A
zine (an abbreviation of the word
fanzine, or magazine; "zeen") is most commonly a small circulation
publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any
self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock.
A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 100, and profit is not the primary intent of publication.
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 and 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 prominence or professional status and have found wide bookstore and online distribution. Highly notable among these are
Giant Robot,
Dazed & Confused,
Bust,
Bitch (magazine) and
Maximum RocknRoll.
History
Origins and overview
Since the invention of the
printing press (if not before), dissidents and marginalized citizens have published their own opinions in leaflet and pamphlet form.
Thomas Paine published an exceptionally popular pamphlet titled "
Common Sense" that led to insurrectionary revolution. Paine is considered to be a significant early independent publisher and a
zinester in his own right, but then, the
mass media as we now know it did not exist. A countless number of obscure and famous literary figures would self-publish at some time or another, sometimes as children (often writing out copies by hand), sometimes as adults.
The exact origins of the word "zine" is uncertain, but it was widely in use in the early 1970s, and most likely is a shortened version of the word "Magazine." with at least one zine lamenting the abbreviation.
The Merriam-Webster OnLine dictionary dates the word to 1965.
In the 18th century,
Benjamin Franklin also started a literary magazine for psychiatric patients at a Pennsylvania hospital, which was distributed amongst the patients and hospital staff. This could be considered the first zine, since it captures the essence of the philosophy and meaning of zines. The concept of zines clearly had an ancestor in the
amateur press movement (a major preoccupation of
H. P. Lovecraft), which would in its turn cross-pollinate with the
subculture of
science fiction fandom in the 1930s.
1930s–1960s and SF
During and after the
Great Depression, editors of "pulp" SF magazines became increasingly frustrated with letters detailing the impossibilities of their science fiction stories. Over time they began to publish these overly-scrutinizing letters, complete with their return addresses. This caused these fans to begin writing to each other, now complete with a mailing list for their own science fiction fanzines.
Fanzines enabled fans to write not only about
science fiction but about fandom itself and, in soi disant
perzine (i.e.
personal
zine), about themselves. As the
Damien Broderick novel
Transmitters (1984) shows, unlike other, isolated, self-publishers, the more "fannish" (fandom-oriented) fanzine publishers had a shared sensibility and at least as much interest in their relationships between fans as in the literature that inspired it.
A number of leading SF and Fantasy authors rose through the ranks of fandom, such as
Frederik Pohl and
Isaac Asimov.
George R. R. Martin is also said to have started writing for Fanzines, but has been quoted condemning the practice of fans writing stories set in other authors' worlds.
1970s and punk
The
punk zines emerged as part of the
punk movement in the late 1970s. These started in the UK and the U.S.A. and by March 1977 had spread to other countries such as Ireland. Cheap
photocopying had made it easier than ever for anyone who could make a band flyer to make a zine.
1980s and Factsheet Five
During the 1980s and onwards,
Factsheet Five (the name came from a short story by
John Brunner), originally published by
Mike Gunderloy and now defunct, catalogued and reviewed any zine or small press creation sent to it, along with their mailing addresses. In doing so, it formed a networking point for zine creators and readers (usually the same people). The concept of
zine as an art form distinct from
fanzine, and of the "zinesters" as member of their own subculture, had emerged. Zines of this era ranged from perzines of all varieties to those that covered an assortment of different and obscure topics that web sites (such as
Wikipedia) might cover today but for which no large audience existed in the pre-internet era.
1990s and riot grrrl
The early 1990s
riot grrrl scene encouraged an explosion of zines of a more raw and explicit, more confrontational and definitely more gender-balanced nature (until this time, males tended to make up the majority of zinesters). Following this, zines enjoyed a brief period of attention from conventional media and a number of zines were collected and published in book form, such as
Donna Kossy's
Kooks Magazine (1988–1991), published as
Kooks (1994,
Feral House).
Decline and websites
Zines faded from public awareness in the late 1990s. It can be argued that this was the natural course of a declining
fad, though it can also be stated with some justification that the sudden growth of the
internet, and the ability of private web-pages to fulfill much the same role of personal expression, was a stronger contributor to their
pop culture expiration. Indeed, many zines were transformed into websites, such as
Boingboing.
After 1997, now out of the limelight, zines have been adopted by those particularly attached to the print medium; for artistic expressions not replicable on a computer, functional purposes or for subcultural reasons.
Distribution and circulation
Zines are sold, traded or gifted through many different outlets, from zine symposiums and publishing fairs to record stores, book stores, zine stores, at concerts, independent media outlets, zine 'distros', via mail order or through direct correspondence with the author. They are also sold online either via websites or social networking profiles.
Zines distributed for free are either traded directly between zinesters or given away at the outlets mentioned.
Webzines are found in many places on the Internet.
Publishing
Whilst zines are generally self-published, there are a few quality publishers who specialise in making quality zines. One of the main 'art-zine' publishers, who also publish books is in Zurich, editor in Chief is Benjamin Sommerhalder. Another is , UK based and founded by in 2005.
Distributors
Zines are most often obtained through mailorder distributors. There are many catalogued and online based mailorder distros for zines. Some of the longer running and more stable operations include in San Francisco, in Philadelphia,
Microcosm Publishing in
Bloomington, IN, in Chicago, in Toronto, and in the UK and in Ipswich. Zine distros often have websites that 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.
Bookstores
Several bookstores stock zines. Notable examples include in Melbourne, Australia; in the UK;
Reading Frenzy and
Powell's in Portland, OR;
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; in NYC; Five in Charleston, SC; Brian MacKenzie Infoshop in Washington, DC; and
Book Beat & Co. in Oklahoma City, OK.
