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. 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 “How can we remove barriers to success for marginalized people in our industry?” In 2022, Microcosm was named Publishers Weekly's Fastest Growing Publisher. 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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