FAQ

What are zines?

A zine (pronounced "zeen," like "magazine") is a self-published, small circulation, non-commercial booklet or magazine, usually produced by one person or a few individuals. Zines are publications done for the love of doing them, not to make a profit or a living. Most zines are photocopied, but their production can range from handwritten or handmade booklets to offset-printed magazine-like publications (but with a print run of hundreds or a few thousand instead of hundreds of thousands).

Zines come in all shapes, sizes, topics, and formats. They can include personal essays, political discussions, fiction, craft or do-it-yourself advice, articles about music or movies, comics, reviews — anything under the sun, really. In a zine, you might find typos, misspelled words, improper grammar, and brilliant or radical or just plain honest ideas that simply aren’t allowed in Time, Newsweek, or People magazine.

Zines, underground press, small press, alternative press … these are just a few of the names for publications that are not produced by a corporation with an eye to the bottom line, but by ordinary people who want to make their voices heard. The underground press is written by street punks and lawyers and stay-at-home moms, and covers topics from politics to fiction to personal observation. At its best, it offers insight into the real lives of the 95% of us who don’t look like the people on TV.

Zines are different from e-zines, which are "zines" published on the Internet (via personal web pages or email lists). More and more, both "zines" and "e-zines" are used to describe these electronic publications. There are significant differences between the two genres, and Zine World chooses to retain the distinction. If we say "zine," we mean something on paper.

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Will Zine World review my zine/book/thing I made?

We try to review every zine, underground paper, comic, etc. we receive. We’re also interested in non-mainstream video, books, bumper stickers, spoken word recordings, or almost anything else in almost any medium.

We’re not likely to review anything that’s made by a company, corporation, or college; anything that’s easily available through mainstream commercial channels; or anything where the primary purpose seems to be making a buck. We believe in independent literature, so our general rule of thumb is - if you did it yourself we’re interested, but if someone paid you to do it, we’re not.

We do not review e-zines or websites. We do not review music. Additionally, we have specific criteria for the books we will review.

For complete information on what we will and won’t review, see our submission guidelines.

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How do I order a copy of Zine World? How do I subscribe?

A sample copy costs $4 to any address in the United States, $5 to Canada and Mexico, and $7 overseas.

Subscriptions are $10 for three issues to any address in the United States, $13 to Canada and Mexico, and $20 overseas.

Send your orders/subscriptions to

Zine World
PO Box 330156
Murfreesboro, TN 37133-0156 USA

Please send payment as US cash, stamps, or money order (payable to Jerianne). No checks. (See our no-check policy for more information.)

You can find more information, including online ordering options, on our Ordering Zine World page.

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I sent you $$ two weeks ago and haven’t received my copy yet. When can I expect it?

Please be aware that all the mail is answered by one person - the same person who edits all the text, coordinates submissions, assigns zines to the staff, and so on. This person has a full-time job, and - gasp - a fulfilling personal life. She gathers the mail from the PO Box a couple of times a week and opens it when she can. Orders are sent out every two weeks or so.

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Do you take PayPal?

Due to popular demand, we now offer the option of placing orders using PayPal. Because we are a zine, we tend to be fairly anti-corporate. We would prefer not to use a corporate middleman; we would prefer if you send your order or subscription using cash, stamps, or money order directly to the mailing address below. Personally, we think our zine is worth few minutes it would take to do so. We’re a zine and we operate through the mail. However, for those of you who need the instant gratification of buying online, or who don’t have a stamp handy, or who live overseas and find using PayPal to be more convenient, please visit our Ordering Zine World page for information on paying with PayPal.

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Can we trade zines?

Unfortunately, we can’t trade our zine for yours. This is not a reflection on your zine’s quality, just a fact of life cuz we’d go broke (well, more broke). We review hundreds of zines, but sending out hundreds of trade copies would simply be a financial impossibility. It’s that darn capitalism - we really must find a better system.

We’ve been told that a good review in Zine World can bring in dozens of orders. Hopefully, that makes it worthwhile to send us your stuff.

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Why isn’t Zine World available in stores?

Zine World is available in stores — but not many of them. We’ve said "no thanks" to the big distributors, because almost all stores and distributors ‘buy’ zines and underground papers on consignment.

Generally, that means an impoverished publisher (in this case, me) pays to print the zine, and pays to ship a bundle of zines at a deeply discounted price, but the store or distro doesn’t owe a dime until months later, after yet another issue has been printed and yet another bundle of zines shipped. Even on this glacially slow payment system, many stores and distros need repeated nagging before they’ll pay.

I love doing Zine World, but I am not sitting on a fat bankroll. I cannot afford to print and mail bundles of zines to strangers’ businesses, crossing my fingers and hoping they’ll send payment as promised, some day in the distant future. That’s why we require payment up front from stores, and that’s why Zine World is currently sold at select stores and distros.

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I sent you a copy of my zine last month. When will the review appear?

As soon as possible. We try to send email notifications when a review runs.

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Can I volunteer for Zine World?

This publication is written, edited, printed, and mailed out by volunteers, and we’re always looking for more help. We need reviewers, reporters, researchers, artists, typists, clerical help, proof-readers, friends with photocopiers, friends with money and friends with stamps — whatever skills or assets you have to offer, we can and will put to good use. For more information, read our Joining the Zine World Staff page.

