I want you to make a zine.

And I mean it.

The short of this is, I want to read your zine. I want to own it. I want to hold it in my hands and know a little something about you and your world.

The long of this is, I think we all deserve that. I think you deserve to make something forthright and tangible, and achingly human, that shows us something you think about, or ache for, or laugh at, or do. It can be the smallest thing. It can be the biggest. I think the world deserves a little more of you in it.

Who and Why and What and How a zine?

A zine (pronounced ZEEN) is a physical, printed, self-published creation, fastened together with folds, stitches, or staples. Content varies from drawings and personal narratives, to jokes and lists. The ones I primarily make are called mini zines. They are made from a single sheet of paper.

(Free template from Biggest Little Zine Fair: Canva template for a mini zine!)

A zine is a tiny universe. A bite-sized push against mass production, an intimate whisper into the face of mainstream media. Zines are messy and imperfect— and carry the fingerprints of their creators, their quirks and interests and urgencies.

Lately, stuff has felt to me like the human has been polished out of it. In a world of tech advancements and globalizations, I think there is something even more precious about the handmade, the hyperlocal, and the personal.

Zines are such an achingly human endeavor-- so perfectly imperfect in their form and function. I would love to see everyone make one, or several, because I think anybody can.

It takes very little more than what most people have ready to go at any given moment-- a love, an art, an interest, or a bank of knowledge that wants to be let out into the world.

There is also something so lovely about the way zines journey-- bartered, given away, found, and gifted, and sold at pop up events-- they just always seem to find their way to where they are needed or where they can grow.

A long time ago, I read that dandelions work the same way. They parachute at almost-random, but when they land in soil that needs them most, they stretch their roots out and heal it. They settle in corners and cracks, and places where someone else might not look, and the strength of them bursts through concrete like tiny little yellow fireworks.

They send out thousands of little seedlings, just in hopes that one gets where it really, really can bloom.

I am grateful I get to be part of a network like that. I wish us all the fearlessness of a weed who knows the work of blossom and break. 

When and Where a zine?

How about now? How about with me or in your local area?

This year, I co-founded Biggest Little Zine Fair with friends— Ng, Evan, and James. Page Against the Machine and Recreational Coffee are co-founding sponsors.

We’ve been able to work with and support hundreds of artists. Our vision is to make zine publishing open and accessible to all. Basically, as Ng said to me over coffee at Rec— “So you’re trying to make everyone a zinester?”

Yes.
Exactly that.

Earlier this year, I went to a zine event with the work of tried and true bloggers: Jessie, Matt, Owen, and Bill. They each selected a short piece and let me zine it up for them.

The results were lovely. I got to see people hold what my friends have written and aww over it, and oooh over it, and even purchase it. There was a moment where someone read Jessie’s piece on nights and said, “Yes, I’ve never known anyone really understood how my struggle with mornings is more about my love of night.”

I got to send my zines out into the universe and hear back. I’ve learned a lot since. My zines are better folded now. They include pockets full of little clippings that are footnotes. They lead back to this blog so people can hear me read them aloud.

But they did what they were supposed to do before any of my tweaks.

They reached people.

There are thousands of zine distros and fairs internationally. There are thousands of small bookstores that also stock zines. There are thousands of universities that have zine clubs or libraries.

My friend Laura, who wrote and doodled to me diligently when I was in prison, recently posted an art zine to her substack. https://substack.com/@laurathephrog?

I’ve started a project that I call Kites Library, where I’m hoping to produce thousands of prison-related zines in a multitude of formats, that can make it inside, and can also be used as a resource for people who are advocating for prison reform or abolition from the outside. It has an Instagram where most updates will be posted: instagram.com/kiteslibrary

Austin Kleon (a famous writer who I do not know) recently posted a free gratitude zine and a video for how to fold it. It makes it super easy to start the process:

I want to say that the only tools you need are paper and a printer, but even that’s not true. So many people create their first zines by folding a piece of paper and writing in it.

Those are my favorites to purchase.

What else?

Let me know what you’d want/need to know about zine making before getting started. Even if it feels like a silly question, it will likely meaningfully help me help others get started on this journey.

I have a dream that when I do the next BLZF pop up in Spring, dozens of my writer friends will be there in zine-spirit.