Just Burn it Down

Do you guys know what a zine is?  I was going to attempt to explain it but here's the wikipedia definition instead (why reinvent the wheel, right?)

A zine ( /ˈziːn/ zeen; an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine) is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier.

A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 1,000, and profit is not the primary intent of publication.

Zines are written in a variety of formats, from computer-printed text to comics to handwritten text (an example being Cometbus). Print remains the most popular zine format, usually photo-copied with a small circulation. Topics covered are broad, including fanfiction, politics, art and design, ephemera, personal journals, social theory, single topic obsession, or sexual content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media. The time and materials necessary to create a zine are seldom matched by revenue from sale of zones. 

I've done a couple before (one about the summer of 2008 and one called Letter by Letter - a mini-zine) but right now I'm working on a bigger one.  It'll be 24 pages when all is said and done.  That didn't sound like much when I started but it turns out that it's kind of a lot of work.  Fun, awesome, absorbing work, but still pretty time-consuming.  It's a half-size book, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2".

This one is all about meeeeeee, so self-centred, and how I'm trying to become more self-sufficient.  I didn't realize how much I had to say about the subject, so it's a little more text-heavy than I anticipated, but since it's almost writing itself, I guess I can't complain.


Hey, you know who else published their own zine?  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.  Yup, I'm in good company, although I doubt my contribution will be quite as literary as his.  Plus his was for psychiatric patients.... hey, maybe we do have something in common after all!  HA!

Anyway, take a look at this sneak preview and see what you think:

 


I'll let you know when it's done, maybe put up a few more pages for you to take a look at.  Ultimately I'll probably be selling it in my etsy shop so you can have a copy of your very own if you would like.  It's not a how-to thing at all; in fact maybe you can get the benefit of my mistakes!  That sounds worthwhile, right?

And just so you know I let my sister read this before I put it up and she was both amused and horrified.  Which is pretty much what she thinks of me in general, so I guess my real personality is shining right through on these pages.

I guess that's a good thing...

Love Shelley!