A zine—an abbreviation of the word fanzine, and originating from the word magazine^[1][2]—is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest. A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Look up publication in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ...

A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less and the intention of the publication is not primarily to raise a profit.

Zines are written in a variety of formats, from computer-printed text to comics to handwritten text (an example being Cometbus). Print remains the most popular zine format, usually photo-copied with a small circulation. Topics covered are broad, including fanfiction, politics, art & design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media. The time and materials necessary to create a zine are seldom matched by revenue from sale of zines. Small circulation zines are often not explicitly copyrighted and there is a strong belief among many zine creators that the material within should be freely distributed. In recent years a number of photocopied zines have risen to professional status and have found wide bookstore distribution. Highly notable among these are Giant Robot, Bust, and Maximum RocknRoll. Cometbus was an eponymous punk zine, started in Berkeley, California in 1983 by Aaron Cometbus, born Aaron Elliot. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... Look up mainstream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ... Giant Robot Magazine is an Asian-American pop culture magazine founded by Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong in 1994 as a small punk-minded zine that covered a variety of Asian-American alternative culture from music, movies, history, toys, technology, to food and skateboarding. ... Issue of Bust featuring comedian Tina Fey BUST is a magazine started by Debbie Stoller in 1993 as part of the zine movement to provide a third-wave feminist perspective on pop culture. ... Maximum Rocknroll Issue #1 Maximum Rocknroll (also known as MRR) is a widely distributed, monthly punkzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors. ...

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Zine making

So much for the scholarship in Wikipedia. The "controversies" about the origins of this thing are probably little ego-battles the humorless can't avoid. Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo-en. ... Wikibooks logo Wikibooks, previously called Wikimedia Free Textbook Project and Wikimedia-Textbooks, is a wiki for the creation of books. ...

My name is Tom Dark. A little blurb about the creation and spread of the 'zine can be found here.

http://tommydark.blogspot.com/

The first use of the diminutive "'zine," with an apostrophe, can be found in the June 1985 issue of a makeshift newsletter called SUMARI BULLETIN. It's in my personal inkpen writing, christening the form we'd created... or rather, the form I talked this fellow into. As he is a packrat, he more than likely has copies of all of it. Inquiries, if any, must respect his privacy. Plus Dear God I don't wanna hafta talk to him any more. It's boring to play with an undersized ego.

It was meant to be highly adolescent in spirits, although the first contributors were between 30 and 40. They fit right in. I described the format as "pee, poop, and philosophy" and "For people who have feelings they don't know what to do with." That's pretty much how the format stayed as the inimitable imitations, triggered by the written urges it represented, rolled out.

The dying teen paper pop pap was in those days called "the mag." I punked this to 'zine, using my lifelong punk brother's fashion of phrasing. Punk was by then proving to be a perennial tone in America's emotive vocables. My brother's response was "yeaaaah! the 'ziiiiine!" I'd considered others. This clinched it.

This through-the-looking-glass-back-to-reality mag, and my clever term, spread from a news kiosk at Sather Gate in Berkeley, California, plus a few other places countrywide starting in May 1985. The publisher printed up hundreds of copies a month and people set them out wherever they could. The piles I set out dwindled rapidly, but slowly enough to see they weren't being dumped in the trash all at once.

I had a pretty clear purpose in doing this and did expect it to spread. I made a joke early in publication: it was "to dismantle the Catholic Church brick by brick."

The xerox-machine publisher didn't quite gather my joke, and replied that he was a Lutheran. A secret Illuminati mission was not the punchline. The point was to loosen people up on paper, religions too, being a problem.

The results have been showing up in "mainstream" media, as a good many writers have cut their teeth on their own or taken on the 'zine 'tude, as my brother might have put it. The earmarks are flat innocent honesty and irreverence -- not to say Twain, Bierce and Mencken weren't already this. It's just that people need loosened up regularly. The so-called Reagan Revolution in full peristaltic swing in the '80's . They're still convolving.

