Yaaaaaaaaay! So hype about zines on the rise again! The highlight of my teenaged existence back in the 90s was coming home to find a zine or two in the mailbox. I'm launching a companion zine to my blog/Substack in the next month or so, based on my research into an older form of zines - amateur newspapers made by children and teens on toy presses in the 1880s. I love that zines have official librarians, what an amazing job!
I will have to get myself a copy of that companion zine!! Sounds incredible and niche and historical and right up my alley. Looking forward to reading more of your work, Jen!
Being a zine librarian is really fulfilling. Best part is seeing the focused excitement on an undergraduate student's face when they flip through their first zine. Sometimes, I wish I could bottle it!
I look forward to learning from you! I made my first zine last year and now my kids and I love making mini zines. I love it as part of my creative writing process when a topic feels too big.
It somehow feels safe to share them online, but I’m nervous to put them out in the real world, and don’t even know where to start (without going to a zine fest, etc.).
Hi Hanna! So happy to hear you love zines and see the benefit in making them. I went through a similar experience when I first started making zines. They really are the antidote to perfectionist thinking and the fear of starting a big project!
I understand the hesitation to share zines, especially if they are personal in nature. That being said, there are so many avenues for sharing zines aside from the very public nature of the Internet or a zine fest. I plan to highlight many of those in this newsletter. I also think it's important to remember that zines are first and foremost for you/the creator. More than any other medium, zines feel intensely liberating in this way. The sharing can always come later.
I'm so glad to meet you and look forward to potentially seeing your zines some day!
Thank you, Bob! Wow, it's always a treat to hear from someone who made zines in the 80s and 90s. Thanks for the link to your site too, definitely going to check it out!
Hi!! Fellow academic library worker (librarian-in-training at university of Maryland) and zinester hoping to develop a zine library and zine course. I absolutely love this!! Can't wait to see more about this.
Oh my goodness hi!! So glad to see another zinester/librarian combo here on Substack!! I have so many questions for you, as someone who also hopes to design a zine course 🥰
Wow. I just want you to know I love viny/tape zines more than life itself. They are the perfect blend of my weird, niche tastes! I’m already planning to do a music/mixed media issue of The Zine-O-Sphere, and this would a great addition. Let's talk because I would love to feature this, as well as other tape zines you've got. So glad you found my little newsletter!
P.S. The J-card zine is--my God, it's stunning. I'm so impressed.
Well, good to know my line drawings don't scare people away :) Yeah, we chat-a-collab in the substack chat and I'm always happy to support fellow zinestrs!
I have tapes left I have this odd way of giving them out (by sending me a postcard): https://zine.bitpunk.fm/how-to-get-a-bitpunk-fm-tape/ It's also a podcast (bitpunk.fm) which I started to just digitize the tape version so you can't escape the tape hiss.
Lastly, I don't how many other tapezines are active these days. I've been rolling strong with 1 a month for the last 7 months. The idea was partially inspired by this cassette magazine in the 80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tellus_Audio_Cassette_Magazine (which I found the archive and I'm slowing re-taping).
Oh, one more lastly. There is a creative substack-first zine going on with https://sumflux.substack.com/. But last weekend, they printed out the zine submissions and then posted them as graffiti art, so it qualifies now as a hybrid zine I think :)
First, thank you for all of these resources/recommendations!! I will explore and link to them in a future issue. My prime intention with this newsletter is to share stuff like this, as well as learn more about all of it myself! Truly a crowd-sourced zine-source :)
Second, I am a massive postcard collector, and I may just take you up on your offer to send you a postcard so I can get one of those awesome tapezines.
Finally, I would never want to be without the tape hiss. Bring it on!
This is amazing! What a wonderful addition to all the zine love I’m seeing here. I’ve been sharing my printable zines through my newsletter Thread and Glue. As a mixed media artist and writer it’s really met a creative need I didn’t realize I had.
I love this so much!!! When I was a kid, I would make silly little "news" magazines for my family with my own stories and drawings (oh how I wish I had saved these!). I'm 42 now and I mostly create collage out of trash but I just started creating my first zine in ages and it feels so liberating! I can't wait to share and trade with others!
I love that you've basically made zines your whole life and now you're back to it :) Zines are VERY liberating, especially if you're just getting back into making things/building a new creative process. Something I'd love to do here on Substack is trade zines!! Maybe we can all plan a Zine Trade of sorts :D
I would love to trade. Before I left FB I did a lot of ATC trading, I just love sending and receiving snail mail of any kind. I just need to make more time for myself to create.
Great Read! here is my first ever Zine that I made over the weekend :) https://leanimation.substack.com/p/sunday-spread-week-4-the-stick
I reshared this because I love your zine SO much!! Just subbed and excited to read/see more!
Oh thank you so much Abby ! :))
Yaaaaaaaaay! So hype about zines on the rise again! The highlight of my teenaged existence back in the 90s was coming home to find a zine or two in the mailbox. I'm launching a companion zine to my blog/Substack in the next month or so, based on my research into an older form of zines - amateur newspapers made by children and teens on toy presses in the 1880s. I love that zines have official librarians, what an amazing job!
I will have to get myself a copy of that companion zine!! Sounds incredible and niche and historical and right up my alley. Looking forward to reading more of your work, Jen!
Being a zine librarian is really fulfilling. Best part is seeing the focused excitement on an undergraduate student's face when they flip through their first zine. Sometimes, I wish I could bottle it!
I look forward to learning from you! I made my first zine last year and now my kids and I love making mini zines. I love it as part of my creative writing process when a topic feels too big.
