Make A Zine! (3rd Edition): Start Your Own Underground Publishing Revolution - Softcover

Biel, Joe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1621067335 ISBN 13: 9781621067337

Verlag: Microcosm Publishing, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

Do you have a passion that you want to obsess about in a love letter to the world? In this new edition of Microcosm’s popular DIY guide to zine-making, Joe Biel updates the information provided in the first edition (edited by Biel and the late and great Bill Brent) to address zine making in today's digital and social-media-obsessed world. Covering all the bases for beginners, Make a Zine! hits on more advanced topics like Creative Commons licenses, legality, and sustainability. Says Feminist Review, “Make a Zine! is an inspiring, easy, and digestible read for anyone, whether you’re already immersed in a cut-and-paste world, a graphic designer with a penchant for radical thought, or a newbie trying to find the best way to make yourself and your ideas known.” Illustrated by an army of notable and soon-to-be-notable artists and cartoonists, Make a Zine! also takes a look at the burgeoning indie comix scene, with a solid and comprehensive chapter by punk illustrator Fly (Slug and Lettuce, Peops). Part history lesson, part how-to guide, Make a Zine! is a call to arms, an ecstatic, positive rally cry in the face of TV show book clubs and bestsellers by celebrity chefs. As says Biel in the book’s intro, “Let’s go!” 

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Joe Biel is a self-made publisher and filmmaker who draws origins, inspiration, and methods from punk rock. He is the founder/manager of Microcosm Publishing and co-founder of the Portland Zine Symposium. He tours with his films on the Dinner and Bikes program and has been featured in Time Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, Utne Reader, Portland Mercury, Oregonian, Broken Pencil, Readymade, Punk Planet, Profane Existence, Spectator (Japan), G33K (Korea), and Maximum Rocknroll. He is the author of Good Trouble: Building a Successful Life & Business on the Spectrum, Manspressions: Decoding Men's Behavior, The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting, Beyond the Music, Bamboozled, Bipedal, By Pedal, and more. He is the director of the documentaries Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland, If It Ain't Cheap, It Ain't Punk, Of Dice & Men, $100 & A T-Shirt, and the Groundswell film series. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy described Biel as "not trained in pedagogy." His work can be found at joebiel.net

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Make a Zine!

When Words and Graphics Collide

By Bill Brent, Joe Biel, Sparky Taylor

Microcosm Publishing

Copyright © 1997 Bill Brent and Joe Biel
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-62106-733-7

Contents

Introduction by Joe Biel and Katie Haegele, 
How to Make a Zine in Eight Simple Steps, 
What's a Zine? Why Make a Zine?, 
A Brief History of Publishing, 
Organization, 
Layout and Type, 
Photos, Illustration and Pre-Press, 
Printing and Paper, 
Blockprinting by Eleanor Whitney, 
Interviews, 
DIY Comix by Fly, 
Contributors, 
Inspiration, 
Postage, 
Sales, 
Promotion, 
Copyright, 
What You Must Know About Libel by Paul T. Olson, 
Computers, 
Compiling Back Issues, 
Touring: When In Reno Eat the Raw Pie, 
Participation, 
Ethics, 
DIY: Nike Style: Zines and the Corporate World by Stephen Duncombe, 
Sustainability, 
Appendices, 

CHAPTER 1

8 Steps to Making a Zine.

One. Produce text! It doesn't matter whether you handwrite your words, type them, or cut-and-paste ransom-note style. Virtually anything is acceptable and that is the beauty of zines.

> ACTION ITEM! Zine aesthetics vary widely, in style, professionalism, and quality. Go to your local library and spend an afternoon browsing one or more good books on graphic design, especially for newsletters. Read a few dozen zines by other people and figure out what you like and don't like. If you like someone's ideas, reproduce a few things you like and try to create your own variants on a photocopier. This can help develop a sense of your own aesthetic preferences regarding graphic style. It can be very helpful to practice generating some design skills and art before you are putting together your finished zine. A lot of zinesters skip this step, but it's worth spending time thinking about.

Two. Find some pictures to go with your words. They can be photos, collages, line art, drawings, or anything else you can dream up. Do the best job you can to reproduce your images. (Images snagged from the Web are probably not of high enough resolution to reproduce well on paper). Some zines use very few images, which can hurt the overall readability. Breaking up the repetitiousness of words on the page will help readers enjoy your zine.

