Questions about Zine Making

[clowdywings]

I'm new to zine making and have some questions for those who have made zines before, especially for people with 5yrs+ of experience.

For all zine makers:

• What tips and tricks did you learn that you're willing to share?
• Do you have any favorite zinesters/zine makers?
• What is the maximum amount of money you're willing to spend to make your own zine?
• Do you prefer working alone or with teams/mods/contributors?
• Do you have a list of zine ideas you wouldn't mind sharing? (I'm making a zine full of ideas for zines lol)

For physical zine makers:

• What is your process like?
• Do you mail/give zines out to people & how does that work for you?
• What free or cheap materials do you suggest I use? Which ones should i avoid?

If you have any tips at all, please let me know! Thank you! 

[Bede]

Hello! I've made some zines, but what sort of zines are you referring to? The classic stapled and folded, hand-made zine, or the more modern zines which more so resemble "fanbooks"? My advice depends on which you mean.

[clowdywings]

The classic stapled and folded, hand-made zine, or the more modern zines which more so resemble "fanbooks"?

either works! i want to make ezines and physical zines for a variety of topics, so all advice is appreciated! (by "physical" zines i mean the classic zines, stapled and folded ones)

[Bede]

Gotcha!

• If you're taking on multiple contributors: open mod applications. Don't take on everything by yourself, and don't just appoint your friends as mods!
• Have backups for if a contributor drops out! It's almost guaranteed that at least one will.
• Be organized! Have spreadsheets, etc. There are lots of moving parts in a fandom e-zine.
• It depends on the specifics, but I think I'd at max spend $15 USD for a MYO zine, if it's a subject I'm super interested in. But I suggest staying in the $3-$10 range.
• For physical zines, I like to either draw something physically and photocopy it to give out copies, or make it digitally so I can print out lots of copies.
• I bring my zines to events in real life and hand them out for free! They tend to be educational, so I want as many people to have them as possible. A lot of the time, though, people insist on giving me a little bit of money. Especially, I've noticed, at LGBTQ+ pride events.

[clowdywings]

It depends on the specifics, but I think I'd at max spend $15 USD for a MYO zine, if it's a subject I'm super interested in. But I suggest staying in the $3-$10 range.

That makes sense. What do you mean by "MYO zine"? Do you suggest any particular fanzine creators/groups?

I bring my zines to events in real life and hand them out for free! They tend to be educational, so I want as many people to have them as possible. A lot of the time, though, people insist on giving me a little bit of money. Especially, I've noticed, at LGBTQ+ pride events.

ooh thank you so much! that is good to know! how many do you keep on your person to hand out?

[Bede]

That makes sense. What do you mean by "MYO zine"? Do you suggest any particular fanzine creators/groups?

By "MYO zine", I mean a zine that you can buy online and print out and fold yourself! I assume that's what you meant in the original post by "making your own" zine.

As for groups, I recommend A to Zines, which is a group of people which provides a lot of resources. They run a zine event calendar that you can add your zines to, an archive of past zines, and more! Unfortunately, I can't recommend anything for physical zines, because I give away all of mine for free.

how many do you keep on your person to hand out?

I go to rather large pride events (just on account of the state I'm in being rather densely populated), so I tend to bring 300 as a base number, bringing a bag to carry all of them. But I keep finding that I run out before the end of the event, so I'm gradually increasing the amount. I'd say try and find out an estimate of how many people would be there, and maybe bring enough for 1/10th of that to start, if you're giving them out for free like I do! And you can always increase or decrease future numbers.

[clowdywings]

By "MYO zine", I mean a zine that you can buy online and print out and fold yourself! I assume that's what you meant in the original post by "making your own" zine.

This makes sense, thanks for the clarification! Also that group looks very useful, I'll look into them.

I'd say try and find out an estimate of how many people would be there, and maybe bring enough for 1/10th of that to start, if you're giving them out for free like I do! And you can always increase or decrease future numbers.

Okay sounds great! Thanks again for all the advice!!