Month: April 2017

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The Freedom APA

Freedom APA is an alternative press association with one expectation: participate where, when and how you are able.

Annual Membership: Participation by sending items for the mailing a minimum of once per membership year PLUS $15 for US membership; $25 for rest of world. Items for the mailing bundle may include mail art, printed journals, chapbooks, zines, cds, dvds, cassettes, envelopes, postcards, bookmarks, recipes, stamps, letters, or whatever you choose to create.

Four bundles are mailed per year. The next mailing is scheduled for June 2017. If you send materials for the June bundle, 22 items are needed.

Membership dues may be sent via Paypal: singinggrove@conknet.com

Checks may be made payable to: Frederick Moe 36 West Main Street Warner NH 03278.

$6 postpaid for a sample bundle if you’re curious to check it out before jumping in.

Freedom APA is intended to be fun & embrace the spirit of personal journalism, zine making, letter writing, graphic arts, mail art, DIY printing, poetry, homemade music, creative projects, podcasting & more. Freedom APA is not an organization nor will Freedom APA have officers or by-laws. We have however add volunteer “staff” as Freedom APA grows.

With your support, this will be an enjoyable mailing circle project full of creativity. Freedom APA is a postal activity.

Please share with your friends!

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Call for Submissions: felan Issue 11 Attraction

Submissions for our next issue, Attraction are now open. Submissions close Apr. 28.

What does attraction mean to you? What are you attracted to? Whether humans, kindness or glitter, we want to see your attraction in all its shapes and forms.

Email your submissions to felanzine@outlook.com. Submission guidelines here.

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Calling Zine Makers, Libraries, Distros, And the Like

I’m at the very beginning stages of working on a new zine project. As part of this, I would like to include A5/A6 spaces (maybe even A7, if that works for you) that feature things like:

*Zines that have a rolling call for submissions (even if your zine changes theme/topic from issue to issue, an overarching ‘flier’ for the whole series would be awesome)
*Zine distros – whether you want to say ‘check out my distro’, are looking for zines to sell in your distro, or both!
*Zine libraries – again, whether it’s a ‘check us out’, ‘looking for zine donations’, or both, I’d love to see it
*Zine people who want to be included in an ‘open to trades’ section. I’m thinking name, preferred contact (or your mailing addy, if that’s the way you roll), and a few likes/dislikes.

The key thing here is that things be ‘undated’ (hence sharing a zine series rather than one specific call for submissions) so things aren’t out of date before I get the chance to create the thing.

Ideally, I’d like things to be images with text on them because of the limited space involved (with the exception of the trades section, which will be text only). But I want to be flexible, too. This project is really in its early days, so I’m still figuring a lot out.

If you want to get involved straight away (please do!) then you can shoot me an email (theauthor at inkyblots.com)

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Zine Review: Catzine

Catzine
Maria (Fafa) Jaepelt
IG: @catarinacomixfestival
Catarina Comix Festival Page

For today’s review, I have something quite different for you. Henry got in contact on my Sea Green Zines Facebook page and asked if I was interested in comic zines from Brazil (Brasil). My answer was a big, big yes, but the only thing was that they were in Portuguese. I’m afraid that English is the only language I’m fluent in.

However, Henry wasn’t worried about it, so I decided that I shouldn’t be worried either. Plus, cats!

I decided that this would be a fun and interesting opportunity to see how much I could get out of a zine even if I couldn’t understand the language. Would images be enough to enjoy it? Would I be able to understand what was happening in the comics based on what was shown in setting, expressions, and other body language?

I opened the zine up to a flutter of leaves falling out onto my lap, and I must admit that I was a little confused until I took another look at the zine cover. Only then did I really note the leaves blowing around the cat, who had a scarf on and a warm mug of something. Then I must admit that I laughed.

Perhaps not something I would appreciate as much has I opened it on the bus or something, but I do love the touch – especially as it goes so well with the cover (and the fact that it’s autumn here right now).

Because I didn’t understand the words, I knew that the art style would have to carry things for me, and that it absolutely did. The art style of this zine is absolutely engaging and lovely. Both Maria and Henry (Henry had one comic included) have styles that are very detailed while at the same time being very easy on the eyes.

I would love to have a print of this page:

(Posted with permission from the zine creator.)

Not understanding the words didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the zine. It didn’t take words to understand the story of someone intent on getting one cat and then ending up with two, three, five, more… Though perhaps the love I have for cats helped in that understanding.

The one thing I didn’t see was anything resembling contact details or a website/store. Even though zines aren’t something to get into for the money, I feel like zine creators – especially artists – are shutting out some positive possibilities by not including any contact details.

For the curious – yes, I did get the English versions later and still loved everything just the same. As it turned out, I’d guessed the context fairly well for the most part.

Whether you get the Portuguese version or wait for the English version, if you love cats, I think you’ll love this zine.

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Zine Review: Brazine!

Brazine!
Lauren
http://laurenhage.com/

Brazine is an ‘introduction to bras’ that you may think you don’t need (if you have breasts), but you probably do.

