I always start Dear Anonymous with a quote. I like to leave it as a surprise, but I’m especially fond of this one…
Struggling
Starting on Dear Anonymous 3
I’ve been trying to think about how to start this all morning. I suppose the only answer to that is to muddle through and hope for the best.
With recent events in Sydney and now today in Pakistan, I am feeling powerless. And useless. I don’t want to call myself ‘a sensitive soul’ because that sounds like a label only someone else can give you. All that’s left to say is that my heart is aching, my tears are falling, and I’m not sure what to do about it.
What you don’t see here is the paragraph I’d typed, shaming myself for things that I have no control over (like having social anxiety) and for not doing more. But I refuse to do that. Berating myself serves no purpose, and it certainly doesn’t honour those who have died because of violence. My feelings of helplessness? Powerlessness? That means they win – the people who love nothing more than to make people feel afraid and powerless. I’m too competitive to let anyone win and take away my strength.
To the victims of violence: I remember you. I mourn you. I find the strength to keep standing because of you. I do what I can to bring something positive to the world.
Rest in peace.
Happy Mail + Thoughts on Dear Anonymous
Woo! There wasn’t going to be a Happy Mail post this week, but this little lovely snuck in at the last minute. (Meaning I went to the post box on a Monday.)
The thing is that I’m not really sure where it came from… Not in a literal sense; the return address is on the envelope. I imagine it’s a trade for something… Or not. I do have a little notebook where I keep track of these things, but it just goes to show that you should always put in a little note with the trade/sale/etc details when sending your zines anywhere.
That’s all for the Happy Mail side of things. I’ve been a bit quiet on the zine front while I’ve been working on other things. Mainly? Christmas cards.
I’ve been selling cards to supplement my zine addiction income, which hasn’t gone too badly to plan. But it did mean spending a lot of time making cards. Those starburst ones? Each slice is an individually cut and pasted piece of paper. Yep, they took a while.
But this isn’t about Dear Anonymous at all.
Sorry. I got a little sidetracked. Dear Anonymous 3!
DA3 now has nine letters with another one coming, so I will be getting a start on that later today. They probably won’t be sent out until early January so they don’t get lost in the Christmas rush.
DA1 was completely handwritten and drawn by yours truly. My art skills are a bit lacking in the drawing department, so I went for more typing and stamping for letters in DA2. As I look at DA3, I’m thinking there will be a complete transition into typing for the words and more cut/paste type of backgrounds for the letter.
Where the other thoughts come in are in regards to DA from here on out. I want to keep doing it, of course. However, I am thinking I’ll do a short print run (mostly for contributors) of DA3 alone. After that, though? I want to make a bigger zine that incorporates all the letters from 1, 2, and 3.
What do you think? Should I keep them separate and thus recognisable? Or should I do as I like because that’s the way of zine culture?
Decisions, decisions…
Call for Submissions: Dear Anonymous 3
Dear Anonymous 3 is on its way and I’m looking for letters!
These letters can be confessionals, but they can also be whatever you like them to be. Write to your life, write to your cat, write to your past or your future… Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you can’t say for whatever reason.
Basically, you’re right in the 1 – 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this zine is about expression, and I don’t want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. I’m flexible.
Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com If I don’t respond to you within a few days, comment here.
All contributors will receive a copy.
Call for Submissions! Dear Anonymous 3
Dear Anonymous 3 is on its way and I’m looking for letters!
These letters can be confessionals, but they can also be whatever you like them to be. Write to your life, write to your cat, write to your past or your future… Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you can’t say for whatever reason.
Basically, you’re right in the 1 – 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this zine is about expression, and I don’t want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. I’m flexible.
Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com If I don’t respond to you within a few days, comment here.
All contributors will receive a copy.
Still Alive!
Sea Green Zines is still alive! Just a little slothful.
I am very happy to announce that Dear Anonymous 2 is complete! Now only copies need to be made and sewn.
So if you have letters for the next zine, send them in! Email here.
Dear Anonymous
I’m finally moving on from Dear Anonymous by creating a batch for sending to a zine library in the UK. It’s my first library submission, so I’m quite happy about that.
Having finished those, I’ll finally be concentrating my efforts on this site and Dear Anonymous 2. I also have Sirius Rising, but the focus of that has taken a dramatic change so I’m putting that on the back burner for the moment.
I feel so good getting back to zines.
First Letter of Dear Anonymous V2
I promised myself some ‘relax and zine’ time this weekend, and I actually managed to keep the promise to myself. Here be the first letter laid out for Dear Anonymous V2.
Of course, it won’t look this way once it’s has been copied, but I sort of like this original with ends sticking out because I only stuck down enough for it to stay put in the copy machine.
With Dear Anonymous, I always start with the letter that goes in the middle of the edition – what I think of as the ‘feature letter’ because it stirs the most emotions in me. This letter – actually three pages long – is a bit different from the last issue. People who have DA V1 will see that I’ve changed things up a bit…
When I receive a letter for Dear Anonymous, I usually immediately ‘see’ what should go with the letter. The pictures that accompanied the letters in DA 1 were ‘flashes of insight’ that I followed. Sometimes much to my annoyance, as I am in no way good at drawing. But the flashes never failed to come, so I went with them.
The moment I read this letter, I knew I wouldn’t be handwriting it. I couldn’t. I couldn’t add my personal flavour or touch because it needed to stand on it’s own. This letter needed to be heard. I still consider the arrangement of the words to be art, but secondary to the letter as it should be.
When you read the letter, you’ll understand why.
So here it is, a peek into DA2 along with a little insight into the process that goes into putting Dear Anonymous together. This issue is going to be bigger and a bit different to DA1, so I hope you enjoy.
And, as always, I’m looking for submissions.
Call for Submissions! Dear Anonymous 2
Dear Anonymous 2 is on its way and I’m once again looking for letters!
Lessons learned from DA1:
*250 words or less is good (for one page)
*500 words or less is good (for two pages)
So, basically, you’re right in the 1 – 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this blog is about expression, and I don’t want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. I’m flexible. 🙂
As for content, these letters can be confessionals, but they can also be whatever you like them to be. Write to your life, write to your cat, write to your past or your future… Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you can’t say for whatever reason.
Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com
All contributors will receive a copy.
Dear Anonymous & The Perfect Pocket Guinness Guide
I am so happy to have finished my first zines and have them out there in the world. Today I sent out a stack of envelopes to contributors, trades and some surprises for sendsomething.net. Both are available at my etsy shop, but I think most of this first print run will go on trades and such. Haha. I don’t mind that at all. I need to stock up my zine collection!
I’m in that weird moment now where I’m thinking ‘what’s next…?’ as far as my next zine goes. I’ll put a formal call for submissions for Dear Anonymous V2 soon, but I’d like to work on something else as well.
But, until I decide what’s what, pictures!
Purple moose loves Guinness and The Perfect Pocket Guinness Guide.