Zinestores
in Melbourne, Australia is unique internationally amongst zine outlets, being a not for profit Artist Run Initiative dedicated solely to the distribution of zines.
Libraries
A number of major public and academic
libraries carry zines and other small press publications, often with a specific focus (e.g. women's studies) or those that are relevant to a local region.
In Australia there is:
- the Copy & Destroy Zine Library at the Valley space, Brisbane, Queensland
- the , Caboolture, Queensland
- the Women’s House Library Zine Collection at the , Brisbane, Queensland
- the , Newcastle, New South Wales
- the at the , Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
- the Zine Collection, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
- the Zine Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
- the , Melbourne, Victoria
- the , Melbourne, Victoria
In Canada, there is:
- the (Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave. Toronto, ON)
- the Welland Zine Library (11 Ascot Ct., Welland Ontario, Canada, L3C 6K7)
- the (5684 Roberts Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
- the Hamilton Zine Library (27 King William St Hamilton Ontario)
In the UK:
- There is a special collection held at the .
Notable U.S.A. public and academic library zine collections include:
- the Salt Lake City Public Library
- the San Francisco Public Library
- the in Ypsilanti, Michigan
- DePaul University Library
- The at the San Diego State University Library
The U.S.A. also has a number of libraries devoted entirely to zine production and/or archiving, including:
- the in Seattle, Washington
- the Olympia Zine Library, housed in Last Word Books in Olympia, Washington
- the , a Portland, Oregon zine library and resource for writing and distributing zines.
Zine events
In Australia there is:
- The biannual and , held in alternating years each February, run by the Sticky Institute, Melbourne.
- The annual Independent Press and Zine Fair held each May in Melbourne, which is an offshoot of 's Make It Up zine fair. This is no longer a zine fair as they have chosen to shun the zinester in favour of "Emerging" book writers.
- The annual Sunday Artists' Market & Zine Fair], part of the This is Not Art festival in Newcastle, NSW.
In Canada, there is:
- in Toronto and Vancouver, the largest annual Canadian zine event, organised by the publishers of .
- held annually in Montréal
- held annually in Québec city
In France there is:
In Germany there is:
- The in Mülheim an der Ruhr
In the United Kingdom, there are:
In the United States, there is:
- The in San Francisco, California.
- The in Bowling Green, Ohio.
- The , formerly known as Beantown Zinetown.
- The in Madison, Wisconsin.
- The in Richmond, Virginia.
- The NJ Zine Fest in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
- Ephemera Festival in Chicago
- The in Brooklyn, New York
alt.zines
The
Usenet newsgroup alt.zines was created in 1992 by Jerod Pore and Edward Vielmetti for the
discussion of
zines and zine-related topics. Since that time, alt.zines has seen more than 26,000 postings.
From the original alt.zines charter: "alt.zines is a place for reviews of zines, announcements of new zines, tips on how to make zines, discussions of the culture of zines, news about zines, specific zines and related stuff."
"Related stuff" has included almost everything under the sun. Throughout the 1990s alt.zines was really the only forum for zinesters to promote, talk, and discuss
small publishing issues and tips. And of course argue. It was a place where a
zine reader or first time
publisher could rub elbows with infamous zinesters. Some of the more infamous alt.zines personalities have included
R. Seth Friedman,
Rev. Randall Tin-Ear,
Doug Holland,
Jeff Kay, "Ninjalicious" (AKA
Jeff Chapman),
Sky Ryan, Tim Brown,
Josh Saitz,
Dan Halligan, Heath Row,
Jeff Koyen,
Bob Conrad,
Jen Angel,
Seth Robson,
Karl Wenclas,
Asha Anderson,
Emerson Dameron,
Jerod Pore,
Jim Goad,
Cullen Carter,
Steen Sigmund,
Darby Romeo,
Jim Hogshire,
Debbie Goad,
Cali Macvayia,
Don Fitch,
Jeff Potter,
Joel McClemore,
Kris Kane,
Marc Parker,
Paul T. Olson,
Robert W. Howington,
Sean Guillory,
Ruel Gaviola,
Jeff Somers,
Tom Hendricks,
Chip Rowe,
Brent Ritzel and
Shaun Richman.
While today there are many other online forums for zinesters and traffic on alt.zines has slowed down dramatically since the zinester flame wars of yesteryear, alt.zines remains one of the most influential places on the web for zine publishers and readers alike. Many long-time alt.zines participants now contribute to
ZineWiki.
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.
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.
Set in the 80s and 90s zine heyday,
Walking Man by
Tim W. Brown is a comic novel written in the form of a scandalous tell-all biography that portrays the life and times of Brian Walker, publisher of the zine
Walking Man, who rises from humble origins to become the most famous zinester in America.
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 about
action sports.
Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing is a semi-fictional depiction of the
anarcho-punk and
riot grrrl scene in early 90s
Washington, DC.
See also
Books and Films about zines
- Bartel, Julie. From A to Zine: Building a Winning Zine Collection in Your Library. American Library Association, 2004.
- Biel, Joe A hundred dollars and a T-shirt: A Documentary About Zines in Portland. Microcosm Publishing, 2004, 2005, 2008 (Video)
- Brent, Bill. Make a Zine!. Black Books, 1997 (1st edn.), ISBN 0-9637401-4-8. Microcosm Publishing, with Biel, Joe, 2008 (2nd edn.), ISBN 978-1934620069.
- Brown, Tim W. Walking Man, A Novel. Bronx River Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9789847-0-0.
- Duncombe, Stephen. Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture. Microcosm Publishing, 1997, 2008. 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.
