Zines are essentially fan-made magazines. Fanzines have been popular since the advent of modern fandom in the 60s and were formerly one of the main distribution systems for fanfiction. Zines can be DIY guides, collections of art or writing, informative calls-to-action, a general encapsulation of an idea, comics, and much more.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:
As zines are so versatile and varied, there are a ton of ways to connect them to a fic. You can showcase your favorite quotes, make little drawings of characters or scenes from the fic, embellish with stamps, stickers, or other mediums. You can use your zine as an extended comment to gush about everything you loved in the fic with some interesting visuals, or use it as a way to recommend the fic to others. There are a lot of options here, get creative and have fun!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
Examples:
Most mini-zines are made with the folding technique shown in this gif - see the resources section below for more options. Zines are extremely varied and customizable. They can be freeform, like this delightful mini-zine which features multiple artists’ versions of the original 151 Pokemon, or more focused and narrative-driven, like this cat comic zine by tsocat. You can make easily-photocopied zines like this utterly magnificent chicken-themed zine, or mixed-media zines like this cute one by megjournals.
Check out this mini-zine celebrating the wolfdog actor from The Thing, and for a more traditional fanzine, take a look at this upload of a 1977 edition of the Star Trek zine Contact. You can also find lots of great digital zines on archive.org, like this Merlin zine.
You can find lots of examples on the tumblr blog Fanzines. Various zine archives will have more examples, like the American Library Association’s Community Zine Project archive, which features a variety of library-themed zines. Your local library may also have a collection of physical zines made by artists in your area.
Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
Start here, with this broad overview of mini-zines, which includes some great background info on zine culture and distribution. This youtube channel, brattyxbre, has loads of excellent, informative videos about zine-making, including tutorials, examples, tips and tricks, and more. This section of their video on zine topics covers fanzines and features a fantastic example of a Nicolas Cage-themed fanzine.
While most tutorials will show the same or a similar eight-page folding technique, like this very thorough tutorial by furrylittlepeach, which shows how to design and print a hand-painted one-page zine, this isn’t your only option. This excellent zine round-up video by catmothcrow shows a stapled variant, and lots of delightful examples of mini-zines. This tutorial shows how to make a sixteen-page zine from a single sheet of paper, with links to templates for designing by hand and digitally. This overview of mixed-media zine styles features even more folding/construction options for your zines.
If you’re interested in making comic-style zines, check out this tutorial, which includes instructions for one-page physical zines both hand-drawn and designed in Procreate.
For mixed-media and scrapbook-style zines, this tutorial for a journal zine by Helen Colebrook may be helpful. For more basic scrapbooking techniques you can apply to your zines, check out this guide which covers a few different techniques for mixed-media scrapbooking, and this intro to collage art.
If you prefer to work digitally, here’s a great guide to print layouts for mini-zines. But if you prefer to work digitally because you fear papercuts, you can also make zines that are 100% digital in a PDF or various image formats. Great places to post your digital zines include tumblr, AO3, and archive.org.
Much of the zine community is out in the world at zine swaps and similar events, but you can also find help and support on reddit at r/zines. Depending on which specific techniques you’re using to make your zines, you may also find r/crafts, r/scrapbooking, and r/papercraft to be helpful resources.
For more zine-focused resources, the zine section of Cat Moth Crow’s website has lots of good information, including tutorials, videos, zine examples, and inspiration. You can also check out their youtube channel for more.
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about zines and zine-making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. As mentioned above, they may also have a collection of physical and digital zines you can browse for inspiration. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries offer additional resources such as digital editing software, printing, photo-copying, or in larger cities, they may also have a ‘library of things’ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
Additional notes:
Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as glue and paints. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and don’t use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any blades or knives. If you’re on the younger side, get an adult to help!
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your mini-zines! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!
I had this realization: I want to reach more readers—I should be engaging with people more. I want to target folks who don’t usually go online to check blogs. Many Christians who use only Facebook for news and communication should be on my list of potential readers. I also want to reach those who aren’t tech-savvy and offer them something different. Usually, under my radar are those digital…
Have I told you guys lately how much I love the Harringrove fandom?
