Zines have been in my life longer than most romantic partners and friends I’ve had. And since they’re currently having A Moment, I thought what better way to kick off a new season of Internet Bedroom than with a love letter to my favorite medium.
For about ten years, I worked in and around the comics industry, and there’s a saying in that industry that comics will break your heart. Because making that type of art in a system that’s been hypercaptialist since the 1950s (i.e. the comics industry) will lead you down to a lot of really dark places and put you in the same room with a lot of really bad people.
But the flip side of that, for me, has always been zines, which have literally saved my life on so many occasions.
So if comics will break your heart — just like making any kind of art in any capitalist system will break your heart — I’m here to tell you: zines will save your life.
This essay is a little different from the long form pieces I usually write here. I really want this to not just deliver ideas but I also hope that you’ll come back to this piece for inspiration and/or if you’re trying to figure out the ropes of self-publishing. I think that, in order for us to get out of the trap of never-ending content consumption, we need to learn how to hold on to things, even on the ephemeral internet.
Why Zines? Why Now?
As someone who has spent most of their life either making zines, telling people to make zines, studying zines (as in, literally getting my Ph.D. IN ZINES), the current renaissance of zinemaking that we’re seeing makes perfect sense to me. And it gives me a lot of hope in a time that is very evil and destructive to humans and their creativity.
In an era where our digital selves are freely bought and sold by tech oligarchs, where AI crawls and scrapes our uploads to make its own stuff, where it’s becoming increasingly hard to tell if we actually decided to consume a piece of content or if we consumed it because our algorithm pushed that content to us, zines hold a promise. Because when you make something yourself, when you see it through from concept to final form, and when you do that apart from the Internet, you retain complete control over your art.
Because they can’t put AI in a zine.
They can’t put an algorithm in a zine.
They can’t put ads in your zine.
They can’t put analytics in your zine. They can’t track and data-scrape and take your hand and lead you, unwittingly, down into the dark.
A Mini History of Zines
The majority of academic work I’ve read about zines will tell you that, in America at least, zines started in the 1930s/40s when white boys started making their own magazines to network with each other about their fandom of pulp magazines and comics. This is kind of annoying because the tools of self-publishing were around well before those fanboys in the US (there was actually a toy printing press that was out in like, the late 1800s that kids would use to self-publish their own newspapers and newsletters), and because white people.
I think it’s more effective to put the origins of zines a little earlier: in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance. Keeping pace with the explosion of art and music and culture coming out of Harlem at this moment, writers and artists began to collaborate to create “little magazines” that featured essays, short stories, poetry, illustrations, and cartoons from the knowns and the unknowns that made that scene what it was. One of my favorites of these is FIRE!!, which was actually the first “little magazine” I saw from the Harlem Renaissance and which you can read in full here thanks to the POC Zine Project.
Self-publishing remained a tool for people who were innovative and progressive but had a hard time seeing themselves anywhere in the mainstream culture. In the 60s and 70s, the feminist and lesbian bookstores that served as hubs for activists printed their own newsletters and editorial guides to share information and help other writers and artists get their work into the hands of readers and other activists. In the 90s, girls and young women began self-publishing zines and mini-comics en mass (I even wrote some scholarship about the comics they self-published in this era), correcting and critiquing how their image was used in mainstream media.
And now, zines are back (because they never left), and we’re making them as a way to capture our memories and experiences and ideas in a format that is free of algorithms and AI and big tech. As my twin writer flame krys wrote in their recent (incredible) essay about zines, “on sticking things together”:
“you should make a zine. you should make a zine because a zine doesn’t care if you’re perfect, but Instagram does. you should make a zine because to be vulnerable is an act of resistance. you should make a zine because it is the closest you can come to the complex circuits that you’re made of.”
How to Save Your Life (aka Self-Publish, aka Make a Zine)
Ok this is what I wanted to give you in this newsletter. Because maybe you’re sitting there now and you’re like, I wanna make a zine. And maybe you need a little help getting started. So that’s what this guide is. It’s a way to get started.
This isn’t a comprehensive guide on Everything Zinemaking, because there are actually much better resources on that if you want to go further. I’ve listed out a bunch for y’all below. This is really just a way to get started, an invitation to experiment and figure out what works for you, a warm welcome into a space where you get to take up space and make whatever you want.
