Zines

A zine (pronounced ZEEN, like "magazine" without the "maga") is short for magazine or fanzine. They are labors of love, or passion projects, usually in the form of a booklet, pamphlet or similar. They come in all shapes, sizes and topics but generally, are all

• small-circulating: zines are not mass produced, a typically agreed upon number is less than 1,000 copies but are often less than 100
• self-published or independently published: though there are zine publishers, the traditional understanding of a zine is one that is self-published, so it is distributed by the person who created it
• originally created: either handmade or digitally made, can include repurposed images of texts from existing media or content (such as collages from magazines and newspapers) but originally developed
• created to share a niche skill, art or story -- not created for profit! This also means they are usually inexpensive, as the priority is to distribute the zine, rather than make money from it.

In this YouTube video by brattyxbre, Bre explains what a zine is, why she (and people) make (or should make) zines, types of zines with examples and lastly, how she picks topic to make her zines. It's a great overview of why zines matter and how important they are to people.

Zines are projects that are centered around themes or topics that the author is interested in. Just as there are countless interests that a person might have, there are countless types of zines! Some commonly found examples include:

• Fanzines/fanfiction
• Political/social justice issues or activism
• Art & design
• Photography
• Poetry, literature, literary analysis/criticism
• History
• Pop culture
• "Perzines" (personal zines)
• Comics
• Food or cooking
• Travel
• Compilation or collaborative zines
• Anything else you can think of!

People who make zines are referred to as "zinesters". The zine and zinester community is diverse and passionate about their work. Zines are very meaningful to the people who make and/or read and collect them, as shown in the video above. 

A Very Brief History of Zines

• 1440s: Guides on how to practice witchcraft
• 1450s-1750: Guides on how to catch witches
• 1517: Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses as the first major zine (specific, self-made and self-published)
• 1770s: American Revolution broadsides (self-published works)
• Late 19th/early 20th century: amateur press movements/association (APA) 
  • apa: an organized group who printed and distributed materials (and later, zines, among member-publishers) following the introduction of cheap printing presses
• 1920s: Harlem Renaissance "little magazines" (Fire!! followed by individual or small group contributed little magazines)
  • Individuals and small groups of Black artists/writers created a short, small distribution magazine to undermine the established literary system
• 1920s: Surrealist and dada (artists and the avant garde critique of the bourgeois) journals, reviews and publications that established the movements
• 1930s: Science fiction fanzines including The Comet, considered the first fanzine, are published
• 1940s: Beat poetry chapbooks
• 1950s: Samizdat (Soviet Union literature that was written, printed and distributed secretly, typically critical to Soviet governments)
• 1960s: Comics (industry news and information magazines, such as The Comic Reader, as well as interview, history and review-based fanzines)
• 1960s: Horror fanzines (such as Journal of Frankenstein, later renamed Castle of Frankenstein which included a section for zines, Black Oracle, The Late Show, Bizarre by Sam Irvin)
• 1960s: Rock and roll fanzines (Crawdaddy! which later turned prozine, Mojo Navigator Rock and Roll News, Who Put the Bomp, denim delinquent, Bam Balam, Candy's Room)
• 1970s: Punk fanzines and zines (zines about established punk culture, bands, direct action and non-conformity)
• 1990s: Riot grrl zines 
• Today: Zinefests, zine distros/small presses, workshops, e-zines and zine libraries/archives and even Kanye West shouts out zines as they become more mainstream and accepted in scholarly/research fields of study

Adapted from Conner-Gaten, A. (2019) Zines 101 [PowerPoint slides] found on Cornell University's Zines 101 Guide and this Medium article by Alanna Stapleton

Purpose and Impact

Historically, zines allowed marginalized communities to have the opportunity to express and share ideas with other members of their community or with a general, larger audience.

Zine creation is about being able to circulate ideas and work that would otherwise not be published. It's about taking full autonomy of one's work and the distribution of it, untethered by the need to be approved or edited by a publisher, agency or outside company. Sharing stories and ideas that are important to the zinester, without need for censorship, allows for authenticity, freedom of expression and the opportunity to be heard, which otherwise may not be possible through traditional publishing avenues. 

"Red Chidgey refers to zines as 'sources of advocacy and empowerment for those who make them, an attempt to bear witness to their own lives'" (Fife 228) 

Fife, Kirsty. “Not for You? Ethical Implications of Archiving Zines.” Punk & Post-Punk, vol. 8, no. 2, June 2019, pp. 227–42. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1386/punk.8.2.227_1.