What is a zine?

upthewitchypunx:

Because I know I’m going to get this question I’m going to post this here. There seems to be a lot of new followers who may not have heard me rant about zines before. July is International Zine Month. It is a month to celebrate zines and zine culture and each day as an associate activity.

A lot of you might not know what zines are, so I’ll repost something I wrote about what zine me here:

Simply put, zines are self published magazines. They are usually
photocopied and stapled like a little booklet or pamphlet and generally have a
small print run.They are often made as a passionate hobby as there isn’t much
money in making or selling zines. In fact, a lot of zines are traded.

What you put in a zine is entirely up to you. You could write
fiction, draw comics, write recipes, print photos you have taken, write
your political beliefs, or write about your own experiences. You could
stick to one genre or you could mash it all up together. I generally
write what is called a “personal zine” that means I write stuff about
personal experiences and tell stories and occasionally other topics show
up in my zines as well. I believe that the personal is politically and while my zine is not overtly political, my feminism and anarchism are woven in my stories when I write about getting and IUD as birth control or getting out of an emotionally abusive marriage.  The contents of a zine are only limited to your
imagination. Zines can be any size or shape but I’m a firm believer
that they must be physical. I don’t consider ezines to be zines, and that’s my personal preference.

Some people that make zines consider themselves to be the progeny of
the likes of Thomas Pain writing Common Sense, early 20th Century Sci-fi
fanzine writers, beat poets and chapbooks, 70s punk music fanzines, and
the 90s zine explosion including riot grrrl zines.

All of that just tells you what zines are physically.

I’ve been reading zines since the early 90s and making my own zines
since the mid-90s. I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah on the cusp of
the internet. I would trade zines with penpals through the mail and
write letter and really get to to know the people behind the paper. This
is where I get to the cultural aspect of zines. These connections could
take you on a greyhound ride across the country to meet someone where
you know their handwriting better than their face. There are conventions
for zines called zine fests where people get together to trade, sell
and display their creations and attend workshops and skill shares. Most
of my friends are people that I have met through zines and the only
thing I can really think that we all have in common is that we all
appreciate the written word. We celebrate the tangible and sometimes the
ephemeral.

Some people talk about zines dying out after the internet and blogs
became popular, but I don’t think that is true. There is still a very
active and vibrant community of people creating zines and reading zines.
the internet has just added a new dimension to zines and zine culture.
it makes it easier to find other people that are interested in zines and
easier to spread the word about new zines, zine fests, and distros (a
hobby sort of business that buys zines at wholesale rates and sells a bunch of different zines)

In the context of this being my witchy blog I’d say that zines are a
big part of my life and that blends into my witchy life because it is
just another facet of me. I’ve also been kicking around the idea of
writing a zine about witchcraft but I can’t seem to find the time to
write my own zines these days let along sit down to do editing and
reprint the book I wrote about zines, Stolen Sharpie Revolution. (I just
reprinted it!)

Also, my day job, Portland Button Works,
is running a business that makes custom buttons and sells our own
buttons designs. It is also a zine distro and we sell lots of zines in
my brick and mortar shop. When I travel, like when I was in LA, Chicago a few months ago and San Francisco last weekend, it is zine related. I have friends all
over the US and Canada and even some in other countries and it is all
because of zines.

Zines are an integral part of my life and they have been like a back door or a back stage pass into some really amazing opportunities. I have met some of the most amazing and genuine people through zines and I am so very grateful to have stumbled into this world.