I just spent the morning reading through the mini-zines. I still have one or two I haven't printed (gotta do it at work) but goddamn I love this collection.
You know the little Harringrove mini-zine project from a while ago? Well, a lot of the people who were in it have been kind enough to post it online for everyone to see (and print and fold and keep for themselves, which is highly recommended because they look awesome!), and I figured I should put the one I’ve found together, for easy finding and appreciating.
I might have missed some, and if so - please let me know and I’ll add them in! Same if some of the links don’t work for some reason.
That said, here goes:
* Love You Through The Radio Waves by @grey-sides
* Taste the rainbow by @angryhuangyu
* Three different zines by @sh1tbird-shantytown
* Statues by @simplydes
* Boys in love - kissing edition by @peanut-booi
* Billy & Steve’s epic journey vol. 1 by @chrisbitchtree
* Billy & Steve’s epic journey vol. 2 by @chrisbitchtree
* Billy & Steve’s epic journey vol. 3 by @chrisbitchtree
* Billy & Steve's epic journey vol. 4 by @chrisbitchtree
* Billy & Steve’s epic journey vol. 5 by @chrisbitchtree
Okay, so a month and a half ago I had this idea that I wanted to make some mini-zines, and possibly trade it with other people who also, perhaps, wanted to do that. And well, now I wanna get that whole thing started.
The easiest thing, I think, would be to keep it digital. Ie, everyone who wants to join in this trade, makes a minimum of one mini-zine, scans it (or makes it digitally in the first place; whatever works for you) and sends it to me. When we’ve reached the end date, I’ll combine it somewhere and send along the link to everyone involved, so that everyone gets access to everyone else’s mini-zines. One can then print them and assemble them to one’s heart’s content. Ta-daa! Instant mini-zine collection, without having to rely on the post to do their job.
So, if you’re interested in joining, please do this:
1. Send me a message so I know you’re interested.
2. Make a Harringrove mini-zine (I linked to a couple of tutorials in this post, but there are like a ton of them so just google it and you’ll be fine). You can draw, paint, write, cut&glue, make collages, make photo manips, goddamn embroider stuff ... use your imagination, and have fun with it! The only staple is that it’s supposed to be Harringrove themed.
3. When it’s done, either scan it (if it’s done phyiscally) or save it, so it’s a digital file in the size of approximately an A4 sized paper.
4. Send it to me (over tumblr or discord, or - if it’s too big for that to work - write me a message and I’ll give you an email address). The last date to do this is, hm, say June 5th (to give everyone some time).
5. Once everyone has sent in their mini-zines, I’ll put all of them in a handy folder somewhere and send out a link to it, so everyone gets access to everyone else’s, too. To print, and keep :)
Obviously, you’ll have to be okay with sharing your work like this with others, and be okay with other people printing them.
And yes, you can make several if you want to, that’s just fun.
And yes, of course you can share it publicly too, after, although I’d ask you to wait until after everyone’s gotten the files for the zines, please.
Anyway, this is just for fun and very low-pressure, but if anyone’s interested in doing it with me, send me a message! Could be fun, right?
I’m gonna tag those of you who showed some interest when I wrote the last post, but no pressure if you don’t wanna do it! @lazybakerart @opaldraws @magniloquent-raven @cherrydreamer @scoobydoo-ghoulschool @monsdasarah @hungryfoxx @peanut-booi @shebaren @edith-moonshadow @memes-saved-me @katesierra @socknonny @callieb @introvertia @drinkingbeerfroma @prettyboybillyhargrove @catharrington
These mini booklets are designed to aid any magician as they explore a cemetery. They can fit inside a pocket, purse, or bag.
The mini-zines are:
Gathering Graveyard Dirt - instructions locating the right grave, respectfully gathering dirt, and storing it.
Cemetery Symbols - a guide for symbols that you often find on gravestones, excluding obvious ones (such as crosses).
Resources for the Cemetery Witch - a hodgepodge of resources for any magician who works in cemeteries. Offerings for the dead, correspondences of graveyard dirt, cemetery trees, and spiritual protection are all covered.
You can buy one for $2 or all three for $5.50. Buy them here!
