#zine moderator

[goregutsguyszine]

Mod and Contributor Apps open!!

Gore Guts Guys: pin up boys with a horror twist

🔗Moderator App 🗓️Nov 1st

(please apply its just me here)

🔗Contributor App 🗓️Nov 18th

❓FAQ

[spaceinvadedzine]

🍑MOD SPOTLIGHT👓

Make way for our zine's @truffleluffle! She will be helping host the project, along with working with our merchandise crew to ensure the highest quality possible.

[garsantoszine]

🩺 MOD REVEAL 💜

This is our finance mod, Veer! He will be helping us with all of the zine’s math related aspects!

Find him on twitter at @thesunbutch

[murdle-zine]

“The Usual Suspects” Masterpost - A Guide to Zine-ing 🔎

as run by @mys-storybook 👻 and @helmet-noob 🐉

Want to help the Detective Club build on their knowledge of repeat offenders? Want to understand why wealthy people commit all the crime? Want to fix the extremely lax prison system? Unfortunately, we can’t do the last one. But by signing up to the first ever Murdle-themed zine, you can (probably) help us achieve the first two!

Here’s how to get involved:

Read through our Information and Guidelines. We recommend reading through all sections to ensure you understand all the processes. Do not be alarmed by all the bullet points—this is for yours and our personal safety and well-being to ensure all participants are honoured properly in this project! Too long didn’t read? Fair enough, maybe sit this one out. Understand and agree to our guidelines? Great! Move on to Step Two.

Officially sign up to submit to The Usual Suspects through our Google Form! (CLOSED)

Join our official Discord server (CLOSED) to receive important updates, announcements, and meet the talented artists of this small but mighty fandom. This step is optional! If you choose not to join our server, please keep a close eye on the @murdle-zine blog for updates.

Create, create, create! You have until the 1st of March to work on your piece(s) and receive feedback from other participants! We will post a half-way reminder on the 1st of February to the server and blog, so try to stay on top of things! Note: see Information and Guidelines for information on how to request an extension.  

Once you are done, Murdler, the next part is easy! On the 23rd of February at 12:00 UTC, a Google Form link will be posted to the Discord server and blog for you to submit your piece(s)!

The good news is: your part is finished! Bad news: now you wait. Have no fear! Our moderators will be busy formatting and putting together the beautiful art and writings of our participants. 

On Sunday, the 15th of March, at 12:00pm UTC, The Usual Suspects fanzine will be published as a heyzine flipbook and PDF for you to access and download! You are free to publish your projects seperately after links and PDFs have been released on the blog. If you are an AO3 author, we highly recommend you post your work after the zine is published and add it to our Collection!

That’s it from us, Murdlers! If you have any questions, feel free to share them in the appropriate Discord server channels or send us an ask. We will get to you as soon as possible, but please be patient as both mods (👻 & 🐉) also have school work to worry about. 

TL ULIGS, ZIGRHGH ZMW ZFGSLIH ZORPV!

[missing-moments]

OC FEATURE TIME! Art by Akamelili

Our art moderator's beautiful OCs...Ælfsie!!

Anticipate even more Ælfsie when our zine gets rolling as she will be drawing even more of them soon >_>!! Ahhh they are so cute I love OC art…I hope you guys love your characters too because we are all about that!!!!!

Psst—we have moderator applications opening SUPER SOON and an interest check still open! Come check us out if you’re interested : )

All art is used with permission from the original artist.

[beyondcloudfallzine]

Meet the Moderators!

Meet Soru, the Head and Writing Mod of Beyond Cloudfall! A Sylus main since release (but broke), they're waiting for some cards to rerun despite having all of one pull (147 gems). Find them @soruiru!

[mushroomgrenade]

I got this ask around.. Marco was uh. 2021. So I got this around that time or maybe 2022, and Ive had it saved ever since, but I really want to talk about it at some point - which is now.

For context, this was a zine I created and we printed around 2024. But during the artist application period, a lot of people were accusing us of favoring other artists who is frequently shown on other work and other projects then them.

For anyone who is new- which is all you turtle people, I've been doing fanzines since 2020 - here is my Zine CV

I have since retired as a zine moderator, and the One Piece MILF Zine should be the last zine I head mod as.

First of all, to talk about the anon's point - I take work very seriously, especially if it's paid work. And unless this is a free, digital zine, every zine is paid work. Whether its the artist who were partnering with, or the customers who are spending their hard earned money in. At the end of the day, this is a transaction, that involves someone's money.

I am a harsh art mod, normally I am the one picking and choosing (alongside votes) people who join the team, I sometimes go so far as to vouch for people who didn't get the best votes, but I KNOW shines as artists. Of course, people might say that I am taking this too seriously, but no - you are making a product, there are people working below you, people who are taking their time and effort in creating something together -

And I stand by my ground that I respect everyone's skills, and when artists and writers create for zines, it is important to pay them as best as you can.

When you are making a product, it is important to think about marketing, manufacture prices, who your customers are, what they want to see - in order to sometimes break even. And sometimes some people just don't have good enough work to get picked - and that is completely normal.

