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International Zine Month 2017 Day 5: Zine Organisation

Organise your zine collection

Oopsie. Hahaha.

Hello, zine friends! It’s IZM, and I knew this one was coming. I knew it was coming and thought I’d have it sorted by the time it rolled around.

Alas…

As much as I want to blame the chaos of the house move, I have had this system of doing things for quite a while now. It’s really not something I would call organised, but I’m not going to reorganise right when I have packing up to do right around the corner.

So for better or worse, here’s how I organise my zines:

This is the shop stock! I made a big push early in the year to get lots of stock ready and waiting, and here it is. Well, what’s left of the big rush. The switch to the ‘it’s sea green colour in person’ basket happened… a month or two back, I believe. It makes it much easier to pull out or put away as needed and to easily see what I have and don’t have.

This is my bedside table. In two mesh mail-sorter type things (technical terms only here at Sea Green Zines) I have the zines I’m going to read next. ‘Coming right up’ level of ‘reading soon’.

One mesh holder has zines that were sent to me for the purpose of reviewing. Just in case I’m in a waffle mood and am not sure what I want to read next, I know to look to that one. The second has ones that I’m eager to read sooner rather than later. (Though they did get a little mixed together because Asimov the cat got a little crazy… But I’ll sort them back into their proper mesh homes.)

I keep them in the mesh things along with a couple of pens and some paper so I can reviewer wherever I please. Not that it’s a difficult thing to review a zine, but with this, I can grab it when I’m about to go sit in the recliner or have a long bath and all the bits and pieces are in one place.

In my dear cube shelf, I have a cube filled with zines that I have not read yet that aren’t quite ‘next on the reading list’ and haven’t been sent to me for review. In fact, most of these were sent to me by the amazing LogPoes when she was cutting down her collection. There’s nothing wrong with them; I simply prioritise them last because no one is waiting on me to review them.

Lastly, we have the home of the zines I have read and (possibly) reviewed. This is where they go to sweet rest until I decide to rummage through them and relive the good reading times.

That’s me for today with my system that works for me now but will probably change once I’ve moved. I’ll be back tomorrow with IZM day 6 and a 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 4: International Zines

Read a zine from a country other than your own

Today’s IZM prompt makes me want to go through my whole zine collection and figure out which ones are from what countries. I’ve had the pleasure of reading all sorts of zines from Australia, Canada, the US, the UK, and even a couple from Brazil that were in Portuguese!

Today I’m wrapping up in my cosy winter blanket and settling down to read Mythologising Me.

I have #11: “40 page A6 size perzine, half by me, about quitting my job, winter blues, friendship, self esteem and starting a band for the very first time. Say Hi and Wave is made by Alexa and talks about being vegan, libraries, gigs she’s been to and fun times with friends.”

I also have #12, which is a split zine: “40 page A6 size perzine, half by me, about quitting my job, winter blues, friendship, self esteem and starting a band for the very first time. Say Hi and Wave is made by Alexa and talks about being vegan, libraries, gigs she’s been to and fun times with friends.”

What are you reading today?

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 3: Zine Distro Appreciation Day

International Zine Month 2017 Day 3: Zine Distro Appreciation Day

Hello zine friends! It’s International Zine Month, which means I’ve shouting my zine love from the rooftops even more often than usual for the entire month.

Zine Distro Appreciation Day! Order from a zine distro

Zine distros! Those beautiful places that gather ziney goodness and organise it for easy purchase by the masses. They give us a chance to get our cut and pasted words out to people we will probably never meet. Thank you distros!

So today’s task is to order from a distro. I would love to do that and shout out about the zinelicious goodies headed to my post box… but I have a rather spendy neuro appointment coming up. Until I know if I need more than one of those spendy appointments to get my noggin’ sorted, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to purchase any zines.

Are you in a similar financial position? Well we can still show our distro love!

I would love to show my distro appreciation by shouting out to my closest zine distro: Sticky Institute! I visit them every time I’m in the Melbs CBD, and they stock my zines as well!

I’m also going to show my distro appreciation by shouting out to the distro I would like to order from next: Pen Fight Distro! They are located in the UK and have a unicorn on their logo. Does it get any better?

If you love your local – or not so local – zine distro, please leave a link in the comments! I love looking through the listings of new-to-me distros.

Until tomorrow, keep those glue sticks out and scissors cutting.

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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Happy Mail Monday: Pin Rich Edition

It’s Happy Mail Monday when I celebrate and say thank to those who have spread a little sunshine in my postbox and my life.

My wonderful friend Billy from the States sent me a postcard update about things. He was playing with the idea of moving Down Under, but alas, he remains Up Over. I wonder how many people had a laugh like I did when they saw the alien. So cute.

Comedy is in the air with a cheeky Bush postcard from Erica D that made me laugh. Erica was giving me a heads up about her new address and reminded me that I’ll need to whip up a few ‘new address’ cards soon!

Shit’s Fucked completely surprised me with an envelope of zine goodness. They even sent me a couple of pins for my rapidly growing pin collection. I’m getting pin rich! Hehe.

Fun Fact: I first heard about Shit’s Fucked on It’s Pronounced Zine – a podcast I highly recommend.

Butts 4 life!

Many, many thanks to Billy, Erica, and Shit’s Fucked for making my post box and my life a brighter place. Nothing makes me happy like mail does, and I appreciate everything that comes my way.

That’s it for me for now. I’ll be back later with IZM Day 3!

