Hello, friends, and welcome back to Happy Mail Monday. In this lower energy edition, we have a lot of mail from friends near and far featuring zines, stickers, and more. Plus some rambling thoughts from yours truly.
Calling all transmasculine creators: we’re looking for contributors for a sci-fi zine made by us, for us, and about us!
The World Beyond our Station is a for-charity science fiction anthology for all transmasculine artists and writers, looking for work about what being transmasculine means to you with a sci-fi flair. Maybe you’ve always felt at home within tales about alien planets, maybe you’re looking to explore transhumanism in an extra trans way. Whatever your idea is, the sky is the limit here and we’re looking for your work.
We are looking for applicants who identify anywhere under the umbrella term of “transmasculine.” That can include anything from binary trans men to transmasculine lesbians and multigendered individuals, as long as you identify comfortably with the label and view your experience through a transmasculine lens.
We are interested in: >Comics >Spot illustrations >Photos of 3-dimensional works >Stories >Poetry >Scripts >…and more! If you’ve got a unique idea you’d love to see fit into a zine context, reach out and we’ll see if we can make it work!
Applications for the zine are open until January 31st. We have two separate applications available.
1. The main zine will have a juried application process, and is open to all contributors 16+. Those selected in this application round will have their work included in our printed physical zine, and anyone who is not accepted can choose to contribute to the PDF-only side zine. Applications for the main zine are available here:https://forms.gle/CHfdbGhk9dJwAjFW8
2. We’re making a PDF-only side zine to capture extra voices from the community that can’t fit into a limited physical format. The PDF-only zine is open to all applicants 14+, and any completed submissions will be included in the PDF, provided the content is appropriate for inclusion. If you’re a younger creator or just not interested in the juried process, you can sign up for the side zine at https://forms.gle/8XJy9X9pZCdXzrnr6
The deadline to apply for The World Beyond is January 31st 2022.
We look forward to seeing your work!
[Image description: A call for contributors for a zine. Image is a blue alien with antennae in front of a blue background. Text reads: Seeking contributors for a transmasc scifi zine. Applications for writers and artists now open. Applications close: 31st January 2022. Two links are included: https://twitter.com/WorldBeyondZine and https://worldbeyondzine.tumblr.com.]
Better Than Me: a zine about comparison is a 1-page-folded, black text on green paper mini-zine about comparison and
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
This is one of my favourite quotes as belittling myself by comparing myself to others is something that I’ve worked hard on stopping. As you can imagine, the moment I saw this zine, I knew I had to read it.
Elisa opens right into the text, writing about how they’ve always had a problem with self-esteem. Elisa then writes about struggling with confidence and thinking poorly of themself to the point of insults and self-punishment. But Elisa shares hope in having spent years in recovery and learning self-love and appreciation. They even write a sort of call to action for the person reading to try to change perspective and society.
All wrapped up in a little mini.
This is one of those zines that simply spoke to me, and I struggle to see it from an impartial reviewer’s eyes. I know what it’s like to constantly drag myself down, and with the utterly easy access to social media, it’s easier than ever to use others as a mean to berate ourselves. As much as I would love to see this zine expanded into a chunky monkey of a zine on the topic, there is so much value to a short and sweet message of ‘you are enough’.
If you struggle with comparing yourself to others, this mini is a lovely pocket reminder that you’re not alone and that it’s possible to dismantle the habit of comparison.
Six of Swords is an 11cm x 19cm black and white zine mixture of perzine and info zine exploring the Six of Swords in the tarot and its related symbolism.
Six of Swords opens with a quote from The Haunting of Hill House before we are introduced in perzine fashion to the melancholic nature of sixes in the tarot. Usually I would wait to write about Wesley’s writing style, but this was a magnificent blend of personal story launching into the main topic.
This blend of information with perzine qualities continues as Wesley writes about the nature of the card influencing the creation process with the zine itself, sixes not only in the tarot but in numerology, a breakdown of the symbolism of the cover art, and more.
The aesthetic of this zine is so lovely on so many levels. From the ‘easter egg’ of the zine having twenty-two pages (Wesley of Twenty Two Zines), to the zine itself being shaped like a tarot card. Inside, the zine features Six of Swords cards from various decks, and it’s interesting to see the different visual interpretations.
I learned even more than I was expecting in Six of Swords, which was a lovely surprise considering that I was expecting to learn a lot. Wesley has been incredibly thorough. I was also excited to see Knight of Cups, Judgement, and Death zines continuing on this series in Wesley’s Etsy shop. If I may be so bold – Queen of Pentacles next perhaps? Haha.
Six of Swords is everything I was hoping it would be and more. This whole series is going onto my wish list for sure. If you have any interest in tarot (especially with a perzine flair), check out this zine.
Calling all transmasculine creators: we’re looking for contributors for a sci-fi zine made by us, for us, and about us!
The World Beyond our Station is a for-charity science fiction anthology for all transmasculine artists and writers, looking for work about what being transmasculine means to you with a sci-fi flair. Maybe you’ve always felt at home within tales about alien planets, maybe you’re looking to explore transhumanism in an extra trans way. Whatever your idea is, the sky is the limit here and we’re looking for your work.
We are looking for applicants who identify anywhere under the umbrella term of “transmasculine.” That can include anything from binary trans men to transmasculine lesbians and multigendered individuals, as long as you identify comfortably with the label and view your experience through a transmasculine lens.
We are interested in: >Comics >Spot illustrations >Photos of 3-dimensional works >Stories >Poetry >Scripts >…and more! If you’ve got a unique idea you’d love to see fit into a zine context, reach out and we’ll see if we can make it work!
Applications for the zine are open until January 31st. We have two separate applications available.
1. The main zine will have a juried application process, and is open to all contributors 16+. Those selected in this application round will have their work included in our printed physical zine, and anyone who is not accepted can choose to contribute to the PDF-only side zine. Applications for the main zine are available here:https://forms.gle/CHfdbGhk9dJwAjFW8
2. We’re making a PDF-only side zine to capture extra voices from the community that can’t fit into a limited physical format. The PDF-only zine is open to all applicants 14+, and any completed submissions will be included in the PDF, provided the content is appropriate for inclusion. If you’re a younger creator or just not interested in the juried process, you can sign up for the side zine at https://forms.gle/8XJy9X9pZCdXzrnr6
The deadline to apply for The World Beyond is January 31st 2022.
We look forward to seeing your work!
[Image description: A call for contributors for a zine. Image is a blue alien with antennae in front of a blue background. Text reads: Seeking contributors for a transmasc scifi zine. Applications for writers and artists now open. Applications close: 31st January 2022. Two links are included: https://twitter.com/WorldBeyondZine and https://worldbeyondzine.tumblr.com.]
Howdy! Thanks for your interest in submitting something to Zine of the Hill 3. For this issue, I am curating an all-queer “cast” of contributors. Like the second issue of Zine of the Hill, I would like to focus on how the show makes you feel, but this time with more queer subtext. Anyone who loves King of the Hill and falls somewhere under the LGBTQQIP2SAA umbrella may contribute. I am looking for both written pieces and visual art (but at this time, mostly written pieces! Creative non-fiction! Fiction! Poetry! Etc.!) Please keep things “PG-13.”
All accepted contributors will receive two copies of the zine. Unfortunately, at this time I cannot pay for submissions. After the zine is completed, I will be reaching out to get accepted contributors’ addresses to send copies of the zine. If you’d prefer a digital copy, please let me know at that time.
The deadline for this call for submissions is 1/23/22.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out – longarmstapler (@) gmail . com
