum up the totality of who you are in a single symbol. Peace signs, anarchy symbols, rainbows,…

$5.00

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Xerography Debt #43

by Davida G. Breier Series Editor, Joe Biel Contributor, Gavin Grant Contributor, AJ Michel Contributor, Anne Thalheimer Contributor and Liz Mason Contributor

With so many zines out there, it can be hard to know which one to read, let alone discover new ones. Xerography #43 has…

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Cat Party #2: Stories & Comics About Our Favorite Cats

by Joe Biel Contributor, Dame Darcy Contributor, Keet Geniza Contributor, Katie Haegele Editor, Mardou Contributor and River Katz Contributor

Five stories and comics by a variety of creators about beloved kitties, in the spirit of Katie Haegele's Cats I've…

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