Zine 101 & upcoming workshops
What's a zine and why you should make one
With the arrival of spring, we’re now in zine season at SEE YOU! This quarter’s creative challenge is all about DIY small publishing. I’ll be diving deep into the world of zines, sharing tips, inspiration, and workshops to help you create your own.
Before diving into today’s Zine 101, I’m excited to announce my upcoming workshops shaped from your survey feedback!
Zine Lab: From Idea to Publication (Tuesday, April 15-May 6 7:30-9 PM ET):
This live, four-week workshop intensive is designed to guide you from zine idea to publication. You'll start by brainstorming ideas and making a book dummy, then move on to preparing text and images, designing pages, and finally printing your zine.
This workshop is limited to only 12 spots so that each attendee can receive individualized attention. The workshop also comes with a private 30 minute call to work through any questions or roadblocks. Read more details and register here. Paid subscribers, use the promo code in this email’s footer for 10% off.
Make a One Page 'About Me' Zine (Friday, April 4 2-3 PM ET):
Join for a free one hour workshop to fold and create a mini zine with a sheet of paper! We'll be making "About Me" zines using guided prompts for each page. Anyone can sign up for free to attend live, and all paid subscribers will receive the recording. Register here for the free live session.
Zine 101 (answering your questions!)
What is a zine? How do you pronounce it?
A zine is a self-published booklet, usually in small circulation (definitely less than 1000, and usually less than 100 copies), and often made with a DIY ethos. They come in all shapes, sizes, and topics. You pronounce zine as “zeen”, like “magazine” without the “maga”.
What types of zines can you make?
Literally ANY KIND.
Fanzines about your favorite band or video game
Political zines sharing mutual aid resources or ways to support Gaza
Personal zines (or perzines) about your latest vacation or existential feelings about generative AI
Food zines about seasonal vegetables or your family recipes
Instructional zines on how to repair a bike or patch a hole in your sock
Art zines with work from your sketchbook or photo archive
Writing zines with poetry or short fiction
The list goes on. Nothing is too mundane or niche!
What’s the difference between a zine and a magazine or a book?
It all comes down to who makes it, why they make it, and how much of it they make. Zines are typically made by self-publishers, not conglomerates (the who), and they are not made for profit (the why).
Of course, there are self-published magazines and books! These usually have a much larger print run or edition (aka number of copies) than zines. Because zines are DIY, zine makers (or “zinesters”) will often print a limited run of 50 or 100 and print them again if they run out.
I made one zine by hand and never made copies. Is it still a zine?
If it’s easily reproducible, then yes—I would say it is a zine! If it’s more of a handcrafted paper object, then it’s more likely to be considered an artist book.
How much do zines cost to make? How much do I charge for them?
While zines aren’t as cheap as publishing for free online, it’s pretty darn cheap to produce and distribute compared to most other art forms. All you need is paper, printer, and perhaps a stapler! You don’t even have to staple your zine—I’ll go into different zine formats in a future post.
Depending on the number of pages and printing method (e.g. color or black and white), zines will probably cost you somewhere between 50 cents and $5 a zine.
As for what to charge: zines are typically not made for profit, though that tide seems to be changing with the popularity of zine/art book fairs! I do think it’s fair to double or triple the cost of your materials to account for your labor and support future print runs—so it’d be reasonable to sell a 1 page zine that cost 50 cents to print for $2 or $3.
Zinesters often trade their zines with each another and share free PDF versions online. Since zines have a strong tradition of spreading resources and information, especially within marginalized communities, these distribution methods help keep them accessible to all.
Who would care about my zine (other than me?)
Lots of people—you’d be surprised! Humans love to hold things and look at them. And your zine about a niche topic you love can be the very avenue that connects you to a community of like-minded folks.
There are zine fairs all across the United States where you can find fellow small publication lovers. University libraries also have large collections of zines as primary source material for research, especially because zines include underrepresented voices overlooked by traditional publishing.
I still don’t get why I’d make a zine when I could just make a webpage, newsletter, or social media post.
Let me give you a few reasons, coming from someone who does publish online every week but is still incredibly enamored by zines:
A zine is an object. Objects are great! You can hold them and smell them (where are my paper sniffers? 👋) and take it with you wherever you go. A zine takes up physical space and commands your attention.
A zine has a finite number of pages. There is a conclusive beginning and end to a zine that isn’t always the case when publishing online. Pages require certain constraints to your content that can improve your creativity and storytelling.
A zine exists outside algorithms. Paper doesn’t disappear into the void of an infinite scrolling feed or require continuous backlinking to stay relevant. Zines are impervious to platform changes and subsequent broken links. A zine can simply exist in a space, ready to be read whenever someone finds it.
A zine invites imperfection. Zines are defined by their DIY ethos of self-sufficiency and scrappiness. If you’re feeling intimidated by making a zine, just look at countless examples of early punk zines that combine wonkily formatted typed text, hand lettering, and high contrast photographs.
A zine builds IRL community. Because zines can be ultra-specific and exist in physical space, they’re a great way to engage with hyperlocal interests. Whether you want to share your favorite quiet spots, protest a luxury housing development, or document the Indigenous history of your neighborhood, a zine gives you the perfect medium to do it.
Alright, you got me. I’m ready to make a zine.
Yay! Next week’s post will be about how to start making a zine. In the meantime, here are a few zine resources I love if you’d like to learn more & get started:
Dallas College’s zines research guide
The Creative Independent’s “How to make a zine”
If you’d like more direction, accountability, and community to make your zine, join my upcoming free one hour workshop Make a One Page ‘About' Me’ Zine or the four week intensive Zine Lab: From Idea to Publication. Hope to see you there!
What are you most excited to create? Have any zine questions? Drop them in the comments—I’d love to hear from you! 👇
I thought I registered for the upcoming zine lab. But I cannot find any kind of email or notification. Can you check for me?
Would love to join your free About Me session but it's going to be 4am in my country :"D