Going
Underground!Going
Underground!A "zine" is a magazine published by amateurs. I found a whole collection in Tower Records in downtown Toronto. You may have read one. You might not have known it at the time, but the underground newspaper at your school is a zine.
Teens everywhere are publishing zines. They have an interest in amateur publishing and in doing something THEIR way for a change. If they cannot find a magazine on a particular subject, they start a zine to reach out to people with similar interests. "Taboo" subjects are discussed openly, without the restrictions of school newspapers. Or, if you're like Mark Hadley of Twisted Nipple, you published a zine so "When I'm old and senile I can enjoy it".
John Beckett, who publishes Journal of the Dark (a zine devoted to vampires), found out about zine culture through recommendations to other on-line sites regarding vampire-related stuff. He started writing for Bloodlines (which is now defunct) and this gave him his start in zine publishing. He wondered if he could produce something better. According to Becktt, "Zines should be either anti-culture or create their own culture."
It costs a lot of money to start a zine: from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand. Beckett warns that "Anyone who starts a zine with thoughts of making money is dangerously naïve". You don't have to loose your shirt. Just be really cheap and resist the temptation to improve your zine every time. Wait until you make some money to pour it back into the zine.
Contrary to the stereotypes, most zine publishers have real interests and real jobs. According to Beckett, all zine publishers have one thing in common: "We all have something we want to talk about, something we feel strongly enough about to spend huge chunks of our time and money to tell other people and get them to join in." Hadley does it because "Self-publishing fills a need to to express my frustrations with planet Earth, 99.6% of which is crap."
The distribution of zines vary. Some are available by mail order or are sold at small retail stores. While waiting at an airport on a hot summer's day, you might get one thrown in through your open car window. You can always look in such publications as Factsheet 5 to find the zine for you. Zines are inexpensive and easy to find if you just look for them.
You can produce your own zine. It doesn't matter if you only have a typewriter and a Xerox machine. To make Twisted Nipple, Mark and his girlfriend use "A horribly expensive computer. Evil things that they are, they're the most effective way to create a readable zine". Get some information and inspiration and publish it. Get your ideas and opinions out. Start talking and don't let anyone shut you up!
Special thanks to:
John Beckett of Journal of the Dark. For more information about this zine publication e-mail John at: JohnFranc@aol.com.
Mark Hadley and Stephanie Carpenter from Twisted Nipple. For more information e-mail them at <yedwelsh@peak.org>. "THE TRUTH IS A SCAB THE WORLD COMMANDS US TO PICK"
To connect to Ms. 45 zine and the Australian Megazeen directory:
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To connect to Pool of Sick zine or to go to Scottland::
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