We are thrilled to announce our new titles for Fall 2015, including more bicycling, punk, and travel books—new editions of Zinester’s Guide to Portland and Everyday Bicycling! Plus a new book by Alexander Barrett about Shanghai and two brand new authors—Emilie Bahr of New Orleans and Daniel Makagon of Chicago!
Check ’em out! Ten new Spring 2015 titles from punk rock to gender to bicycling to relationships to radicalism to humor to education to our classic DIY offerings!
I’m generally not one for year end lists. Usually I’m late to the party. Often times I’m not invited to the party. Sometimes I get lost on my way to the party and end up at a different party, but still have a really good time. With that in mind, this is my list of 2013’s “Top Things Made of Words.” These days format is less relevant than ever, so for this list, everything qualifies. Whether it’s an old book I didn’t read until last month, a blog, a zine, or the post-it that was stuck to my shoe, it all has a chance.
If you’re here, you probably already know the things we publish. And although I’m endlessly excited about each of them, I’ll try to leave them off of here. But no guarantees.
And now, in no particular order…
Scott McClanahan is probably my favorite writer that I discovered in 2013. I’m not the only one, as his most recent book Hill William has been everywhere I look lately. Rightfully so. Scott is from one of those places you forget exist outside of the movies, and are glad you’re not from. He was raised in a collapsed coal town in West Virginia and it serves as the basis of most of his writing. I picked up a short story collection of his, The Collected Works Vol. 1, mostly based on reputation, but partly just because of the cover image. I was sucked in by his perspective as a somewhat sensitive writer and storyteller among anachronistic coal miners, hard working hillbillies, and directionless drunks. Immediately after, I picked up Crapalachia and tore through the tales of his family and childhood friends. Hill William is waiting for me at home and it will be the next book I open.
I’ve said a few times in my life that I like movies and books where nothing really happens. A not so eloquent way of expressing appreciation for things that document a specific place or a moment in life. A record of things that don’t belong in the history books and will never be a blockbuster, but capture pieces of culture and emotion. Corner Store does this at its most basic level and it is somehow totally engrossing.
A handful of friends cruise around Milwaukee with one goal and a few basic rules. With a limited amount of money and a few government subsidies, they visit as many neighborhood corner stores as they can find. Not chains, not stores in the middle of the block, and not free standing markets. Just corner stores. They describe the places, poke around the inventory, mention anything of interest, and buy some malt liquor or a pack of peanuts or one of those 99 cent tall cans of sugar juice. Some people like to read books about WWII, or the rise and fall of kingdoms. I like to read about the chip selection of corner stores I’ll probably never visit.
From what I can tell, #2 was actually published sometime in 2012. #1 gives pretty much no indication of date. Both are seemingly hard to find in stock on the internet, but we actually have a couple copies of each in the store if you are dying for one.
Rontel is the pretty little kitty pictured above. Sam Pink is pretty in his own way. He’s also one of the most uniquely voiced and styled writers I’ve read in a long time. His books are generally short collections of poems, stories, phrases, and outbursts. Most of them can be taken in in a single sitting, and I’ve done that with every one of them that I could get my hands on. Rontel, like Corner Store, is also a record of a brief place in time as the author does his best to live and exist in Chicago. Actually, that’s wrong. He’s not doing his best at all. The problem is, he has no idea what his best is. So instead, he wanders aimlessly, half-awake, and a little bit dead, finding the absurdity in his own bleak existence. And he’s really damn good at that.
Lazy Fascist Press published Rontel. They also published Scott McClanahan’s Collected Works. When it comes down to it, pretty much everything they do is weird and wonderful and unique in the world of fiction. Just go read anything you can find that has their little mustache logo on the spine. That’s what I do.
