~Transcribing over a thread from my Twitter~
I'll be referencing Fanlore in this post! You can read its very comprehensive article on the history of zines here: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Zine
Like many others, I've experienced the frustration of being rejected from lots of zines with highly competitive application processes. Stop me if you've heard this one before: booming fandom, hundreds of applicants, 30-40 artists and only 4 writer slots. Sound familiar?
These very commercialized fan projects, which often also feature merch and reward tiers, are actually a fairly recent development, made possible by the advent of social media. Traditional fanzines were typically made by groups of friends, at home, for fun and not much else.
Fanzines as a concept actually date back at least to the 1930s. They were often drawn/written by hand and later xeroxed (once xeroxing became a thing) before being stapled together for distribution.
Interestingly and almost entirely opposite from the zines you see on Twitter today, traditional fanzines were comprised almost entirely of fanfic and meta. Art books came later, and tended to be separate projects.
Today we see art and fic together (often in proportions featuring much more of the former than the latter). For print zines, this makes sense--a piece of art takes up 1-2 pages, while fic takes several, increasing book weight and printing/shipping costs.
However, this imbalance in creators persists even in digital-only PDF zines. I'll save this criticism for another thread, but--writers: your work is valuable. Fandom was built on the backs of writers. You created AO3. Never doubt the importance of what you do.
Now we get down to the common frustration of app-based zines. 50+ writers competing for 10 slots, 5 of which have actually already been filled with guest contributors. Not only does this setup foster feelings of inadequacy in those who get rejected repeatedly, it encourages us to eat our own. This manufactured scarcity puts zine slots up on a pedestal: an ultimate goal to be achieved in order to be taken seriously by other fans.
Add to this that many fandoms seem to share the problem of the same 3-5 people running every single zine, which is another can of worms, and you end up with a lot of dejected writers and artists who just wanted to participate in something fun together.
So what do we do about it? Well, I'm going to let y'all in on one of the best-kept secrets in fandom:
𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝔃𝓲𝓷𝓮.
Literally no one can tell you no. No one can stop you. No one can tell you you're not talented enough or your works aren't special. Literally anyone can make a zine whenever they want. That's the *point* of zines. That's the way all zines used to be!
You can make a book with just your own works. You can also partner with a a few friends. The world is your oyster! There are a number of free tools you can use to format your zine into a digital PDF. I'm partial to Canva because it makes things very easy, even if you're artistically challenged like me.
You can distribute it as a free file download, and there you have it! You're done! You made and published your very own zine.
"You can make your own zine" isn't a concept that gets circulated much, but it is a very empowering one. If rejections have you down, consider making your own fanbook! You might be surprised by how fun it is.
This thread is in no way meant to discourage anyone from applying to app-based zines if they spark joy for you--I've done several, and they can also be very fun!
However, I personally believe that it's important in fandom to remember our roots, and also to lift other fans up whenever we can.
I and several friends are running a free, digital zine for fun right now, and it's been a blast to work on. I hope that y'all have just as much fun if you decide to make your own!
turnnoffyourmind
origamiaround
jbbartram-illu
stormborns
kianamaiart