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Can I get a free listing for my project?

Listings in our "Classifieds" section are absolutely free, for any do-it-yourself project. Send us up to 50 words describing your zine, distro, or project, and we’ll print your listing.

The only catch is that we reserve the right to draw the line and say "no more" when our pages are full. This hasn’t happened yet, but it’s probably a good idea to send your listings early. Just mail or email us with what you want to say, 50 words maximum, to the address at the bottom of this page.

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I want to make my first zine. How do I get started?

There are lots of places you can go online to find tips on getting started: Zines 101: A Quick Guide to Zines is a 2-page sheet with the basics on how to make a zine, layout templates, and what to do with your zine once it’s finished. For more detailed information, including a longer history of zines, read Matt Holdaway’s"A Student’s Guide on What Is a Zine and How to Make One" or articles at zinebook.com. Guerrilla Press website (www.guerrilla-press.com) has some great tips about making a zine, including an article on how to do design & layout. Fall of Autumn (www.fallofautumn.com) also has some good how-to articles on their site.

We also highly recommend the zine "Stolen Sharpie Revolution", a comprehensive DIY resource for zinesters made byAlex Wrekk ; a new edition will be out in 2008.

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Where do I find zines / underground press publications?

Zines and other underground material are generally hard to find or just plain unavailable in stores. Usually, the most reliable way to get a copy is to ask the publisher to mail it to you, and the most reliable way to find out who to ask is to read Zine World and/or some of the other publications that review the underground press. You can also find out about recently released zines through several of the websites we have listed on our resources page.

Zines can sometimes be found at funkier bookstores (especially in larger cities) or can be purchased from zine distributors, aka distros. Keep in mind, however, that authors, who are usually losing money anyway, get a much smaller cut when you buy from a store or distro. You can also find zines at public & academic libraries, zine libraries, or infoshops.

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How can I buy zines?

The asking price for a zine is usually a couple of dollar bills to cover costs for printing and mailing. In our reviews, we always note the price, and (if the publishers let us know) we’ll mention whether they take trades (their zine in exchange for yours). If the publisher provides no price, we’ll list the price as $?, which means you should drop ‘em a post card and ask, or just take your best guess.

This is important: If you’re new to all this, the first thing to understand is that sending for some grassroots group’s newsletter or some college kid’s personal zine is not at all like subscribing to Newsweek. The kind of underground publications we review almost never have bank accounts, which means they can’t take checks. Send cash. Really. If you’re short on cash, send American stamps or IRCs, but don’t send a check. Zine World doesn’t take checks, either — see our no-check policy for more details.

I’m sure you’ve heard admonitions to never, ever send cash in the mail, but in practice it’s rarely a problem. Simply fold the money into one or two sheets of paper, so you can’t tell there’s cash inside simply by looking at it. Then write your address on the paper, and a note for the zine’s publisher ("Hi, I read about your zine in Zine World. Please send a copy! Here’s two bucks and my address."). Now just put the paper and money into an envelope, and mail it to the zine’s listed address.

Don’t send coins. In transit, they rattle around and sometimes rip their way out of the envelope. They’re a loud announcement to every postal worker along the way, and to the recipient’s roommates, that this guy gets cash in the mail. If you’re sending for something that costs $1.50, just send two bucks, or send a dollar and a few stamps. Some zines say they’re free, but send a dollar, you cheap bastard, or at least enclose a SASE self-addressed stamped envelope) or an International Reply Coupon (IRC).

Put your address on your note, not just on your envelope. Please mention that you read about the zine in Zine World — spreading the word helps us get more zines to review next time. Also, many zine publishers have more than one zine, so be sure to say what specific title you’re ordering. Postal workers are delicate souls, so if you’re sending for something called Drink My Piss or Fuck Off & Die, you should leave such shocking words off your envelope.

Many zines now also take PayPal or allow you to place an order online. While this method of payment may be more convenient, you lose the personal interaction you get from ordering directly from the publisher, and you’re involving a corporate middleman. Also, because PayPal charges fees, you may end up paying more for an online order.

International borders are artificial lines, drawn by "leaders" to keep people apart. Disregard them! The easiest way to pay for postage, if you’re not sure of the going rate, is to send International Reply Coupons. IRCs can be purchased at any post office for $2.00. They can be used in other countries to purchase stamps equaling the minimum postage for an unregistered airmail letter. It’s generally OK to send American cash, but we’ve received reports that cash mailed to Argentine, Colombian, Mexican, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, or Yugoslavian addresses is often "intercepted" en route. IRCs might be a safer alternative.

If you’ve paid for a zine and it doesn’t promptly arrive in your mailbox, please be patient. Remember, at most zines there’s no paid staff to promptly open your letter and fill your order. Most zine publishers, between work, family, and other real life commitments, don’t have as much time to spend on their zines as they might like, but if you don’t hear back within a couple of months, send the zinester a polite follow-up note. If there’s no reply a couple of months after that, let us know. We won’t get your money back, but we will list the names of deadbeat publishers. If there’s a problem, we want to know.

Don’t wait. Don’t be late. Don’t hesitate. Don’t procrastinate. Send for some zines today!

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