For the love of zines
Check it out, zine friends! This is a daily creative prompts list for the month of July (happy International Zine Month!) that will culminate in an awesome collab zine!
At the end of the prompts, favourite entries from participants will be put together in a zine so you can enjoy having participated even more. Awesome idea. Check out the prompts list and calls for submissions below, and be sure to check out Vlasinda Productions on Instagram.
Vlasinda Productions
IG: @vlasinda_stormdrain
Hello and happy Friday, zine friends!
Wow, wow, wow. It had been a tumultuous fortnight. I won’t go into it too much, but I’ve been dealing with ongoing complications from the flu (yes, the flu I got back in March) as well as a lot of life changes as I do what I need to do for the sake of my mind, heart, and self.
I’ve really set a new bar for getting behind with things, but that’s okay! Remember the joy rather than focusing on the stress. I’m going to dive right in with the IZM prompts I’ve missed…
Day 4:
AmeriZine Day! Explore marginalised voices in the Americas. By, share, and read zines about racial justic and zines written by BIPOC (Black Indigenous and People of Colour) from the Americas.
When you mention zines written by BIPOC zinemakers, my mind immediately goes to Brown Recluse distro. As is written on the site:
BROWN RECLUSE is a collectively-run zine distro for QTBIPOC by QTBIPOC.
There are so many zines on offer, and they use a sliding scale system that helps you to support the distro itself and help them to continue featuring BIPOC zinemakers. I love it when places make it easy for you to engage in supporting them. I feel like that might sound a little odd, but when I have extra, I love spreading the love.
Nina Echozina also has an excellent list of resources for BIPOC zines.
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Day 5:
Review a zine: post online or write a review to print in your next zine.
I’m going to delay this day for a number of reasons. As much as I’d love to push reviews out, I don’t want to rush reading (and enjoying) zines. I’m working out how to do more reviews for the rest of the year to pick up on my back log of reviews owed. Slowly but surely…
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Day 6:
Zine Pride Day! Explore LGBTQIA+ zines! Buy, share, and read zines by people of marginalised sexual orientations and gender identities. Check out the Queer Zines Archive Project!
When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of Shei from God Save the Queer who recently released the latest edition of their series ‘I’m Still Here’. Their Etsy shop is also filled with awesome jewellery as well as zines.
You can check out my reviews of Shei’s zines here.
Day 7:
What’s a zine distro? Educate yourself of what zine distros are, how they operate, and how they pick zines to carry. Support a distro near you!
Distros! Distros are shops (online or off – or both) that primarily sell zines. Sometimes they also sell stickers, patches, and the like, but zines are the main thing being sold.
The specifics can get a little more tricky – what makes an Etsy shop a shop rather than a distro, what percentage of zines to other items makes it a distro, so on and so forth. However, I like the simple answer I put above. Haha.
How a distro picks zines can vary a lot. For my distro, I see a zine I like, and I try to get copies of that zine for my distro if I can. (I’m a buy copies up front kind of distro owner rather than a ‘pay when they sell’ distro owner.) Whereas I go by what I like, others go by theme, genre, support specific zinemakers, and some distros take all zines.
There’s a heap of different ways to approach finding distros and running them. I can only hope that you love a research project as much as I do! Haha.
Day 8:
Cook with a recipe you found in a zine!
This isn’t going to be a very exciting one, I’m afraid, as I don’t have a recipe for you. I have baked in the past thanks to The Nutella Cookbook. I also know that Kendy of The Stay At Home Girlfriend includes vegan recipes in that (awesome) perzine series.
However, as I’m not a vegan or even vegetarian, I don’t have anything much more exciting than a fruit salad that I can make, and I don’t really have the energy for anything more complex.
So for today I will say check out Kendy’s awesome zineness!
Day 9:
Buy direct! Do you sell zines online? Update your shop and post a link to it online. Buy directly from someone who posts a link to their shop.
And here we are, zine friends! To the final catch up day. Buy direct!
