Have you ever heard of Zines?
I hadn’t until four days ago. Now I’m a little bit in a daze
because I can hardly believe this form of communication existed and I knew
nothing of it!
When my co-worker told me she went to a Zine convention I
had absolutely Zero Idea of what she was talking about. I didn’t even understand the word Zine. She enlightened
me. Now I know, and I’ll share what I’ve learned, right here, on this little BlogSpot. Excited? Me too!
Zine, pronounced zeen, (like the end part of magazine, explained my co-worker) is an old
form of communication. Dating back to the 1930’s, it’s had highs and lows in
popularity. A zine is a mini book about an off-beat or maybe unconventional, unpopular, or un-politically correct, what-have-you topic. Zines are self-published. Some are more complex, with bound spines, while others are simply photo-copied and stapled paper booklets
.
Way back in the early history of the United States, Thomas
Paine printed a pamphlet in 1776 called Common
Sense. It was 48 self-published pages that pushed for the colonists to
fight for independence against Britain. It was of course, blasphemy to the Monarchy,
therefore, an underground communication that spread like wild fire and caused
men to take action. Perhaps it could be
considered the first Zine?
A zine can also look somewhat like a small comic book. I
think the important thing about zines is that no matter how quirky the topic
is, there will be interested buyers. Yes buyers. Zines can sell for as low as a dollar each.Etsy even has zines for sale.
I’m attempting a zine of my own. A Nadine
It’s a super rough draft of the first chapter of my novel,
The Ink of Time. I’m not sure if the topic is ‘quirky’ enough to be a true zine,
but I don’t care. It’s a new fun and creative way for me to do my writing thang.
That’s what makes zines so amazing.
Until next time,
Be Good to Yourself,
~Nadine
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