History
Before and Alongside Zines: Independent Print
Pamphlets, little magazines and samizdat reveal different reasons people publish outside established channels.
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Zines, explained
Learn
The history, craft, and culture of zines.
History
Zines as Cultural Time Capsules
An old issue can preserve everyday details that a later history leaves out.
2 min read
Basics
Zines and DIY Culture: Making Your Own Decisions
Understand do-it-yourself publishing without assuming that a zine has to look unfinished.
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Culture
Zine Shops
How specialist shops help zines reach readers, and what to know before asking one to stock your work.
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Printing
Zine Printing Mistakes to Avoid
Find the cause of a bad proof before it becomes a stack of unusable copies.
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Culture
Zine Libraries
What a zine library does, how to use one, and why reading access does not always mean borrowing.
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Finding
Zine Libraries Worth Knowing About
Three different kinds of collection can help you explore zines and their histories.
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Ideas
Zine Ideas for a One-Hour Making Session
Use a small format and material you already have to make a complete first version.
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Ideas
Zine Ideas for Photographers
Build a small sequence around a visual question rather than simply gathering your favourite pictures.
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Ideas
Zine Ideas for Artists
Use pages to develop a sequence, show a process or test how images work together.
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Ideas
Zine Ideas About Your Life
Begin with one scene, routine or object instead of trying to explain your whole history.
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Ideas
Zine Ideas About the Internet
Turn an online habit into a bounded piece of writing, drawing or visual research.
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Culture
Zine Fairs and Festivals
What happens at a zine fair, how to prepare for a visit, and what changes when you apply for a table.
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Culture
Zine Events
Readings, workshops, swaps and fairs offer different ways to meet people through zines.
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History
Why People Keep Making Zines
Print can feel newly appealing without having disappeared in the first place.
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History
Why Punk and Zines Became Closely Connected
Making a publication gave people another way to participate in the music around them.
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Basics
Why Physical Zines Still Matter in a Digital World
Consider what a printed object makes possible, alongside the benefits of digital access.
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Collecting
Why Libraries Collect Zines
Small publications can preserve voices and experiences missing from conventional collections.
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Basics
Why Are Zines Often Made in Small Editions?
Small print runs can reflect audience, cost, time and the maker's intentions.
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Finding
Where to Find Zines
Start with a subject you care about, then follow makers, shops, libraries and events.
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Finding
Where to Find Zines in Person
Shops, fairs and libraries offer different ways to encounter a publication before taking it home.
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Finding
Where to Buy Zines Online
Find a seller, understand the listing and check the full cost before ordering.
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History
Where Did Zines Come From?
Zines grew from several ways of making and sharing print outside established publishing.
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History
What Was Factsheet Five?
A review publication helped people find zines—and find one another.
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Making
What to Put in a Zine
Choose material that belongs together, then give readers enough context to follow it.
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Printing
What Paper Weight Is Best for Zines?
Understand gsm and pound labels, then choose a weight through a printed, folded test.
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Printing
What Paper Should You Use for a Zine?
Choose paper by how it prints, folds and feels in the finished booklet.
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Basics
What Makes Something a Zine?
Understand the role of self-publishing, purpose and community without treating one look as a rule.
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Collecting
What Makes a Zine Collectible?
Rarity, personal meaning and research value are different reasons to keep a publication.
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Basics
What Is a Perzine?
Personal zines turn a maker's experiences and thoughts into work they choose to share.
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Basics
What Is a Fanzine?
A publication made by fans can be a place for criticism, research, stories and conversation.
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Ideas
Weirdly Specific Zine Ideas
A narrow subject gives you a clear way to choose material and a reader a reason to be curious.
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Ideas
Tiny Obsessions That Could Become a Zine
Turn repeated attention into a small collection with a clear point of view.
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Ideas
Things on Your Phone That Could Become a Zine
Photos, notes and unfinished ideas can supply material once you give them a clear focus.
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History
Why Star Trek Zines Matter
Fan-made publications gave viewers room to write, draw and talk back to the people making the show.
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History
The Story of The Comet
A ten-page club bulletin from 1930 helps explain what early fanzines were for.
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History
The Story of Sniffin' Glue
Mark Perry's short-lived publication became an influential record of British punk as it was happening.
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Finding
The Rise of the Zine Fest
A fair turns dispersed publications into a place where makers and readers can meet.
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History
The Rise of Riot Grrrl Zines
Publishing became part of a feminist punk movement—and a place to question the movement itself.
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People
The People Behind Important Zines
Editing, design, correspondence and practical organisation all help a publication exist.
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History
The First Zines Weren't Punk
Punk gave zines a powerful visual identity, but fan publishing was already decades old.
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People
Musicians and Their Zines
Playing music and making publications can be connected ways of taking part in a scene.
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Printing
Letter vs A4 for Zines
Choose the paper size before laying out your pages, and avoid accidental resizing at print time.
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Culture
Independent Publishing: Projects Worth Following
Three ways to explore independent publishing through making, archiving and public events.
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History
How Zines Spread Music Before the Internet
Reviews, interviews and printed contact details helped listeners move from curiosity to discovery.
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Finding
How Zines Have Been Sold and Traded
Direct orders, exchanges, shops and distributors offer different ways to reach readers.
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Folding
How Zine Pagination Works
Understand why reading order and print order are different, and how to check both.