Yes, yes, yes. Sea Green Zines operates both on Etsy as well as independently as a distro here on Sea Green Zines. Both definitely need a bit of a dust and polish, as shipping prices have gone up, and I haven’t updated yet…
Please, please, please feel free to put your shops and distros in the comments! Along with dusting and polishing my shops, I want to do the same for my Resources page – which includes distros and shops around the world.
Unfortunately, due to a dead car battery while I was out at the shops, I can’t join in on this one just yet. However, there will be fresh, lovely zines I will be snapping up as soon as I can…
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And that is me for today, zine friends!
As always, you are all so amazing for all your patience and understanding with everything. I really wish this was a nine to five so I could give it all the proper love and attention it deserves. As it is, I’m spreading the zine love as much as I can…
DOWNLOAD THE PDF TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER HERE!
Like with all years, I like to keep a running list of links to people/places participating in International Zine Month. So if that sounds like you, then please let me know! Comment here on the blog or send me an email at seagreenzines at gmail
Participants:
Hello zine friends! Day three of International Zine Month touched on virtual zine events happening around the world – and in our own living rooms! I didn’t really know of many happening. But thanks to help from Instagram friends, I have a slightly longer list. I wanted to post it and spread the word!
*Street Cat Zine Fest is an in-person zine fest. However, while it isn’t virtual as such, there is a mail in option that helps you participate without having yourself in front of a table. Check out all the details on Instagram or Street Cat Zine Fest
*The Brooklyn Art Book Fair is going virtual! You can check it them out on Instagram or the Brooklyn Art Fair website
*Queer Zest Zine Fest (love the name!) is getting ready for an amazing virtual event August 7th and 8th! Be sure to check out the website for all the zesty details.
*Applications are now open for the Sick and Disabled Fair happening in September. Be sure to get your applications in by the end of the month.
*The Virtual Swansea Zine Fest happened in May, but you can still take a look at the facebook page which has videos from the event.
*Festival of the Photocopier online opened early this year, but the beauty of virtual zine fests is that they can keep going! Check out the site.
*Virtual Portland Zine Symposium is happening this month! Mark the 24th and 25th on your calendar!
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And there we have the updated list! If you have more to add, please feel free to let me know!
There’s no happy mail today, I’m afraid, but there is cool stuff happening! Usually I save this kind of goodness for the weekends, but there are daily creative prompts that end in a zine – so the sooner the better! Check it out…
Hello and happy Saturday, zine friends. It’s a bit of a mixed bag Saturday here in this patch of Oz with plenty of rain pouring down. All I want to do is stay nice and warm at home, wrapped in my blanket… enjoying a virtual zine fest!
Today’s prompt is:
Look up virtual zine events to attend! When else are you going to be able to attend a zine event in a different city or even country for free?
Okay, so I’m not well up on what virtual events are happening out and about on the internet, but I do have a few bits and bobs for you to check out.
*The Virtual Swansea Zine Fest happened in May, but you can still take a look at the facebook page which has videos from the event.
*Festival of the Photocopier online opened early this year, but the beauty of virtual zine fests is that they can keep going! Check out the site.
*Virtual Portland Zine Symposium is happening this month! Mark the 24th and 25th on your calendar!
I’m sure there are many more events out there. Are you running or taking part in a virtual zine event? Please let me know so I can add it to the list!
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DOWNLOAD THE PDF TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER HERE!
Like with all years, I like to keep a running list of links to people/places participating in International Zine Month. So if that sounds like you, then please let me know! Comment here on the blog or send me an email at seagreenzines at gmail
Participants:
Hello and happy Friday, zine friends! I hope this post finds you and yours well. My immune system isn’t leaving me be at the moment, hence why I’m starting IZM on day two. Haha. So let’s go for it with days one and two today!
Today’s prompts are:
Day 1. What is a zine? Make a definition in your own words and share it.
A zine is (often) a handmade magazine-like creation of (often) words and/or art made by either one person or a group of people on a topic or topics of their choosing. These are often reproduced on copiers or printers.