> ACTION ITEM! Far more people will pick up a zine with an interesting or provocative cover. If you're planning to sell your zine, visit a place that sells zines and notice which ones grab your attention. Try to figure out why.

Three. Set your price. Usually this is $1 to $5. You want to base your price on the cost of copying, including paper, stapling, and folding, postage, and perhaps something for your time (even if it's just coffee, cookies, or the occasional slice of pizza!). If there are other expenses (phone bills, a PO Box rental, envelopes, photos, etc.), plan for those as well. Most people who will sell your zine for you, like stores and distributors, will take 40-60% of the cover price. If you want to sell your zine through these channels, think about this when setting your price. Some people prefer only to sell their zines directly to their readers. Think about including the price on the cover if you are selling it in stores.

Four. Include your address. This is vital. Many people include both a postal address and an e-mail address. The best place is the inside cover or first page. Sometimes people also put it on the back cover, if they are mailing it without an envelope. The exception is if you're publishing something so subversive or illegal that you don't want it traced back to you. It is easy to be anonymous, with the way that zine distribution functions. You need to decide whether you feel comfortable printing your home address or renting a PO Box for security and privacy. Most zinesters rent a box from the Postal Service (cheapest) or from a private mail drop company (less cheap). A private mail drop may be more convenient if they have longer hours and can accept a wider range of deliveries. Some provide copying services and other conveniences. One zinester told me that he rents a private mailbox because its address resembles an apartment's, on the off chance that readers would attempt to visit. So it can be a way of tricking would-be stalkers and other creeps.

"One of the real nice things about PO boxes is they provide a stable address for those who move, especially all who don't depart on good terms with their landlord. Even in the best cases, this happens a surprising number of times. I have many zines [which use] many different addresses for the same zine. You are supposed to tell the Postal Service whenever you change your address, but you don't have to, so this makes it a nice secure address." - Steve Kudlak, West Virginia Zine Archivist

Five. Print some copies. Unless you're blessed with deep pockets or unlimited access to free copies, it's a safe bet to make 100 or 200 copies to start. At this volume, it makes the most sense to photocopy your zine, rather than having it printed by an offset printer, web printer, print-on-demand, or other mass production method.

Unless you have an obvious place to make copies, it makes sense to call around and figure out who has the best price for the volume that you are printing. Sometimes one shop will match or beat another's price. Don't be afraid to ask for a deal, but it is more likely in smaller copy shops than national chains. The chains have business partnerships with online retailers such as Amazon, and national organizations such as Publishers Marketing Association, so they only give their sellers or members a discount on copying and related services. Befriending the staff is very helpful, as it'll make your relations much more pleasant - and sometimes grant you special pricing.

It's helpful to ask around for references or print samples of similar work. Figure out a firm schedule with your printer and stick to it. Treat the printer with respect; a good shop is an invaluable source of information on how to adjust the size of your zine, page count, or colors to get the lowest price. The more controversial your material is, the more important it is to have a strong, personal relationship with your printer. We have horror stories of trying to get sexually-oriented material, anti-Republican propaganda, or even zines with peculiar names printed. Conversely, there is no reason to stay with a printer who is disrespectful to you or your work.

Six. Get reviewed! Send copies of your zine to reviewers at publications like Zine World and the others listed in the Appendix of reviewers. It's a simple and effective way to find people interested in reading your zine and communicating with people who share your interests. Because that's what it's all about, right?

Seven. Distribute your zine. Think about who to give or sell your zine to. It could be friends, family, co-workers, or other people who make zines. These people can be reached through reviews, local stores, far away stores, and distributors ("distros"). Check out the appendices for names and addresses!

Eight. (Optional) A mailing list. Figure out a way to keep track of it. Scraps of paper in a shoebox, a notebook, a card file, an address book in an email program, or a database can all be functional, as long as you can find the information when you need it.

Making a zine is that simple. Everything else is based on these...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Microcosm Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1621067335
• ISBN 13: 9781621067337
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 160
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: DERANGED; http://www.goodfellas.it ; ; Via Rubaconte Da Mandello, 11; Firenze; 50126; Italien