Is 2013 the year “weird twitter” became a thing? Or is that just another party I’m a little late to? Either way, it the year I found the thriving community of writers and weirdos that make Twitter a place for more than just links to articles. Mount Ennui and ornery island are two people (or at least I assume they are) that transcend the running jokes and bad puns of other “weird” accounts and enter a different dimension of single line poetry, interconnected thoughts, and allusions to things you didn’t realize you’ve experienced. 140 character reminders that we all share this spaceship. And that it’s forever sinking.
Raw Deal #13 is both one of my favorite zines I’ve recently read, but also one of those most frustrating. Favorite because it’s a dirty (like under your fingernails, not sexy), passionate (same) collection of trains, botany, graffiti, and art through the lens of a punk mindset. From saving rare trees by breeding them in abandoned Oakland lots, to going from trainhopper to legitimate brake man, Joey Alone inspires in all the right ways. Why frustrating? Because this is the only piece of writing by him that I can find. It was formerly called Loitering is Good and I’m assuming there’s 12 other issues out there somewhere, but I’ve never encountered a single one of them. Somebody help!
Fancy Notions is the blog of a friend of mine. But regardless of that, it is filled with wonders of lesser traveled highways, old superstitions, liquor store artwork, and creepy childhood memories. Always worth reading.
In this case, we’ll ignore the music, but you should never actually do that. Bill Callahan, formerly Smog, has spent decades releasing one great album after another. Of the large chunk of his output that I’ve spent serious time with, I can’t think of a dud. Dream River is his most recent release and continues his style of extremely personal, but concise narratives. My favorite songwriter will probably forever be John Darnielle, but where Darnielle crams a devastating paragraph into a single measure of music, Callahan achieves the same emotional resonance by slurring a single syllable out over a few beats. His words hit you in that corner of the brain that makes your eyes glaze over and hands tense, as you relive your own version of the scene he’s spelling out.
A friend of mine may have said it best when, after I made him read this, he said something along the lines of “This completely convinced me that Radon is my new favorite band before I had ever heard their music.” And it’s true. Fristoe and Cometbus tag team the story of a DIY punk band from Florida that never quite got the attention they deserved. A portrait of a scene, a punk field guide, and just some damn good writing. If you’ve ever felt passionately about a band, you’ll be able to relate.
The Florida Room is a bar–good bloody marys, cheap tater tots, and just around the corner from my house. All good reasons to go hang out. But the reason it fits into this list, is the marquee. Like a lot of bars with signs or chalkboards, there’s plenty of silly jokes and advertising, and sometimes it’s amusing to see the dirtier ones in big letters on a fairly busy street. However, it’s also the only bar marquee to ever make me tear up a little. Nobody likes to lose a friend (or even just an acquaintance in my case), but it’s nice to see their name up in lights one last time.
Looking forward, I’m not sure which party I’ll wander into this year, but I’m sure it’ll be something just as engrossing as the 2013 has been. And as for things around here, there’s a whole host of things I’m looking forward to reading. The top of the list right now (which is always changing) is Aftermath of Forever, the next issue of Railroad Semantics, and the newest from Joshua Ploeg, This Ain’t No Picnic. But most of all, thank you for supporting all that we do! It would all be useless without you.
-Tim
Just so you know, we’ve got a lot of super great new titles! Who’s excited about Railroad Semantics #2!!?
If not that, how bout the new edition of Mostly True!
Raleigh Briggs even released her sequel to Make Your Place, the much-anticipated Make It Last!
Beyond The Music is Joe Biel’s new book, a really great one for anyone interested in the Punk “Scene” or the DIY ethics it brings with it.
And of course, we can’t forget about Everyday Bicycling, Elly Blue’s know-it-all book about cycling in any and every situation, a super great guide to get someone who might just be getting into bicycling, or even the bicycling fanatics! 🙂
Holy Cow! As I was typing this we just got another one in! The People’s Apocalypse! This one looks super interesting!
If your into that whole Thanksgiving thing, these are all things to be thankful for!
If your into that whole Christmas thing, any one of these would make great gifts!
Or, you could gift one to someone on Nov. 13th for World Kindness Day.