My biggest piece of advice when it comes to zinemaking is to make it simple. Find the method that is easiest for you when you’re first starting out. Because the point is to make it, not to make it perfectly. That idea that I could make a perfect zine kept me from making a lot of zines I could have made.
So let’s do this.
Step #1 Get inspired.
Whether you’re new to zines or you’ve been around for a minute, this step is essential and, in my opinion, the most fun. You can find inspiration almost anywhere for zinemaking, but here are a few of my fave ways to get inspired:
Look through the zines in a digital zine collection. I personally love the POC Zine Project’s collection and the Queer Zine Archive Project’s collection, both of which are digital. There’s so much inspiration in the zine designs, topics, layouts, etc. you can look through on these sties.
Go to the library and check out a zine collection like Teal Triggs’ Fanzines or The Riot Grrrl Collection edited by Lisa Darms. To make my book, I spent a long time looking through Triggs’ book, marking all the designs and color ways I liked best.
Pinterest. Honestly, I never used Pinterest until this year. And yes, it is overrun by AI but there’s still a lot of interesting stuff on there. I keep Pinterest boards for sticker collections and elements I can include in collages for my zines.
Step #2 Decide how you want your zine to feel when you put it in your reader’s hands.
Ok this could have gone in step one but I decided to make it its own step because this is a really important part of zinemaking. Once you’ve got your inspo together, really think about how you want the reader to feel when they physically pick up your zine. Because (and this is really important) this is part of the hidden magic of zines: they’re something we make with our hands that our readers hold with their hands. A zine is like getting to go to an art museum and actually touch the artwork.
So: decide how you want the reader to feel when they hold your zine. Do you want it to be the size of their palm, so they could slip it into their back pocket or press it into a friend’s palm? Do you want them to have to sit down when they read your zine? Do you want them to be careful because what’s inside is your heart and our hearts fall apart so easily?
This has to do with the size of your zine but it also has to do with the overall aesthetic of your zine, too. And shouts out to my friend, Steyven, who really taught me this lesson.
Step #3. Choose your path & experiment.
There is No Wrong Way to Make a Zine.
In the 2000s, when I was a teenager, I made zines out of single sheets of paper. And then when I was in college, I cut up and collaged old magazines to make zines. Recently, I’ve been using Canva to create digital zines because that’s just what is easiest for me right now (and because I gave away all my zinemaking supplies when I moved, so I have to rebuild my physical collection).
But to get started, try picking one kind of zine to make. Maybe a one-pager feels right for you because you can make it in an afternoon with supplies you already have on hand. Maybe you want to go digital with your iPad in between classes.
The only rule here is to pick a format and give it a try. There aren’t any wrong answers because this isn’t the last zine you’ll ever make (but you’ll never make any zines if you don’t start).
What you put in your zine doesn’t matter. You might want to make art and little bits of writing about a specific topic or maybe you just want to put on your favorite record and enjoy the physical act of creating. Just pick a container and get started.
Step #4 Figure out your dimensions.
Once you’ve decided on a format, measure another book or magazine or zine that’s the same size so you have the dimensions for what you want to make.
You can use a ruler or an app on your phone (I’m told that’s a thing), but having the correct dimensions on hand for your project will help you design your zine and it will be super helpful if you decide to outsource your printing to a copy shop or online print service.
When I was making my book, The Internet is Our Bedroom, I literally measured a book on my shelf that had the same dimensions for the book I pictured in my head when I thought about my project. Then I put those dimensions into Canva and started designing!
Step #5 Make a master and/or proof copy.
This step is so essential but often skipped!!! Always, always, always make a master copy or get a proof copy printed before you decide to make a full print run.
I am a very visual person. I need to see the pages laid out in front of me (physically, not on a computer screen) to understand how everything fits together. For my book, I printed a proof copy so that I could correct the layout by looking at it in the physical book itself and make other essential changes like adjusting lettering, colors, etc.
It might cost you a few extra bucks, but it’s worth it to make sure your zine comes out exactly how you want it to.
Step #6 Take it to print.
There are so many options for printing now, but here are some that make the process pretty straightforward:
Find a Xerox machine and do it old school. Usually there’s one at the local library or if you work in an office or know someone who works in an office. Highly recommend stealing office supplies.
Use an online printing service. I prefer Mixam because it’s easy to use and doesn’t seem extremely evil (I could always be wrong).
