Month: July 2017

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 31: HallowZINE

Remember zines and zinesters that are no longer with us

Hello, zine friends! International Zine Month comes to an end, and what a month it has been.

We end July on a sombre note by remembering what has been and gone, and those zinemakers who have gone before us.

I’m still a bit of a baby in the zine world, so I don’t know any zinemakers who have passed. Not personally, anyway. However, I have come across many zine websites no longer operating, zine reviewers who no longer review, and zines that are only ‘out there’ in zine collections. They always make me wish I could have been doing this at a time when they were still going.

To all and everyone who have gone before, I raise my glass and tip my hat.

I also tip my hat to everyone who has joined me this month for International Zine Month. It’s been a wonderful, busy month, and I hope you all have enjoyed it.

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 30: Zine Reads

Read some zines!

Hello, zine friends! International Zine Month is coming to an end, and what a month it has been! Today our activity of the day is a fun and simple one that brings us back to the core of what we’re celebrating this month.

Read some zines!

In all my house packing, I have made sure to set aside a stack of zines to make sure that I have plenty of zines to read through the transition. Today I will be taking a breath to relax and enjoy some wonderful zines.

I hope you will, too!

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 29: Photos or It Didn’t Happen

Post a photo of you with your zine or zine collection

Photos or it didn’t happen! Hehehe.

Hello, zine friends! It’s time to show of your selfie and your zine collection – or your zine collection alone if you’re not feeling up to the selfie side of things.

Today I’m going to be a little cheeky (like I was with this last year) and post a favourite picture of mine…

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This is my zinester trading card! I’m not sure if Billy McCall (aka Billy the Bunny) still makes these, but he might be able to help you out if you ask nicely.

That’s me for today. Post in the comments if you are showing off your beautiful self and/or zine collection!

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!

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Call for Submissions: In Praise Zine

Fandom zine now accepting submissions!

What is fandom?

There are many different ideas about what fandom ‘is’, but according to my own experience, fandom is a group or community of fans who engage in discourse about a subject of common interest. The fan experience is what comprises a fandom, and what drives fan work and celebration.

What are you looking for?

Articles on any subject related to fandom, including fandom meta discussions. (e.g. the ‘right’ way to tag on AO3, your opinion on how creators and fans interact, an analysis of racism in a certain fandom)

Narrative Stories! I want to know how fandom has impacted you, personally. Did you meet your SO through fandom? Your best friend? Did you meet a creator at a con that changed your life? Why do you write fanfiction?

Interviews, reviews, and critiques. Have you spoken with an author about fandom? Or a fanfiction author about fandom? Do you have something to say about the way that a piece of media has treated its fans? Maybe you’ve reviewed all the cons in your area and have an opinion on the best ones?

Art and Comics: While we are not accepting fanart, we are accepting and encouraging fandom artists to write comics about the fan experience, fanfiction, fanart, talking to your fandom friends vs. non-fandom friends, how reviews make you feel, how characters make you feel, etc.

I want to contribute! What do I do?

You can contact In Praise through ask, or through email, inpraise.zine@gmail.com. Submissions will only be accepted through email. If you have a question or a pitch, you can contact me to chat about it. We’re looking for about 20-30 submissions, but if we receive more we will consider two volumes or a very large book. I cannot offer any payment, but all participants will receive a free digital copy of the zine. If this changes either through the success of a kickstarter or the patronage of a larger organization, we will let you know!

Specifics:

All written pieces should be 200-2000 words long. If you are submitting a larger piece, with references or a deep critical analysis, I will consider pieces up to 4500 words. If this is the case, I would recommend you send a pitch or abstract before spending a significant amount of time on the piece.

The zine will be published in trade size, 6”x9”, so please make sure any art submissions include a .125” bleed around the edges. You can submit up to five pages of comics. This will be a color run, but please use minimal or spot color.

You will be able to determine how you will be credited, by username, full name, alias, etc.

Will this zine be available to purchase?

Yes! We plan on creating a kickstarter to back the publication and gauge interest in additional installments. There will be both digital and physical copies available to purchase.

When’s the deadline?

The deadline for submissions is July 31st!

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Zine Review: Posture 2: Create or Perish

Posture 2: Create or Perish
Ro
barcadia@gmsil.com

Posture 2: Create or Perish is a black and white 24 hour zine (if you’re not familiar, it’s a challenge to create a zine within 24 consecutive hours).

Given it’s the last Friday in International Zine Month July, I thought it was only right to review a 24 hour zine.

I think I need to read more 24 hour zines because it’s a lot of fun to be ‘in the moment’ with a zinemaker as they are creating a zine. Ro even adds a date, time, and time left in the front that adds to the fun ‘urgent’ feeling.

