Create your press

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 Publishing. A great resource for visual thinkers, note-takers, and anyone without a photographic memory, this little book will help keep your visions on track and hold you accountable to your goals. Because pursuing your meaning and purpose depends on keeping track of the details!

SUBJECT: Labor / About Zines / About Books / Microcosm / Creativity / Business / Publishing / Workbook

PUBLICATION: Aug 25, 2026

PRICE: $19.99

ISBN: 9781648415791

FORMAT: 160 pp, 5.5x8.5", paperback

WHOLESALE: Standard

CARTON QTY: 42

ART: b&w illustrations

Marketing Notes

The first editions of A People's Guide to Publishing and A People's Guide to Publishing Workbook have been cited as instrumental in several publishers' beginnings, including by Jelani Memory of A Kids Co.
The workbook is designed to be useful for anyone who wants to start their own publisher, but needs help organizing their thoughts and goals
Will appeal to publishing hopefuls as well as literary folk who feel like they're unseen by the existing system

Joe Biel is a self-made autistic publisher 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 lives in Portland, OR.

A small, innovative publishing house, Microcosm Publishing specializes in work designed to make the reader feel good about being alive, take an active role in bettering their life, and impact the world around them. Microcosm has developed a reputation for teaching self-empowerment, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom with books and zines about DIY skills, food, politics, and art. Our books are printed in the USA.