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International Zine Month 2017 Day 2: Read Your Favourites

Re-read your favourite zines

My favourite zines? How am I supposed to pick favourite zines? Ack!

It’s been a long and busy (in good ways) Sunday here in the land of Oz, and I’m finally sitting down to relax a bit. (I’m thinking hot bath to take off that annoying winter chill in my bones.) But reread a favourite zine? Actually pick one (or two, or three)?

I’m a bit tired and want something nice to look at, so I might go with zines by Bodie Hartley or Rebecca Sheedy because I love their artwork.

Then again, it’s been a long, tough week, so Sober Bob’s pull no punches writing and sense of humour could be the ticket. It’s International Zine Month, too, though, so I could really get my zine nerd on and get into some copies of Xerography Debt and admire their dedication to zines.

Then there’s the tactile experience that I love so much, so there’s Kerbloom’s awesome letterpress aesthetics or the satisfaction of holding a thick little zine that I know is full of goodness like The Screever.

I could go back to the very first zine I ever bought or brush up on my zine knowledge with Stolen Sharpie.

Then again, there are really so many to choose from that, in the end, I may just do a lucky dip and go from there.

Happy IZM, my friends. ^_^

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 Calls for Submissions: Spread the Word About Your Zine/Distro/Library!

Zine Calls for Submissions

Share your call for submissions, let people know about your distro or zine library, announce your newest zine, let people know you are crowdfunding a zine project… If you have an announcement to make that has to do with zines, do it here! Sea Green Zines wants to be your megaphone. Even better? It’s an automatic shout out on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr when you advertise here.

Big fuzzy love hearts to those who have a .jpg call for subs, but all are welcome. Get in touch by emailing theauthor[at]inkyblots.com or comment below.

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International Zine Month 2017: Day 1

It’s IZM2017, and that means 31 days of zine-related activities. Starting us off on day one…

1. Make a Top 10 List of reasons why you love zines.

1. I like to pet them. Ahem.

  1. Zines are DIY. Like a lot of people, I see all the pretty craft projects and want to make them but can’t because I don’t have blah blah blah. Zines? Zine are DIY. They’re a piece of paper or a word document. A marker or a pen. A collage or a carefully crafted layout. Have at it!
  2. Anyone can make them. There’s no membership fee, no minimum age, no secret handshake… If you want to make a zine, you can! A lot of people make zines before they’ve even heard of the word zine. It’s a party, and everyone is invited.
  3. If you can’t find your genre/topic, you can start it. Last year I spent a lot of time looking around for a zine on PCOS. Not finding one, I decided to go ahead and make my own! Even better, someone who saw my zine pointed to me to another zine about PCOS. Win win.
  4. Zines bring people together. I have met such amazing people through zines. If zines were personified, I would give zines a big hug, some Tim Tams, and my neverending thanks. Whether I introduced them to zines or they introduced me to something zine-related, I truly adore so many people I have connected with through zines.
  5. You can express yourself without permission from the mainstream. When I was growing up, I thought that mainstream publishers were the only way I’d ever express anything. The trouble was that I had so much to say that would never sell enough to make a publisher interested. Finding zines was a true ‘mind blown’ moment. Years later, I still get soooo excited about the prospect of being able to write about anything.
    And read about anything, too!
  6. They come in unlimited varieties of shapes and sizes. Binding and buttons and printing and paper. Okay, so I don’t know about the buttons, but I like alliteration. I have read zines folded like origami and seen zines the size of posters. There’s no limit for what and how you create.
  7. They’re not expensive. I feel a bit squidgy mentioning this one, but it really is a factor. I can get a brand new, lovely, handmade zine to read for a dollar or two, and it’s mine to keep. Or share.
    At those prices, I’m less precious about keeping it to myself. (Only a little, though. I’m a zine hoarder collector.)
  8. Zines make me feel challenged and safe at the same time. If you’ve been reading here for a while, y’all know I’m a squishy marshmallow person. Zines help me to explore the world through others’ eyes and challenge my perspectives while making it possible for me to stay comfortable at the same time.
  9. Zines are great teachers! Yes, there’s the grain of salt thing, but there is so much to learn
  10. Because I do. Before you start yelling ‘cop out!’ for my number 10, I just want to say that there are wordless ways to love and appreciate, and I have that kind of love and appreciation for zines.

Other Zinesters Top 10 Lists (Let me know if you’re joining in, and I’ll add you to the list!):

*

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

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Happy International Zine Month! – Announcements

Hello zine friends! I know it’s not quite July 1st everywhere in the world just yet, but I am so excited and don’t want to hold off jumping into International Zine Month!

If you’re new to the whole shebang, July is International Zine Month where zine enthusiasts around the world get their zine groove on in a multitude of ways. One of those is by doing the activity-a-day
prompts by Alex Wrekk:

I don’t imagine I will be surprising anyone when I say that I am aiming to do each prompt of the day. I won’t be postponing or changing the usual schedule, so be prepared for quite a few posts coming your way this month (especially if you’re signed up to receive post notifications by email).

The activities in the list are a smidge dates, so I’ll provide an alternative activity for the day here and there, but I’m not going to swoop in and make a whole new IZM list.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that, along with IZM, we can now celebrate the brand new shiny home of We Make Zines: WeMakeZines.com!

Go there, sign up, and get chatting! I’m there as Nyx or @theauthor if you’d like to be friends.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back soon with the post for day one: Make a Top 10 list of reasons why you love zines!