Seek out your local copy shop and work with them to print your zine. I promise, copy shops might be a dying breed but they are still very much around and usually run by people who really love print media and are happy to help you whether it’s your first time printing or your fiftieth.
Step #7 Distribute!!!!
Sell or give your zine to your friends! To strangers! Leave it on the bus (I did this when I lived in Chicago). Go into your local bookstore and ask if they’ll carry your zine. Put it up on your website or your Etsy or substack or whatever and let people all across the Internet buy it. Just give it to a random person you meet one day or leave it in your local library for someone to find.
You don’t have to have a huge distribution plan worked out. As long as it’s cost effective for your and makes sense in terms of what you can do time wise, that’s more than enough. Trust me.
Your Zine Inspo Syllabus
I put a quick syllabus together of my favorite zine resources here for ya! This is by no means a comprehensive list, so feel free to drop your fave zinemaking resources in the comments as well. If I get enough submissions, I’ll put together a whole post full of resources so we can find them whenever we need them.
Also, full disclosure: none of these links are affiliate links.
Making Zines
Books & media that I’ve used to make my own zines and/or teach people about how to make zines.
watcha mean, what’s a zine?, mark todd & esther pearl watson - an excellent, short guide that will get you started making any kind of zine. includes prompts & ideas for zine topics plus goes more in depth with instructions on putting together different types of zines.
the art of memory collecting, martina calvi - this one is new to me but Martina included two physical templates for zines which I find pretty useful if you’re just starting out!
brattyxbre on YouTube - I talked about Bre’s YouTube videos a few issues ago, but if you’re a visual person and want to get started making zines RIGHT Now, today go visit Bre’s channel. She has so many tutorials on everything zine and if you’re looking for a place to start, why not try her video about making zines digitally or her video about making zines the old fashioned way.
Zine Inspo & Zine Collections
Learn a little about zine history while also getting some inspo for your own zines! I find myself coming back to these collections all the time to get inspired.
shotgun seamstress collection, osa atoe - one of the most prolific zines on Black punk from the 2000s in a super beautiful edition from soft skull press.
doris, cindy crabb - if you’re looking for inspiration about what to write about, the is my go to collection. Doris was a long-running perzine (personal zine) where Cindy Crabb explored everything from memory to her ideas about gender.
the riot grrrl collection, ed. lisa darms - I come back to this collection again and again because it is really thoughtful about how it presents the explosion of zinemaking that happened in and around the riot grrrl movement
POC Zine Project - one of the best digital collections of zines around that focuses on archiving zines from black & brown creators.
QZAP: the queer zine archive project - longtime friends of Internet Bedroom Chris and Milo are two queer punks based in Milwaukee who not only run an incredible physical archive of queer zines out of their house, but also host this digital repository for queer zines.
Zine Scholarship & Theory
If you want to dig into some of the research that’s been done on zines, here are some solid starting points:
the archival turn in feminism, kate eichhorn - super fascinating look at how zines are preserved and archived and what that tells us about feminist history.
zines in third space, adela c. licona - an excellent study of how feminist and queers of color have used zines; perfect if you want to get a history of zinemaking that is not from a white POV.
mimi thi nguyen’s scholarship - zinemaker and punk turned professor, Mimi The Nguyen has a large body of scholarship on zine history, zine community, and zinemaking and how all that intersects with race.
If you made it this far — thank you, thank you, thank you for reading! I hope you come back to this piece. I hope you print it out and put it in a zine. I hope you share it or remember it in a dark time when you need it.
A few quick things here:
First off, shout out to my girl Qualeasha Wood. I wrote about Qualeasha’s incredible textiles that work digital imagery about the internet and how we present ourselves online into tapestries in Internet Bedroom last year, and now she’s in the goddamn New York Times (this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with how incredible Qualeasha’s work is!!)
Second, I still have copies of my book of essays, The Internet is Our Bedroom, available! I’m not sure if I’ll do a second printing of this book, so make sure you get it while you can! You can order it right here.
Third,
This brings back memories of bringing my master layouts to Kinkos for copying! I haven't made a zine in 15 years, but I think you're right, the time is ripe for more.
Thank you for this amazing resource! I'm researching late 1880s newspapers made on toy presses and it cracks me up how they're both professional and also very zine-like in nature!