You’ll also have to stock up on books to read for Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day at the end of the month. Book Lover’s Day doesn’t have to end on Nov. 4th, it can last all year!
I can’t even keep up around here. I’m going to have to start reading faster…
-Jeff
Grow: How to take your do it yourself project and passion to the next level and quit your job! is a practical field guide for creative people to achieve success and sustainability on their own terms. Part of Grow’s mission is to empower creative people to come up with innovative solutions to make their creative passions sustainable career options. The first step in that process is to assess where you are and define where you want to go. In the spirit of Grow I posed a series of questions to Meggyn Pomerleau, who designed the book, about her career and goals so far. The issues that Meggyn outlines in our conversation are the ones that inspired me to write Grow: How to balance your creative passion with “real life,” how to understand what you and your creative work is worth, and how to face down an uncertain future with a careful planning.
Right now I’m in the process of putting together a series of workshops around the country this summer that will help creatives like Meggyn plan for DIY success. Until midnight on April 1 (9 pm pacific time) we are running a campaign on RocketHub.com to support the workshop tour and the production of Grow. We’d love to have your support!
How do you describe yourself creatively? What do you do and make and what would you like to do and make?
– I am a graphic artist. I make, draw, manipulate, form, paint, and sketch. Professionally, I’m a graphic designer and I primarily build websites. What I really like to do is illustrate and create typefaces.
What skills do you think are your strongest?
– My communication skills have gotten me to a point where I haven’t had to seek out work, ever. I’m also surprisingly good at drawing using my touch-pad on my laptop.
What skills do you feel you need to develop? How will you go about this?
– I still need to work on my time management skills, as well as practicing and researching my craft. Unfortunately, because I’m still a full time cubicle drone it’s difficult to find the time to work on my technical skills. That’s my main challenge right now–to make the decision to devote myself fully to my passion, or taking small steps to allow myself to have it in the future.
How integrated is your creative work into the rest of your life?
– My life is design, despite having the office job. I dream about typography; I pay attention to advertisements and details in logos, banners, and posters; and I’m constantly brainstorming pieces in my head. If I had to break it down in numbers: 40% of my life is the non-creative office job, 25% is actually creating, and 35% is everything else.
I believe it’s completely possible to turn the 25% into 75% if I choose to, but I’m worried about failure, inconsistent work flow, and settling for work I wouldn’t be interested in.
What is something you didn’t learn in school that you wish they taught about making your life and living as a creative person?
– One thing no one discussed was how to know what you’re worth. A lot of fresh graphic design graduates settle for production work, which doesn’t do anything for you, creatively.
Additionally, I wish that I had more one-on-one guidance and the professors helped us determine what kind of designer we were, how technically skilled we were, and where we should go to look for work in order to shape our future a bit. Design can be applied to many things, and if it’s not narrowed down to a specific category, it’s overwhelming to try to decide what category you’re going to focus on and try to pursue.
What are your creative goals for the next year? For the next five years?
– This next year, my goal is to develop a consistent style in my design that draws people to my work. I haven’t painted in the longest time, and I’m going to start again, to get back to my roots of being an artist.
In the next 5 years, I’d like to work for an agency or something fast paced and high stress or work as a freelance artist full time with clients sending me consistent work.
Check out Meggyn’s work in Grow! https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3905/
And support the RocketHub campaign here: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/14039-empower-diy-creative-entrepreneurs-with-grow
Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope all you lovers out there were out lovin’.
We’ve been active around here lately. Tim is heading down to Austin for Staple, our store continues to evolve, we’ve got lots of bright ideas for the future, and we’re adding lots of new titles on the website!
If you haven’t read the new CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting yet, you should. It’s creepy. It’s disturbing. It’s angering. Some parts are downright sickening. But it’s also exciting, enticing, and undoubtedly interesting. It contains minimal speculation and maximal research. Much of the content is admitted by government officials and operatives themselves. And the book compiles it together to let you see more of the big picture. And it’s not a pretty one. Not only does it bring un-skewed history to light, it’s a time capsule that you can send to friends and family to provoke thoughts and conversation. Even if they don’t want to believe most of it, it’s provocative so they can’t help reading it anyway. If you’ve read the original zines, you still want this, because it’s all been updated.
