Microcosm Publishing

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About

Portland, OR and Cleveland, OH's most colorful, authentic, independent, 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. 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. 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 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. 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 constantly poses the question “How can we remove barriers to success for marginalized people in our industry?” In 2022-2024, Microcosm was named a Publishers Weekly's Fastest Growing Publisher.

Important: Query first.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 1996

Publication Medium

Print Publication Print Publication

AI Policy

Human-created work only; no AI use allowed

9 members set this publisher as a Favorite.

Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Book: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Mainstream.

Topics:

Children/Family: Parenting/Child care.
Folklore/Mythology: See guidelines.
Health/Medicine: Mental health.
Lifestyle: Self-help.
Religion/Spirituality: Occultism, See guidelines.
Sexuality/Gender: LGBTQ issues, See guidelines.
Society/Culture: Ethnicity/Race, Social issues.
Travel: See guidelines.
Other: See guidelines.

Payment:

Unknown advance + Unknown royalties Unknown advance. Unknown royalties.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Unknown.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

Recent cover image or website screenshot for Microcosm Publishing

Go to publisher's website

Report:
Submission/Query
Correction/Update
New Cover Art

Social:
Bluesky @microcosm.bsky.social
Facebook Facebook
Instagram @microcosm_pub

Support this Publisher:
Buy Book(s)

For the Editor(s):
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Link to Duotrope

Microcosm Publishing Submission Statistics

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We have not received any submission reports for this listing in the past 12 months.

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Dates

Last Updated: 01 Aug 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.