Recently, thereâs been a ton of scandal surrounding the McHanzo Zine, Bullseye. But it isnât an isolated case; zines scam people all the time, though itâs almost always restricted to the smaller ones.Â
As someone whoâs participated in well over a dozen zines, many of the smaller projects simply never contacted me again, had absolutely awful management, or worse, never sent out ordered items. Zines are based on trust, and itâs absolutely awful that some chose to betray it! So how do you know which ones you should apply or order from? Look for these:
Make sure that the organizer is not anonymous, and has their social media and handles blatantly available. If they are anonymous, thereâs nearly a certain chance theyâll drop it mid-way. If itâs clear, see what theyâre like as a person, or if they have a large following.
Make sure that the moderator has organized zines before. People who havenât organized zines before donât have experience and often donât realize how difficult it can be. And if they do run other projects, are those actually complete?
Make sure thereâs more than one mod. Oftentimes, IRL can cause problems; if thereâs no one else to pick up the slack, thatâs also a huge problem. (On the other hand, too many mods can make the zine disorganized!)
Communication: Has the moderator made relevant info available? And if youâve been accepted, do they regularly email or update you?
Graphics: Do the graphics seem well-made and aesthetically pleasing? Product placement makes a huge difference when it comes to preorders, and can absolutely mean the difference between not breaking even and success. If their stuff looks like crap, so will the zine.
Professionalism: If they are not well-organized or professional, thatâs a sign that they probably wonât be able to handle everything a zine throws at them, and may discriminate against certain ships or people.Â
Where do profits go? This is pretty important, and needs to established early on. Will it be split among artists, or go to charity?Â
Is there support? Does the application post have at the very least 300 notes? If not, what about other posts? If they donât have a lot of notes or followers, that means that not many people will apply, and not many people will buy. That also means a much bigger risks of the project failing, and much less people holding them accountable if they do.
For people interested in making a zine but have no experience doing so, I strongly suggest moderating one before organizing your one!
Thatâs all I can think of right now! If thereâs any questions, feel free to DM me. (If anyone else has any other suggestions, feel free to add.)