Hahaha. I feel like I’m answering a test question (even though there’s no stress in this!), and I know that my answer changes a bit every year. Trying to define what a zine is is a funny exercise that gives an opportunity for a smile as we celebrate how encompassing zines are in topic, creation, and distribution.
Day 2. Zine Rewind! Re-read your favourite zines, a reminder of why you love them.
As always, I’m behind on zine reviews, so I’m not reading old favourites today. However, my favourites come easily to mind, and I love them for so many reasons! The reasons I love all the zines I love. They make me smile, they surprise me, and they remind me that I am not alone. I could not ask for more.
If you have favourite zines, please let me know what they are! I’m always curious about people’s favourites – especially ones I haven’t heard of before!
That’s me for today zine friends. I have all the tea and the tissues and the good things to get back to health asap. Until next time… spread a little sunshine!
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DOWNLOAD THE PDF TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER HERE!
Like with all years, I like to keep a running list of links to people/places participating in International Zine Month. So if that sounds like you, then please let me know! Comment here on the blog or send me an email at seagreenzines at gmail
Participants:
It’s that most wonderful time of the year again… and I’m starting on day two. Hahaha. It wouldn’t be Sea Green Zines without some sort of timing issue.
Welcome to International Zine Month, the month where we celebrate all sorts of things zine, connect with other zinemakers, and have plenty of fun. From the creator of all the goodness…
During conversations with friends I found myself saying “Wouldn’t it be rad if there was an International Zine Month?” Which led to the question as to who could make it official. This was actually a silly question since zines are inherently DIY there was no one who would make it official, but I could Do It Yourself. I figured to pair it with the 24 hour Zine thing would be a good idea and since that takes place in the month of July…. JULY IS INTERNATIONAL ZINE MONTH!
I will be back in a little bit to catch up on yesterday and today. Let’s get this zine month rolling!
DOWNLOAD THE PDF TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER HERE!
Like with all years, I like to keep a running list of links to people/places participating in International Zine Month. So if that sounds like you, then please let me know! Comment here on the blog or send me an email at seagreenzines at gmail
Participants:
I had no idea I said ‘oh my goodness’ so much until I started editing… Wow. It just goes to show how awesome the mail is this week! Zines, stickers, and so much goodness!
Thank you so much for watching.
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Awesome People/Places/Spaces Mentioned:
*Billy – https://www.patreon.com/iknowbilly
**https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRXwu560XrH9nBBFxAbBrmQ
*Wesley – https://twentytwozines.storenvy.com/
*True Zine Marin – https://www.instagram.com/truezinemarin/
*Latibule – https://linktr.ee/latibule_art
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My PO Box:
Nyx
PO Box 378
Murray Bridge, SA 5253
Australia
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You Can Find Me At:
seagreenzines@gmail.com
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/seagreenzines
Weird Fruit
Emily
https://www.instagram.com/emeezines/
Weird Fruit is a 10.9x9cm full colour zine about strange but real fruit.
I don’t know what it is about winter or maybe a lot of rain, but I am all about mandarins. Yummy yummy fruit. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to reviewing this zine today.
Weird Fruit is one page folded and opens right into a collection of six different kinds of fruit that are weird (and interesting, by my judgement). Each page is dedicated to one with the name, description points about the fruit and a drawing of the fruit itself featured.
I really liked this zine even more than I thought I would. Education is that much better when you’re having fun, and there are even two fruit that I’d never heard of before – rambutan and Buddha’s hand. Each fruit has a few facts about it. Sometimes what type of fruit it is, what it’s also known as, and/or what it smells like. Very helpful, as one of the fruit is said to taste similar to pineapple, and I really don’t like pineapples.
Weird Fruits is exactly what it says on the cover, and I enjoyed it. I like learning new things, and the bite-sized portions (there was no pun intended when I started typing that, but I see it now) of facts is perfect for me.
I’m not exactly sure where, if anywhere, you can grab this zine right now. But if you like fruit and being adventurous, grab it if you see it.