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Ideas
How to Turn a Deep Interest Into a Zine
Choose one part of a subject you care about and give a new reader a clear way into it.
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Collecting
How to Store and Preserve Zines
Good handling and a suitable storage place do more than improvised repairs.
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Collecting
How to Start Collecting Zines
Build a collection around work you want to read, and give yourself a simple way to keep track of it.
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Printing
How to Print a Zine at Home
Match the file, paper and print settings, then check one assembled copy before making a batch.
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Making
How to Plan an 8-Page Zine
Give every page a purpose before you start arranging the printable sheet.
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Printing
Make Your Zine Look Good in Black and White
Keep text, photographs and collages clear when colour is removed.
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Making
How to Make Your First Zine
A manageable first project: six short observations, two covers, and one finished copy.
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Making
How to Make a Zine
Turn an idea into a small publication, from choosing a format to checking your first printed copy.
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Making
How to Make a Zine When You Can't Draw
Use writing, photographs, type and simple arrangements to make pages without illustration skills.
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Making
How to Make a Zine About One Extremely Specific Thing
Use a narrow subject to make closer observations instead of stretching it into a bigger theme.
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Making
How to Make a Photo Zine
Build a sequence of photographs that works on paper, from selection to a folded proof.
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Making
How to Make a Perzine
Turn an experience from your life into a readable zine while choosing what you want to share.
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Folding
How to Make a One-Sheet Zine
Choose a folding structure, plan the small pages, and turn one printed sheet into a complete zine.
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Making
How to Make a Fanzine
Choose an angle on something you love and make a publication other fans can follow.
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Making
How to Make a Collage Zine
Build pages from cut paper, photographs and text, then test how the layers reproduce.
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Folding
How to Lay Out Pages Before Folding
Transfer a reading sequence onto the correct print template without guessing where the pages go.
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Folding
How to Fold an 8-Page Zine
Make the classic eight-page booklet from one sheet, with a single cut through the middle.
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Folding
How to Fold a 16-Page One-Sheet Zine
Use a four-by-four grid and three alternating cuts to make a small accordion zine.
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Ideas
How to Find a Zine Idea When You Feel Stuck
Use a short inventory and a small constraint to find material you can actually work with.
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Making
How to Choose a Zine Topic
Find a subject with enough substance for a zine and a clear enough boundary to finish.
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Collecting
How to Build a Personal Zine Library
A small catalogue and a consistent storage system make a growing collection easier to use.
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History
How the Internet Changed Zines
Online publishing changed how work travelled, but the history is more complicated than print being replaced.
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History
How Superman's Creators Used a Fanzine
Before the familiar superhero appeared, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster published a very different Superman.
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History
How Science-Fiction Fans Built Fanzine Culture
Readers turned a shared interest into publications, correspondence and lasting communities.
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History
How Rock Fans Turned Zines Into Music Journalism
Fan publications made room for research, strong opinions and music outside the usual coverage.
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Making
How Much Writing Does a Zine Need?
Work out how much text your pages need without relying on an arbitrary word count.
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History
How Feminist Zines Changed DIY Publishing
Feminist publishers used zines to question who gets heard, what counts as knowledge and whose experience is missing.
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History
How Comics and Zines Grew Up Together
Fans published about comics, while artists used small publications to make comics of their own.
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Printing
Full Bleed vs White Borders
Understand artwork at the paper edge before choosing a layout or asking a printer for a quote.
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Basics
Zines, Blogs and Social Media: What Changes?
Compare ways of sharing personal work without assuming everyone followed the same path.
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People
Writers and Their Early Fanzine Work
Ray Bradbury and George R.R. Martin took part in fan publishing before their later fame.
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History
Magazines That Began as Zines
Some publications grew into larger magazines while keeping a connection to their small beginnings.
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Culture
Exhibitions About Zines
What exhibitions can show about independent publishing, and what to look for beyond the cover.
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Printing
Double-Sided Zine Printing Explained
Understand duplex printing, page order and the test that prevents upside-down backs.
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Culture
Calls for Submissions
How to understand an invitation to contribute, decide whether it fits, and prepare a clear submission.
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Making
Useful Tools for Making Zines
Choose tools for writing, arranging, copying and binding without buying a whole studio.
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History
Before AO3: The World of Kirk/Spock Zines
Printed fan fiction gave writers space to imagine a relationship the television series did not depict.
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People
Artists Who Make Zines
Zines can be part of an artist's practice, with possibilities distinct from a single image on a wall.
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Making
Analog vs Digital Zine Making
Compare paper, screen and mixed methods by the work your zine actually needs.
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History
A Short History of Horror Zines
Horror fans turned their interest into film criticism, interviews and publications of their own.
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Finding
A History of Zine Distros
Distributors helped small publications reach readers beyond a maker's immediate circle.
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History
A History of Queer Zines
Queer publishing includes art, criticism, everyday life and the work of preserving community memory.
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History
A Brief History of Zines
From science-fiction fan mail to punk, queer publishing and feminist networks, zines have helped people write for—and find—one another.
7 min read
Ideas
50 Things You Could Make a Zine About
Fifty starting points for writing, photographs, drawings and small investigations.
3 min read
Basics
What is a zine?
A plain answer, before anything else in Learn.
1 min read