😉
Stay safe out there!
-Jeff
Are you stoked about the history of your town? 
Do you find out interesting nuggets by talking to those who came before you or by scouting out details on Google and Wikipedia? Do you want a reason to hunt out some people you respect and fill in the gaps?
Well, the Scene History series is an opportunity to do just that. Like our Simple History Series, we will publish a new volume each year of the Scene History series that tell the story of a particular city’s scene. (the series does not profile individuals, albums, or bands, and must be framed around a real scene, no fiction!)
Suggested length is 15,000-30,000 words. Get as creative as you find gratifying. Learn about your favorite places and how things developed.
Check out the existing Scene Histories here!
To pitch, just send a general summary of the scene that you are profiling, the years profiled, and your qualifications/interest to profile it! Will it be prose or comics? Do you have access to photos and images? Why are you excited to do this?
Submit or ask questions to joe at microcosmpublishing daht com
What was the inspiration to write about fixing things? 
We were throwing around the idea of having a book about canning, I think. But there are a million books out there about canning. I started wondering why some preservation skills were so glamorous all of a sudden, while others went under the radar. So I decided to take that same great energy around canning, pickling and whatnot and expand it to include things like mending and home repair.
Definitely. People see maintaining as more of a chore than anything else, which, to be fair, it often is. And it can be hard to create community around fixing things up. But humble as they are, those skills make you a great asset to the people in your life (and to yourself). They’re especially crucial when folks you know are struggling. Homemade food and clothes can be a huge comfort, but helping out with a broken window or a leaky toilet is an absolute godsend.
I’d be lost without my lovely local library. My friends and family were a great resource, too–people have all sorts of secrets they use around their own homes. It’s really awesome to see all the McGyvers and repair whizzes come out of the woodwork.
Play the cello. Edit video. Also, electrical stuff still confuses the crap out of me.
I’m a big flaming feminist, but I don’t think of Make It Last as speaking exclusively to women. Women have always done the lion’s share of domestic work, including household repairs. But more and more, men and women alike are encouraged to buy more stuff instead of making simple and cheap repairs to the things they already own. That’s great for the companies that make those things, but not so great for the rest of us. I want to empower everyone to fix everything, or at least, to think about what they can fix and what they have to buy, and making an empowered decision that’s in line with their values.
While we spend most of our energy focusing on smaller worlds, sometimes the broader world will give us a nod as well. In this case, we are proud to announce that Anne Elizabeth Moore is a winner in the 2012 Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, taking the bronze award in the Travel 
Book category for Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh.
Winners of the award, the most prestigious in the field of travel journalism, included National Geographic Traveler, Outside Magazine, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Portland Oregonian and Afar Magazine.
In the words of the judges, “What a deceptively small, apparently simple book! Anne Elizabeth Moore packs a great deal of information and inspiration into Cambodian Grrrl, her improbable account of several months at an all-women’s university in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, teaching young women the liberating power of writing and self-publishing their stories. Moore depicts the essence of a country that has suffered so much repression, war, violence and injustice. She shows us the hope and spirit of the girls and the larger society. As a travel adviser, she’s the best: She relates what the guidebooks say, and then gives us the real scoop, in unsparing detail, laced with humor.”
Moore’s follow up (Oct 1st), New Girl Law: Drafting a Future for Cambodia tells the story of Moore’s time working with a group of young female students re-writing the Chbap Srei, a 17th-century book that intended to establish a code of conduct for young women, which culminates in a grand discussion of human rights and gender equity, and a hand-bound book for all participants. Tragically, the completed book was banned and censored in both Cambodia and the U.S., but through Moore’s intimate style, the story of these brave writers and their chilling struggle reaches the world.