You can't believe in all that America the Churchgoing Wealthy Principled crap and be honest with yourself. Where to declaim the honest, pee, poop and philosophies you REALLY feel? (Scatology certainly intended; the high increase in poop and fart jokes in pop comedies is another attempt to loosen up... like public dreams where they GET to fart out loud, shamelessly, for once. These backfire, can't help the pun, with sanctimonious reviews.)

The previous "historical precedent" thing here wasn't all awful; but for instance, linking it to "fanzine" of the thirties -- a thing all about Hollywood, not reality -- is dishonest. No wiggling your whitening lips about it. It's like linking the Hippies to the Rex Humbard Show. And of course you can stretch that connection just as far. Eulogizing the "most prominent" of 'zines is also removed from the intent of a 'zine format. The best ones, in terms of intent, wouldn't be found among the most popular. Too personal, probably.

As to the real historical precedents, there were two, any other authors named only an allusion to literary periods where people seriously needed loosening up. Rabelais and Voltaire are in those halls. I wouldn't be, but I do see my work in Wikipedia, if all wrong.

The first precedent was a newsletter started by "Sethies," readers of Jane Roberts' works. These homemade fold-and-staple affairs dribbled across the country then, fueled by an enthusiasm for those books and a damn-the-torpedoes resolution to loosen up and talk to other people about it. But most just couldn't loosen up.

The second precedent was James Boswell's London Diaries, where he told of his mischievous and scandalizing little periodical, "The Cub." Boyoyoyoooing: Historical precedent. Just what I needed, a 200 year old account of an adolescenty, improper paper to give this idea some dignity.

Convincing the xerox-home-publisher to do this took three years of letter writing. His letters were 20 pages long. This would give me a break and a better direction for this unloosened energy. "It's my life's blood," he eventually said of it.

The one accurate fact here previously was that 'zines have since dwindled, owing to the internet for anyone who has "feelings he doesn't know what to do with", hoping to get through to somebody. I approve. Fewer trees sacrificed to people who have feelings they don't know what to do with.

(clapclapclapclapclap) Thank you.

Tom Dark

Distribution & circulation

Zines are often distributed through secondary circuits, such as: trade, zine symposia, record stores, concerts, independent media outlets, mailings, or zine "distros." Many zines are distributed for free or cost less than $1.00 and rarely more than $5.00. Webzines are to be found in many places on the Internet. A Webzine is an ezine hosted on the World Wide Web rather than in print. ...

Distributors

Zines are most often obtained through mailorder distributors. There are many cataloged and online based mailorder distros for zines. Some of the longer running and more stable operations include Last Gasp in San Francisco, Parcell Press in Richmond, VA, Microcosm Publishing in Bloomington, IN, Loop Distro in Chicago, Great Worm Express Distribution in Toronto, and in the UK All That Glitters in Nottingham, and CornDog Publishing in Ipswich. Zine distros often have websites which you can place orders on. Because these are small scale DIY projects run by an individual or small group, they often close after only a short time of operation. Those that have been around the longest are often the most dependable. Microcosm Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor based in Portland, Oregon. ... See also: DIY Network, a cable TV network. ...

Bookstores

Several bookstores stock zines. Notable examples include Sticky in Melbourne; Reading Frenzy in Portland; Needles and Pens in San Francisco; Quimby's in Chicago; Mac's Backs Paperbacks in Cleveland, OH; Arise Books in Minneapolis; Boxcar Books in Bloomington, IN; Wooden Shoe Books in Philadelphia; Civic Media Center in Gainesville, FL; Bluestockings in NYC; Five in Charleston, SC; Brian MacKenzie Infoshop in Washington, DC; and Book Beat & Co. in Oklahoma City, OK.

Libraries

Many major libraries carry zines and other small press publications, usually ones that are relevant to a local or special interest section. Three major US examples are the Salt Lake City Public Library, Multnomah County Library in Portland, and the San Francisco Public Library. Also, zine collections may be housed within a university library, usually in the Special Collections Department. US university libraries with zine collections include: Julio Pérez Ferrero Library - Cúcuta, Colombia A modern-style library in Chambéry A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, and services: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ...

