Our vendors
Hello everyone! For anyone out there looking to run their own zine, I’d like to share a bit about our process throughout the last few months :) Let’s go!
I’ll give a little background about the timeline for the project, then I’ll give some descriptions about the vendors we used and our experience with them.
So we (@limedumplr and @redsketches) started the zine. I ( @limedumplr ) originally thought I’d handle everything myself but Red volunteered to help me and I’m so glad she did - It’s a lot to organize for just one person. We began around September of last year and wrapped artist’s final drawings in January. One of our artists asked me why the timeline was so long and it was honestly because I was attending a wedding in the middle of that which I was a large part of (so I’d have to split my time to focus on that). Orders opened January and closed February, we wanted to send things out in March but we ended up sending things in April because we needed to re-print the zine.
When we recruited for the zine, we only used Twitter and Tumblr. I definitely noticed a decrease in Tumblr traffic after the great purge :p Next time, I’d probably use Tumblr as a backup instead of a ‘base’ and also use Instagram and Discord which is where most fandom seems to be migrating.
As for our venders:
For the acrylic charms we used Acorn Press
Link: https://acorn.press/
Our experience: We loved the quality, and the price. They don’t include any sort of clasp so be aware you only get the acrylic. It was easy enough to buy a set of cell phone straps on Amazon though. Customer service was very friendly and they held our shipment when Red and I were both on vacation for a week. I’d definitely use them again for our next project.
For the magnets and stickers we used StickerMule
Link: https://www.stickermule.com/
Our experience: Their customer service was excellent. I talked to a few of their team members since I wasn’t happy with the original proofs they sent. All of them were very accommodating and revised my proofs multiple times to give me something I liked. Similar to Acorn press, they took care of the shipment when I asked them to hold it while I was on vacation. The products also came out great!
For the prints we used MOO
Link: https://www.moo.com/
Our experience: We’ve used them plenty of times before and I’ve come to expect great quality and price. I’m sure others have used them since MOO is pretty popular. I especially loved that we could customize the matte back sides of our prints.
For the enamel Pin and Lanyard, we used Erichgift
Link: http://www.erichgift.com/
Our experience: They were very responsive and great to work with. The only caveat is that their turn around is pretty long so you have to be willing to wait about a month after you begin talking with them to when they finally ship out your products. They are China-based so it may be hard to work with the time difference if you are US-based like we are. However, the quality of the products were great and I have NEVER seen prices as low theirs. They are also very nice and sincere. I’ll most likely be using them again but next time I’ll account for how long I’ll have to wait for the products :P
For the laser cut magnets, Red used her own laser cutter to make those for us :D
FINALLY, for the Zines, we used Smartpress
Link: https://smartpress.com/
Our experience: Their customer service was a little tense, I wouldn’t say it was bad, just not friendly. However, They’re prices are the BEST I’ve seen and they were very good about re-printing our zines after we pointed out the error in the first set. They also have a nice proofing process.
To sell the zines, we used BigCartel and I liked it a lot compared to other platforms we’ve sold on (Big shout out to one of our artists, @JUSTN4Z on twitter, who recommended it to us). Etsy makes you pay-per-post and doesn't have as much of a fandom culture around it. You also don’t have as much freedom to customize your shop. The last time we made a zine, we used Tictail and I HATED it. The user interface appeared friendly but it really was not :/ It was also difficult to set up shipping.
Overall, this was a low-scale zine compared to some of the others I’ve seen. But I think the product came out fantastic and I loved being a part of something that brought so many people together.
If anyone has any more questions about our process, recommendations, etc, please don’t hesitate to ask! We’ll answer as much as we’re able to :)