Ro starts off admitting that there is no real plan for this zine, and it’s a smattering of various subjects. It starts out with thoughts about being fascinated with street art and tugs right at my zine-loving heartstrings by giving a different perspective to something I’ve never really thought about.

From street art and yarn bombing, Ro goes into documentary recommendations, thoughts on fashion, art and creativity, and there are a couple of quotes thrown in for fun.

Side note: There is a really cool pocket on one page of this zine, but I have no idea what went in it.

This is a fun zine with various bits and bobs on various subjects. It’s very quick and easy to read. If you think that sounds like you check out this zine.

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 28: We’re Cooking Now

Cook with a recipe from a zine

Recipes and foodie zines are ones I don’t come across very often, but I love that they exist. People sharing recipes, experimenting with new things. Fun fun.

I actually did grab a zine to try out a new recipe for today’s activity, but they were all a bit beyond me with things either being out of season or including things I really don’t like (watermelon is so nasty). So I’m a bit out of luck there. I do, however, have fond memories of my first ever zine and the nutella cookies I made…

I would love, love, love to see/read any posts if you’re trying out a recipe or two. Leave links in the post below!

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!

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Zine Review: Mythologising Me #10

Mythologising Me #10
Ingrid
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/mythologisingme

Apologies right up front for the not-so-great image. Looking forward to a house with natural lighting…

Mythologising Me #10 is a black and white perzine about moving, money, and self-care.

It never ceases to make me giggle when I pick up a zine and the contents inside speak to what I’m experiencing in my life at that time. I totally identified with the joys to be found in moving into one’s own place and no longer needing to do things like hide from the landlady during inspections. I found myself wanting to read more on that subject alone.

In the zine, Ingrid contemplates work and whether the ‘dream job’ is worth the stressful commute and doing what one needs instead of racing after the almighty dollar. The theme of self-care continues in a piece about writing mail and making new penpals until the point where it all became overwhelming rather than a pleasurable experience. How doing something you love so much too much can make you stop enjoying the process in the first place.

There was one point that was a little jarring for me as the reader and that was the use of ‘we’ without explaining who else made up the ‘we’ being talked about. It made me want to pick up earlier zines in the series, which is good for the zinemaker, but it did throw me out of the reading for a little bit, which is perhaps not so good for the zinemaker.

I do love it when a zine gets me interested in new concepts and gives options for further reading should the reader be interested. With MM 10, this came with Ingrid’s thoughts on the ‘treat yo’self” mindset within self care and how that can be a bad thing. This is the first time I’ve read about the possible negative impacts of doing things that way, and I’m eager to check out the recommended reading on the subject.

Aesthetically, MM 10 has made me realised what a structured person I am when it comes to making zines. Don’t take that as a negative thing. I found this zine to be really refreshing and different with no titles, switches of fonts to show switches of topic, so on and so forth. I like the mix of shorter thoughts as well as longer pieces of writing.

There were a few spots where the words were difficult to make out, but I think I got the gist of everything.

There’s also plenty to look at with cats, Snoopy stickers (<3), and more. It reminds me that, while computers can certainly help things along and make things easier, there is a free-spirited sort of whimsy when it comes to making things more by hand than by machine.

Mythologising Me #10 is a perzine I enjoyed and inspired me to check out the rest of the series.

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 27: Collab It Up

Submit something to a compilation zine

Hello, zine friends! Today we’re joining in with yet another zine tradition: the collab zine.

Sending in your writing, art, etc can be a fun and easy way to get to know other zinemakers and become part of various zine communities. I haven’t submitted to much lately, but I’ve always loved the process.

If you’re stuck for options, you can check out the calls for submissions category here on the blog to see what’s open for your glorious submissions. There’s also the calls for submissions section of the new We Make Zines website and the community board at Pen Fight distro that also includes calls.

(And if you don’t find a call that fits with something you’d like to make – start one!)

That’s me for now. Back soon with a zine review!

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 26: Zine Teacher

Teach a friend or family member about zines

Check, check, check. Hahaha. Funnily enough, I got so excited about zines years back that I actually held a few ‘zine Sundays’ with a group of friends and introduced them to the whole shebang. We even had a few zinemaking days thrown in there as well.

So I guess you could say that I’ve taught everyone I’m comfortable teaching about zines.

Spread a little sunshine, right?

I’d like to think that this site is also a good space for teaching in a more general way. That it’s here and will always be here for people to go through to learn and maybe get a little inspiration. ^_^

That’s me for the day. I’ll be back tomorrow with IZM day 27 and a zine review.

Other Zinesters Joining In (Let me know if you are, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*@eintervital
*@dre
*@queerarcana

Play along with 31 Days of International Zine Month Activities here!