If I wanted to start a zine, how would I go about doing so?
Hi! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to infodump about zines, this might get a little long ;) There are many different ways to make a zine, but the way we often see in fandom right now follows this structure:
Interest check: Explain what your zine is about, have people hear about it, and collect information on the kind of things people would want to see or make in your zine (usually through a google form, but it can also be a tumblr poll or anything else like that)
Mod Applications: Assemble your team! Social media mod, formatting mod, art/writing mod, etc. This is usually done through a google form. Honestly, when selecting your mods, having people you *trust* is what's most important. So while having someone with experience is good, have people you know you can rely on, like your friends, even if they don't have previous experience.
Contributor Applications: Also done through a google form; get people who want to create through the zine to submit examples of their work so you can choose which ones get in the zine.
Creation Period: All the contributors you selected make their pieces! And then you, or the person in charge, assemble everything together.
Release: If you publish the zine online for free, you can have the pdf available to download on itch.io. If you want to print it and sell it, that's a whole different subject that I'm not very knowledgeable about tbh.
The most important part when your zine is starting out is to get the word out there! Make a tumblr blog specifically for the zine, make lots of posts reminding people of when the interest check/mod applications/contributor applications are opening or closing, when you have contributors make posts to introduce them, etc. I find that having visuals accompanying your posts helps a lot, especially if you have a strong visual identity already, it helps people remember your zine. You can also invite guest contributors; people who you invite into the zine as opposed to having them apply (usually creators you like), so they can help share contributors applications.
I also have a lot to say about things to watch out for when making the zine, mostly time management and participant wrangling, but this is supposed to answer the question "how to get started" so I don't want it to get too long lmao. Just make sure to give yourself enough time to do things like looking through form answers or setting up things. Deadlines are great to keep things moving but remember they are self imposed, so don't make it impossible for yourself!
In terms of resources to help you out, I can redirect you towards the Hermit-a-day streamathon panel both mods of this blog were on to discuss everything that goes into making a zine. I know that on the Artbook to Zinethologies streamathon they discussed zine-making, although since I haven't watched it I don't know into how much detail they go.
And don't be afraid to reach out to other zine mods! We're usually more than happy to chat and give advice (case in point here), sometimes even get roped into modding another zine ;) Beware, it becomes an addiction.
HOWEVER with all that said there are many different ways to run a zine!! You can decide to keep it smaller scale and exclusive to friends or people you know, you can skip the applications and have it open to everyone, have people just send in finished pieces, ... the world is your oyster, really. I recommend to go check out @mcyt-flashzine, which helps people run their own mini-zines!
I hope all this all helps, and good luck on your zine making journey! Make sure to tag us in your posts ;)