In a ‘101’ style, Brazine covers band sizes, cup sizes, and other bra basics to get you started. It’s a short zine that gives you a lot of information with a personal story introduction. It also includes a further reading resource list and creator contact details.

What more could you ask for?

This zine is obviously for a specific audience, but it’s an important zine. Wearing the wrong bra – especially when you have bigger breasts – can have serious health implications. As someone who falls into falls into that category, I appreciate this zine!

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Refilling the Well

I first read The Blue Sword when I was nine, possibly younger. I absolutely adored Robin McKinley’s writing voice, proper and gentle yet with a reliable steel when and where needed. It was the voice of a narrator who saw all and could be relied upon to deliver everything you could need and want to read in the story.

I rented it in hardback from my local library. Repeatedly. I’d always return it just in case someone else would stumble across it and love it as much as I did, but I would inevitably end up grabbing it again in a few weeks or so time. A conservative guess would say that I’ve read it more than twenty times. A less conservative guess would say more than fifty.

The Blue Sword is more than simply a book to me. It’s sacred to me. A totem. A safe space and a feeling of home in a time and place where I didn’t often feel safe and never felt at home. Though life took me far away from that library, I came back to it as an adult, ordering my very own copy to keep with me always.

This is the book I always come back to for a read when I am feeling far away from my writing and my creativity.

When I need to refill the well.

I think I first heard of the concept of refilling the well on Lynn Viehl’s blog – though I could be wrong about that, as I can’t seem to find any references to it. (Perhaps Stephen King’s On Writing?) The basic gist is that you can’t, as an artist of any sort, continue on creating forever with no input. Whether you make zines or murals, we all need to take time to find our inspirations. To refill the well of what drives us to create.

I’ve seen so many people make posts or status updates, guiltily ‘confessing’ to not working on this or that. I imagine I’ve done the same thing at some point or another. But there’s nothing to feel guilty about.

It’s taken me an unfortunately long time to remember this basic concept about life as an artist. To remember that, as creative people, we need to feel inspired. How we go about it is up to us to find. Perhaps taking yourself out for a coffee is the best, going to an art gallery, or sitting at a local park and watching people for a while. A marathon of your favourite shows or reading your favourite novel could be just what you need.

Do I wish I could be so creatively filled to create a Don’t Call Me Cupcake on the schedule I started last year? Absolutely. Do I wish I could have embraced writing my next novel two years ago instead of now? More than I can say. But I’m tired of feeling guilty about taking all the time I need and needed for both.

Time to release yourself from the guilt, too.

To each their own process. To each their own time.

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Hoppy Easter

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely long weekend, regardless of whether you celebrate or not.

The weather was absolutely stunning locally, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to do as much work as possible outside. Haha. Wanderer and I don’t really do anything for Easter as such as we’re neither religious nor have family to call us to doing anything.

Because it’s Easter Monday today, there’s no mail service and thus no happy mail. I did, however, have a big ol’ weekend in which to catch up on all my mail and then some! There’s quite a few things to send out, which is why I only do these kind of send outs once or twice a year. Hehe. If you’re expecting mail from me, it’s coming soon!

With the bullet journal zine finished, I find that I’m in this exhilarating but somewhat confusing place of ‘what do I do next?’ I’m excited about all of the possibilities but not sure where to take everything.

So, for now, I am open to suggestions if you have any sort of ideas or requests for zines, posts here, or anything else along those lines.

Until next time!

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Call for Submissions: felan Issue 11 Attraction

Submissions for our next issue, Attraction are now open. Submissions close Apr. 28.

What does attraction mean to you? What are you attracted to? Whether humans, kindness or glitter, we want to see your attraction in all its shapes and forms.

Email your submissions to felanzine@outlook.com. Submission guidelines here.

Posted on

Calling Zine Makers, Libraries, Distros, And the Like

I’m at the very beginning stages of working on a new zine project. As part of this, I would like to include A5/A6 spaces (maybe even A7, if that works for you) that feature things like:

*Zines that have a rolling call for submissions (even if your zine changes theme/topic from issue to issue, an overarching ‘flier’ for the whole series would be awesome)
*Zine distros – whether you want to say ‘check out my distro’, are looking for zines to sell in your distro, or both!
*Zine libraries – again, whether it’s a ‘check us out’, ‘looking for zine donations’, or both, I’d love to see it
*Zine people who want to be included in an ‘open to trades’ section. I’m thinking name, preferred contact (or your mailing addy, if that’s the way you roll), and a few likes/dislikes.

The key thing here is that things be ‘undated’ (hence sharing a zine series rather than one specific call for submissions) so things aren’t out of date before I get the chance to create the thing.

Ideally, I’d like things to be images with text on them because of the limited space involved (with the exception of the trades section, which will be text only). But I want to be flexible, too. This project is really in its early days, so I’m still figuring a lot out.

If you want to get involved straight away (please do!) then you can shoot me an email (theauthor at inkyblots.com)