Author: Nyx

Posted on

Call for Submissions: Bi Focus #3

bi-focus-3

Submission Deadline: 30 November 2016
Find out if you’re in it by: 4 December 2016
Publication: 30 December 2016

Forms of submissions accepted: photos, paintings, comics, poetry, essays, personal stories – max four A5 pages per person (just to stop it being too bulky!). Please make sure it’s your own work and that you haven’t published it elsewhere. When submitting artwork, please consider that because this is printed at home, colours may not come out how they look on your screen at home.

Who can contribute: people who feel that they fall under the bi umbrella (e.g. you might identify as pansexual, bisexual, panromantic, biromantic, bicurious, polysexual, etc).

Topic: there is none! I mean, it still needs to relate to bi-ness e.g. review a tv show and how it portrays bi character/s, or talk about some shit you’ve dealt with due to being bi, or write a story about a bi penguin, or draw a comic about your first crush that made you realise you were bi, or take a photo of some bi peeps (get their permission to publish that pic too please!).

Pay: AUD$5 per contributor (this is an experimental payment for this third issue to see if this is sustainable, I really want to be able to pay people for their work)

Profits (if there are any): will go to charity – all profits from all my zines and art get split between animal and human rights charities.

You can submit by sending me a message on facebook, or emailing me at khuolohan@yahoo.com.au. All contributors will get a free copy mailed out to them/to pick up :).

Please note: I will be selling this at Junky Comics, in my etsy store, and at zine fairs so if you want, feel free to use a fake name or no name if this makes you feel safer. After it has been printed and sent out, I will not be able to change these details.

Previous issues available here: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/ZinesByKeira

Posted on

Zine Review: Anecdata 1

anecdata-1-zine

Excuse my scissors to hold down the edge.

Anecdata 1
Olivia M June
Oliviaszines.tumblr.com
www.ParadoxNowCreations.etsy.com

Zines often ‘catch’ me for one reason or another, drawing me in to take a look inside straight away, and Anecdata 1 is no exception. While this zine may be mini in shape, it’s not mini in size. This isn’t a one-page folded zine; it’s a cut, stapled, 32-page solid read.

Anecdata 1 talks about group housing, stimming (a new-to-me term), mental illness, skin, and more. Olivia has a strong and yet open writing voice that’s intriguing and makes me want to pay attention. Plus, she swears more than I do, which made me grin.

I found myself nodding along a lot while also writing down things to get more information about later. There’s even a section of recommendations for mental health zines, and I love seeing zines supporting other zines in that way.

It was interesting to read a perzine from someone whom I felt I had so much and yet so very little in common with. I felt like I was being taught a lot of new things, but in a casual, conversational kid of way. Olivia’s openness and expression about being in therapy and other life experiences has really inspired me to take a close look at what I let myself feel and express when it comes to my mental illness.

There is a lot going on in this little zine, and I enjoyed very much. Anecdata 1 has been a lovely introduction to a whole new(-to-me) world experience, and I look forward to reading more in the series.

Posted on

51 Ideas for Your Next Zine

So Many Zines

I am someone who always has a list of ideas running, so I tend to forget that other people sometimes don’t know what they want to write about. As your resident zine enthusiast, I think it’s my duty to be as helpful as possible in your journey to making a zine. So here are…

51 Ideas for Your First/Next Zine

In no particular order…

  1. Your life! Yep, start a perzine
  2. Mental health/mental illness
  3. A physical condition/illness
  4. Politcal zine
  5. A holiday, road trip, etc
  6. Moving house/self/etc
  7. Your favourite animal, species, pet
  8. Zine reviews
  9. A zine about zines – the lovely ‘zine zine’
  10. Your spiritual and/or religious views
  11. A television show
  12. A movie, series of movies, or genre of movies
  13. A book, series of books, or genre of books
  14. Book reviews
  15. Poetry zine
  16. A sport, sports person, or team
  17. A fiction zine with a single story or a collection of stories
  18. Photography zine
  19. A game, series of games, specific games platform, genre of games
  20. A band, musician, or genre of music
  21. Comic! Illustrate your life, a fictional story, anything
  22. A colouring zine
  23. Sex, sexuality, views about sex-related topics
  24. Your heritage/background
  25. Your hobby
  26. Your collection
  27. A ‘how to’ guide
  28. A ‘how to’ guide for something that isn’t real/hasn’t occurred/been needed yet (like ‘how to actually taste a rainbow’)
  29. A social issue you feel strongly about
  30. Nature, gardening, or other outdoor-focus
  31. Interview someone, a group of people, or several people individually
  32. DIY zine
  33. Something silly
  34. A spotlight on your hometown
  35. Lists!
  36. A lifestyle choice you have made or want to make
  37. Mail
  38. 24-hour zine thing (whatever it is, make it in 24 hours or less)
  39. Art zine
  40. Split zine (you do one half/part and someone/other people do the other)
  41. Single topic, multiple perspectives
  42. Parenting/raising children
  43. Your craft
  44. A collection of recipes
  45. Experiments in cooking
  46. Relationships
  47. Current events
  48. A zine centred around a specific event
  49. Fashion
  50. Secrets
  51. Randomness all shoved into one zine

Want more ideas? Check out 51 (More) Ideas for Your Next Zine

Posted on

Done, Doing, Dreaming – Hayfever Edition

No happy mail this week, so here’s a less structured version of DDD.

beautiful-hayfever

I have been hit by hayfever HARD, to the point where I felt I had no choice but to phernergan up. While it works great as an antihistamine and has long-lasting results (for me), it also puts me to sleep for one to two days in exchange.

That was… awesome. Nothing like difficulty breathing to remind you why you’re moving far, far away.

dont-call-me-cupcake-6-layout

I finished the layout for Don’t Call Me Cupcake 6 yesterday and am taking a little break from proofing it to write this post. Regular trading partners will have their copies in the mail this week and, with some luck, I’ll have the paper and digital versions up in Etsy this week as well.

In the wake of Asimov’s sudden operation and the fact he still might need another one, he’s become – against his will – an indoor cat. Thanks to a 50% off sale and my increasing levels of fur-mama guilt, I bought and built him a cat tower.

package

Bigger than I was expecting…

package-inspection

Asimov: Customs Cat

i-like-the-box-more

Of course you like the box more.

instructions

This should be easy…

are-we-done-yet

Are we done yet?

complete

Behold! Cat tower! 100% built by Nyx!

king-of-the-tower

I think he actually likes it… Then again, why wouldn’t he like being above my head?

Yep, that’s really all. My brain isn’t quite working on all cylinders at the moment, so bear with me. More to come!