I mail all my comics without the help of a digital postage service. Mailing stuff out is one of the worst parts of being a self publisher, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years. It doesn’t have to be so hard, really. It’s crucial to have all your supplies and books and things in one place together. I want to share with you what I keep at my shipping desk.
1. Rate Charts. The Post Office doesn’t make it easy to figure out shipping rates on their website - but it’s not as complicated as you’d think. There’s a great website at Nerdy Lorrin with all the rate charts and explanations of how US Postage works. I printed and tacked up his PDF booklet for easy reference.
2. Stamps. You gotta have forever stamps (49 cents) and additional-ounce stamps (21 cents) for domestic letters and flats. Nerdy Lorrin has all the rules, you’ve gotta read them, but it basically comes down to those two stamps. For international mail, you need Global-Forever stamps ($1.21) and $1 stamps for additional ounces. Read Nerdy Lorrin.
3. I obviously have a postage scale. It’s from Dymo and it’s good. Sometimes I have trouble checking the weight on a really huge envelope that covers the digital meter.
4. Envelopes. I use three types. 6 x 9 inches, manilla, with a self-seal. This is the biggest size allowed for letters (so if you are making a comic that’s just a little bigger - consider trying to scale down so it’ll fit in this envelope and be much cheaper to send out). 9 x12 inches, manilla self-sealing, for bigger books and prints up to A3 size. Finally I keep little A6 size invitation envelopes for my smallest books. I think it’s cute to receive a small book in a small envelope. I want to tell you that I really love envelopes from Japan that are kaku 4 size: 197mm x 267mm. I like the way they fit my bigger books. I’m going to buy a bunch when I’m in Japan. If you know where I can get these in the US, please tell me!
5. Extra-heavy manila tabbed FOLDERS. I trim them to fit inside my envelopes (either 6x9 or 9x12). I use these to protect single prints. This is easier for me to store (and cut) than cardboard, and it doesn’t make the envelope too stiff (which sometimes results in a postal worker deciding “this is too thick to be a letter, it is a PACKAGE”).
6. A pre-inked stamp with my return address on it. Because I don’t want to write my address a gazillion times. I got mine at rubberstamps.net
7. Pens for little envelopes and sharpees for big envelopes.
8. Spare risograph printed pages to stuff into envelopes, just for a fun bonus sometimes.
9. Sometimes I print some basic stationery so I can write a little THANK YOU note. But I don’t have any at the moment, too bad, I’ll make some again soon…
I recommend that you mail stuff yourself, but you just need some knowledge and some things. Try to keep your zines within the letter (6x9) dimensions and/or the flat (9x12) dimensions, and try not to mail things so thick they become a package, which makes international mail especially difficult. And please do tell me if this has been helpful for you. I am quite satisfied with my little shipping desk and am happy to explain what has worked for me.
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