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Most recently, his team has been hand-selling How To Talk To Your Cat About Gun Safety by Zachary Auburn, a Penguin Random House author who got his start making zines with Microcosm. To this day, the publisher still hand-picks a few titles to sell. вЂњSelf-distribution through quality independent bookstores, zine shops, and non-traditional venues allows us to avoid the вЂbooks as units of productвЂ™ mode that pervades much of the industry.вЂќД«iel also became a mini-distributor as he traveled with MicrocosmвЂ™s zines and book and over the years, Microcosm distributed books from other publishers that ranged from mental health to sustainable living to punk rock. вЂњAn enthusiastic music shop or comic store can be a better partner than a large, indifferent chain,вЂќ said Kristine Anstine, MicrocosmвЂ™s major accounts sales manager, who spent two decades at Last Gasp Books before joining Microcosm. вЂњThey would buy a thousand books at a time.вЂќ Distributors call this underground network the вЂњparallel gift marketвЂќ-a bookselling ecosystem that most publishers donвЂ™t tap. вЂњIt has slowed down a bit, but for a while, our biggest account was a taco stand in Tokyo,вЂќ said Biel. The publisher keeps a database with around 600 in-business record stores that would be willing to sell books, in addition to a number of other more unexpected locations. The publisher has built its own network of record stores, gift shops, grocery stores, and other non-traditional bookselling locations that Biel calls the вЂњundergroundвЂќ of bookselling. Biel estimates that PGW only handled between 10% to 25% of MicrocosmвЂ™s distribution over the years, and Amazon only accounted for 1% of the publishersвЂ™ net sales. Since the beginning, Microcosm has always controlled the lionвЂ™s share of its own distribution.

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Its bestselling titles include Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs (150,000 copies in print since 2007), Unfuck Your Brain (33,000 copies in print since 2017), and the Henry & Glenn Forever indie comics series by Tom Neely (150,000 copies in print since 2010), and more than 125,000 copies of Portland guidebooks. Microcosm has sold over three million books and zines. As part of its new distribution arrangement, Microcosm will work with regional sales representatives throughout the U.S.: Fujii Associates in the Midwest, Como Sales on the East Coast, and Book Travelers West in the Northwest. Not sure where to get started? Check out our starter pack.вЂњNow our warehouse is adjacent to our offices which is really convenient for every level,вЂќ said Biel. But still, at heart, we've got this milk crate strapped to the back of a bike and we're riding wildly across town to hand you the book that might just be the one that saves your life. We're not as drunk or dirty as we used to be. We have a staff, we have relationships in the industry that send our books to places we wouldn't have dreamed we could walk into ourselves.

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Now we have contracts instead of handshakes, a warehouse instead of a fanny pack full of zines.

We set out to save ourselves from not caring, but out there in the margins we've found communities worth always doing it better for. We've brought our brightly colored books to infoshops, zine fests, media summits, bicycle conferences, parks, street corners, house shows, dirty bars, all night coffeeshops, art museums, and every corner of the mainstream where we can clear away a little space to set up shop. Microcosm has lived in milk crates, in closets, in a mud room, in a windowless basement, in a church, and under a desk at a major credit card company.

Microcosm constantly poses the question вЂњHow can we remove barriers to success for marginalized people in our industry?вЂќ All books are printed in the U.S., and the company doubles the industry average in number of women authors and prioritizes hiring of special needs employees. Microcosm focuses on relating the experiences of what it is like to be a marginalized person and strives to be recognized for spirit, creativity, and value. Microcosm was started by Joe Biel in a bedroom closet as a distro and record label in 1996 and is now among the oldest independent book publishing houses in Portland, OR. Microcosm emphasizes skill-building, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom with books and zines about DIY skills, food, bicycling, gender, self-care, and social justice. Portland (and Cleveland!)'s most colorful, authentic, and empowering publishing house and distributor, Microcosm Publishing & Distribution is a vertically integrated publishing house that equips readers to make positive changes in their lives and in the world around them.

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