It somehow feels safe to share them online, but I’m nervous to put them out in the real world, and don’t even know where to start (without going to a zine fest, etc.).
Anyway, glad I found you!
Hi Hanna! So happy to hear you love zines and see the benefit in making them. I went through a similar experience when I first started making zines. They really are the antidote to perfectionist thinking and the fear of starting a big project!
I understand the hesitation to share zines, especially if they are personal in nature. That being said, there are so many avenues for sharing zines aside from the very public nature of the Internet or a zine fest. I plan to highlight many of those in this newsletter. I also think it's important to remember that zines are first and foremost for you/the creator. More than any other medium, zines feel intensely liberating in this way. The sharing can always come later.
I'm so glad to meet you and look forward to potentially seeing your zines some day!
Great reminder that they’re for us / the creator first! I’ll be holding on to that thought!
Hooray! I make zines too and it's wonderful to see them being such a hot topic here on Substack. More of this! :)
Yay! Thank you! Do you share your zines here on Substack? I'd love to see them :)
Thank for the shoutout!
Thank you, Jen! Looking forward to reading your Zinestack Roundups!
This Meeting Could Have Been a Zine! Love it! 😅
haha, right?! I feel that way about most meetings😝
I want a Zine from Banksy.
As someone who did zines in the 80s and early 90s, I'm looking forward to this.
(I don't have a newsletter on Substack but here's my site: https://www.bobsassone.com/)
Thank you, Bob! Wow, it's always a treat to hear from someone who made zines in the 80s and 90s. Thanks for the link to your site too, definitely going to check it out!
i saw the word zine and immediately needed to follow/subscribe HELLO
Hi Grayson!!
So ridiculously happy and grateful to have you here :D
Hi!! Fellow academic library worker (librarian-in-training at university of Maryland) and zinester hoping to develop a zine library and zine course. I absolutely love this!! Can't wait to see more about this.
Oh my goodness hi!! So glad to see another zinester/librarian combo here on Substack!! I have so many questions for you, as someone who also hopes to design a zine course 🥰
We should definitely talk soon.
Yes please!! I'd love to collaborate and share ideas/resources
Subscribed. You had me at zine 😀 let's not forget zines need not be just paper though, I run a tapezine
https://substack.com/@bitpunkfm/note/c-88254858
I really like the collection of resources you put together here!
Hi Josh!
Wow. I just want you to know I love viny/tape zines more than life itself. They are the perfect blend of my weird, niche tastes! I’m already planning to do a music/mixed media issue of The Zine-O-Sphere, and this would a great addition. Let's talk because I would love to feature this, as well as other tape zines you've got. So glad you found my little newsletter!
P.S. The J-card zine is--my God, it's stunning. I'm so impressed.
Well, good to know my line drawings don't scare people away :) Yeah, we chat-a-collab in the substack chat and I'm always happy to support fellow zinestrs!
I have tapes left I have this odd way of giving them out (by sending me a postcard): https://zine.bitpunk.fm/how-to-get-a-bitpunk-fm-tape/ It's also a podcast (bitpunk.fm) which I started to just digitize the tape version so you can't escape the tape hiss.
On substack there is a guy @miter who, while he doesn't call it a zine, did make a kind of collab montage of video and then also released a tape: https://miter.substack.com/p/salon-du-monde-fremont-002
Lastly, I don't how many other tapezines are active these days. I've been rolling strong with 1 a month for the last 7 months. The idea was partially inspired by this cassette magazine in the 80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tellus_Audio_Cassette_Magazine (which I found the archive and I'm slowing re-taping).
Oh, one more lastly. There is a creative substack-first zine going on with https://sumflux.substack.com/. But last weekend, they printed out the zine submissions and then posted them as graffiti art, so it qualifies now as a hybrid zine I think :)
First, thank you for all of these resources/recommendations!! I will explore and link to them in a future issue. My prime intention with this newsletter is to share stuff like this, as well as learn more about all of it myself! Truly a crowd-sourced zine-source :)
In the Zine Library I work for, we've collected several tapezines, including a mixtape from https://deathbysheeprecords.bandcamp.com/merch/blunted-guide-to-bootlegging-mix-tapes-zine
Also: https://shop.oogaboogastore.com/products/chosen-family-mixtape-zine
Second, I am a massive postcard collector, and I may just take you up on your offer to send you a postcard so I can get one of those awesome tapezines.
Finally, I would never want to be without the tape hiss. Bring it on!
Ohhhh, thanks for those links!
Yeah, I've been stacking some fun postcards from listeners, it's been quite fun. Looking forward to yours 😀
This is amazing! What a wonderful addition to all the zine love I’m seeing here. I’ve been sharing my printable zines through my newsletter Thread and Glue. As a mixed media artist and writer it’s really met a creative need I didn’t realize I had.
I love this so much!!! When I was a kid, I would make silly little "news" magazines for my family with my own stories and drawings (oh how I wish I had saved these!). I'm 42 now and I mostly create collage out of trash but I just started creating my first zine in ages and it feels so liberating! I can't wait to share and trade with others!
Hi Jessica!
I love that you've basically made zines your whole life and now you're back to it :) Zines are VERY liberating, especially if you're just getting back into making things/building a new creative process. Something I'd love to do here on Substack is trade zines!! Maybe we can all plan a Zine Trade of sorts :D
Food for thought...Thanks for reading!
I would love to trade. Before I left FB I did a lot of ATC trading, I just love sending and receiving snail mail of any kind. I just need to make more time for myself to create.
Ooh! I'd love to do something like that here. We should definitely talk more soon about the potential of zine trades here!
A zine librarian - what a cool job! 😃