• Barnard College Library
• DePaul University library
• The original Factsheet Five collection at the New York State Library in Albany, New York[1]
• The Sarah Dyer Collection at Duke University
• The West Coast Zine Collection at the San Diego State University Library

In the United states there are about 10 public libraries that have zine collections, but more public libraries are adopting these collections, using the models of the Salt Lake City Public Library, Independent Publishing Resource Center, and Barnard College; all of which are available for library consulting. The New York State Library, located in Albany, New York, was established in 1818 to serve the government of New York State. ... For other uses, see Albany. ... Sarah Dyer is a comic book writer and artist with roots in the zine movement of the late eighties and early nineties. ...

In the UK a special collection is held at the London Met Women's Library.

There also exist libraries devoted entirely to zine production and/or archiving. Examples in the United States are:

• the ABC No Rio Zine Library in NYC
• the Chicago Underground Library
• the Denver Zine Library
• the Zine Archive and Publishing Project in Seattle, Washington
• the Papercut Zine Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• the Independent Publishing Resource Center, a Portland, Oregon zine library and resource for writing and distributing zines.

In Canada, there are: This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... The Papercut Zine Library is a collectively-run zine library located near Harvard Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ...

• Bibliograph/e in Montréal
• the Toronto Zine Library
• the Welland Zine Library (11 Ascot Ct., Welland Ontario, Canada, L3C 6K7)

In Australia there are:

• the Copy & Destroy zine library in Brisbane at the Visible Ink Valley space
• the Octapod Association Zine Library in Newcastle
• the Susan Smith-Clarke Fanzine Collection at the National Library of Australia in Canberra

Zine events

In the United States, there are many high-profile annual events, such as:

• The 24 Hour Zine Thing
• The Zine-A-Palooza
• The Philly Zine Fest
• The San Francisco Zine Festival.
• The Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, California.
• The Portland Zine Symposiumin Portland, Oregon.
• The Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green, Ohio.
• The Boston Zine Fair, formerly known as Beantown Zinetown.
• The Madison Zine Fest in Madison, Wisconsin.
• Ephemera Festival in Chicago Ephemera Festival

In Canada, the largest annual event is Canzine in Toronto and Vancouver, organized by the publishers of Broken Pencil. Expozine is also held annually in Montréal, and the North of Nowhere (NoN) Expo is held in Edmonton.

In the United Kingdom, there are:

• The London Zine Symposium, which in 2006 was held in an autonomous social centre.
• The Manchester Zine Fest.

In Australia there is: Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... ...

• The Emerging Writers' Festival's annual Independent Press and Zine Fair held each May in Melbourne, which is an offshoot of Express Media's Make It Up zine fair.
• The National Young Writers' Festival's annual Sunday Artists' Market & Zine Fair, which is held as a major part of the world-renowned This is Not Art festival in Newcastle, NSW.

Zines in fiction

The main character of a Canadian television show produced by the CBC called Our Hero, Kale Stiglic (Cara Pifko) created her own zine. Our Hero was a critically acclaimed television show on the CBC from 2000 to 2002. ... Cara Pifko, right, in a promotional photo for the 2004-05 season of This is Wonderland. ...

Damien Broderick's novel Transmitters follows a small group of Australian science fiction fans through their lives over several decades. Pastiches of fanzine writing (from fictitious fanzines) form some of the text of the novel. pic: Barbara Lamar Damien Broderick (born 1944) is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer. ... The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic genre. ...

In the novel Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger, the main character John begins writing a zine called Bananafish after reading other people's zines he found at Tower Records. One of these zines is written by a girl named Marisol who writes a zine called Escape Velocity. After reading her zine, John decides to meet her and their friendship grows from there.

Lunch Money, a children's book by Andrew Clements, has sixth-grader Greg Kenton creating and selling mini comic books, as a way to make money, which leads to one of his classmates making her own publication.

In the Nickelodeon cartoon show Rocket Power, one of main cast characters, Reggie, publishes her own zine, which she uses to expose embarrassing dirt on her brother, Otto and friend, Twister. In this way she is able to get back at them for mercilessly teasing her. Rocket Power promotion shot Rocket Power is an American animated television series that aired from August 16, 1999 until July 30, 2004 on Nickelodeon. ...

Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing is a semi-fictional depiction of the anarcho-punk and riot grrrl scene in early 90s Washington, DC. The anarchy symbol commonly used by anarcho-punks Anarcho-punk (sometimes known as peace-punk) is a subgenre of the punk rock movement consisting of groups and bands promoting specifically anarchist ideas. ... Riot grrrl (or riot grrl) is an indie/punk feminist movement that reached its height in the 1990s but continues to exert influence over alternative cultures. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

See also

• List of zine distros
• Fanzine
• Perzine
• Samizdat
• Ezine
• Punk zine
• ZineWiki
• Minicomic
• List of minicomics creators
• Webzine
• Amateur press association
• Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
• United Fanzine Organization
• Cometbus
• The East Village Inky
• Chapbook
• Comics
• Underground comix

This is a list of zine distros. ... A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... “Perzine” is short for “personal zine. ... Samizdat, book published by Pathfinder Press containing a collection of forbidden Trotskyist Samizdat texts. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Online magazine. ... A punk zine (or punkzine) is a fanzine devoted to punk rock music, bands, or the DIY punk philosophy. ... ZineWiki is an open-source online encyclopedia devoted to zines and independent media. ... A minicomic is a small, creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. ... This is a list of minicomics creators. ... A Webzine is an ezine hosted on the World Wide Web rather than in print. ... An Amateur Press Association or APA is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. ... Hugo Award for Best Fanzine. ... Minicomics Co-Ops: The United Fanzine Organization, or UFO, is a co-op of minicomic creators that has existed since about 1968. ... Cometbus was an eponymous punk zine, started in Berkeley, California in 1983 by Aaron Cometbus, born Aaron Elliot. ... A modern day chapbook. ... Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ... Mr. ...

Books about zines

• Bartel, Julie. From A to Zine: Building a Winning Zine Collection in Your Library. American Library Association, 2004.
• Biel, Joe $100 & A T-Shirt: A Documentary About Zines in Portland. Microcosm Publishing, 2004 (Video)
• Brent, Bill Make a Zine. Black Books, 1999
• Duncombe, Stephen. Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture. Verso, 1997. ISBN 1-85984-158-9
• Kennedy, Pagan. Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think (1995) ISBN 0-312-13628-5
• Spencer, Amy. DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture. Marion Boyars Publishers, Ltd., 2005.
• Watson, Esther and Todd, Mark. "Watcha Mean, What's a Zine?" Graphia, 2006. ISBN 978-0618563159
• Vale, V. Zines! Volume 1 (RE/Search, 1996) ISBN 0-9650469-0-7
• Vale, V. Zines! Volume 2 (RE/Search, 1996) ISBN 0-9650469-2-3
• Wrekk, Alex. Stolen Sharpie Revolution. Portland: Microcosm Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-9726967-2-5

RE/Search Publications is a United States magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded and edited by V. Vale in 1980. ... RE/Search Publications is a United States magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded and edited by V. Vale in 1980. ... Microcosm Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor based in Portland, Oregon. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=zine&searchmode=none
2. ^ Spencer, A. (2005) DIY: The Rise of Lo-fi Culture, p.95

External links

• Zine-A-Polooza
• alt.zines Usenet Newsgroup
• Art Zines Reviewed
• Broken Pencil (Canadian zine review/digest)
• E-zine.com (Article Directory)
• Gigglebot Distro, Zine Distro
• North West Zine Works Zine reviews and distro, also contact information for the zine community at large
• Zine (zeen) listing
• Under the Volcano Fanzine
• MyZine self publishing media site
• Zine World (review zine)
• The Zine Yearbook, an annual zine anthology
• Zinebook.com
• Zinelibrary.net
• Zinestreet:A Goddamn Massive Directory Zine Distros, stores and libraries
• Zinetrade.net
• ZineWiki.com an independent wiki for zines and zinesters
• Zinebytes * a tracker for get latest zines
• DIYSearch * search engine and community for the DIY underground with numerous zine listings