Think of it as a job position you are applying for (which, applying to zines kind of literally are, you are meant to finish something in a deadline, show progress, and communicate, almost like signing a contract). Sometimes you just aren't cut out for a job, even if you really want to join, or even if you really want the position, you aren't chosen. That's completely normal, rejection happens on a day to day life, and there is no use in getting publicly angered by it or embarrass yourself so the world knows you can't take criticism. (Which is usually a hard no in art fields, if you can't take criticism and edit work, how can you expect anyone to work with you?)

Hell, the reasons why I stared doing my own zines was because I kept on getting rejected. I started applying since 2018, and I wasn't able to even be a main artist in my own zine I first moderated - only a stretch goal that was last minute after I had an argument with the head moderator. I can't remember how many rejection letters I got - and I still get, and that's okay. It's part of life, it's how I learn to be better, and learn to grow. I want to get into things that interest me, so I do my damn best to draw, and draw, and draw. I learn, I change, I ask for advice. (My thesis professor could probably tell you how many questions I ask every class, because I WANT to make the best thing I can in my current power - maybe it's one day I'll think it's trash, but that only means I've grown enough to know I can do better)

Everyone starts somewhere, some people just continue picking up a pencil and learn to continue, because the road is never over.

Back to product, if your work simply cannot capture the audience's attention, or if it could potentially be a turn off for most people in specific projects, sometimes you just don't get the role. But that doesn't mean another opportunity won't come. It can absolutely get exhausting, but another thing to remember is that - just because you didn't get this thing, doesn't mean you can't make your own.

In the fanzine community and etiquette, of course it would be smart to ask first to not step on anyone's toes or potentially get blacklisted, but you can always use your creativity and create projects you want. On your own.

You never have to wait for someone else to come and do the hard work for you - unless. That is something that you are looking to piggy back off of.

Which comes to my second points, why I retired.

There are lots of reasons why I retired, I wanted a new chapter of my life, I wanted to focus more on voice acting and my personal work, but there are also multitude of reasons behind the scenes.

I don't think people are paid fair wages. Of course, it's a fanzine, we usually don't expect to get paid full amounts of what we normally do in work, but it's not only that. Most of the time, at least, in my knowledge, if we are splitting money, everyone gets split evenly. Even if you barley did work, and if you've been a cunt that slacks the fuck off for the whole year and basically did nothing. In a group, there are always people who work way harder than the rest, but we all get the same results, whether its a score, money, or appreciation. Shit kinda pisses me the fuck off lmao. Sometimes moderators have to deal with double or triple work because one of the team members didn't do their job, slacks off, or we just can't get a hold of. Or sometimes they do too much and are too harsh to the artists who (REMEMBER, WERE BASICALLY PAYING MINIMUM WAGES OR LESS TO) basically its a lot to deal with, but you get paid the same $20 for a year's work.... the asshole too.

2. There is never be a 'perfect team' Even with years of experience and working with people you trust, there is never the perfect combination of people. Something unexpected is always bound to happen - it's not something anyone can foresee either. If your lucky, its maybe just taking over the whole project as an artist because the previous moderators were incompetent and ran away - if your not, some people run away with all the money and gamble it on genshin. (not just that, please make sure to read the full statement for more references)

More information according to the project itself

3. Not being able to pay creators and everyone a livable or even minimum wage.

For everyone who says or thinks zines make a lot of money, your actually delusional. Even in the case of the project being fully for profit, dividing among 20-60+ people leaves you with in most cases, less than $100 bucks per person. The most I was ever able to give contributors was about $500 per person, and that's because we sold almost 700 copies of said zine. Some zines can't even break even to begin with, and sometimes people take their own money just to fund projects like this because they're passionate about it. I wholeheartedly believe it is normal and should be normalized to be paid a livable wage when you work- and that's one of the reasons why I choose to do everything myself now too.

4. (This is nitpicky) Some artists take advantage of zines

Ive had and seen artists do this in real time in the past, where they encourage or ask for expensive merch to make so they can add it to their own catalogue. Because there's always the chance that zines have B grades, leftovers that don't sell - and normally when that happens, that goes directly to the artist who designed said product. Although I agree it's the finance mod's responsibility to know this beforehand, or do their own research on merchandise before saying yes- this also causes problems to other contributors too. If said merch is made, bundles can be more expensive, it could be harder to break even, there are problems that can easily be avoided - but there are always selfish people out there who does things for their own gain.

Lastly, I understand the excitement to have your work printed out, or made into something that you normally cant achieve, but you might find it expensive and hard to create without zine funds. (I was part of the officer team in my college comic club, this is something I always encourage people to join)

But creativity and what you want to do shouldn't be limited by money. Making personal zines is easy as shell, all you need is a piece of paper, and making keychains can be as easy as having paper and tape. Point is, don't use these things as your excuse, have fun in other ways, Im retired and tired and only will be modding again when previous moderator friends request so. Have a good day.

[fem-law-zine]

Moderator Applications Open!

Along with our interest check being extended, our moderator apps are officially OPEN! Want to show your change of heart? Join our team!

Mod Applications: forms.gle/oyXZaddxRFAj...

Reblogs much appreciated! @opfandombase @opzinebulletin @zine-scene