A Walk Down Zinemory Lane

Well, that was a nice walk down zinemory lane. The culture goes back even further than that in history. Egypt, even tribal peoples before advanced cultures came to be -scientists consider these cultures having the earliest productions resembling the form of zine-ology. Most forms of graffiti, we all know, hold a similar quality. Feeling left out of the hive mind of human consciousness is 'at least' a pain in the rear, so it isn't hard to believe that the origin of the zine comes from purely wanting to talk the kind of tale you tell because the tales you've heard don't quit do it for you ... and you can't see any reason why they can do what ever it is they're doing and you can't!
On money: In the zine world it really depends on who you are when you look at monetary ethics. Some zines are made to catch the eye of main stream publishers and others are more cut to the definition most agree to. They can be used to get attention in the corporate world, though it is a long shot, a good idea goes far with luck and wisdom lingering in the air.
In any case, being in the professional world or the underground scene there is a benefit of being acquainted with small press activity. If it's a piece of cardboard cut out to make a book cover or designing your own business card to stand out at company picnics,I think the main point in these articles is to find a way to perform a task that allows you to find a path of... nothing is going to stop you from doing what you love! The artists who trade work for work still have to make money in the world in order to participate and people who zine and sell them probably need the money. I guess what I am getting at is being the judge and jury on the subject is pointless. Figuring out how the subject matter can enrich my artistic progression as an independent and participant of mainstream culture will be my exercise.
In any event, there are sides to choose from. Why not choose both? If you can that is; like I said in class the other day, "Most of us have fallen in to the place we stand on guard in the realm of art. What ever we have is all we've got, so you'd better protect it!" Meaning, the right to think freely even if that means not getting the support of the 4% with old money. I like being an independent, but I do have to say I wouldn't mind more activity in the world of financial progress!
Audio8.com

Zines to the rescue!!!

When I signed up for this class i honestly didn't know there was such a difference between the worlds of small press publishing and the major publishing houses (much less the existence of zines and that its not actually short of magazine).
The one thing I want to do in life is publish a book, so naturally I was striving to get on the bookshelves with Random House stamped proudly on the spine. Strangely I never saw it as a dog eat dog world, eating up the smaller corporations... pretty naive, huh.
Anyway after reading the article about zines, I've really been swept away with the idea to publish simply for the sake of publishing work (not making money-- zines versus magazines). This goes right along with the discussion we had over James Patterson's books. Clearly, he doesn't have a whole lot of integrity... does that then reflect on the publishing house that publishes his books? Has literature reduced itself to a Hollywood-like industry that makes books that will attract the most amount of people, thereby shooting for mindless entertainment? And to the same extent, is that ok?
I'd like to say to each his own, but what point does this actually hinder our collection of new literature? If the big publishing houses aim at having the most people buy their books, and what sells is mindless Patterson-esque novels, then are these big publishers sacrificing the next Pride and Prejudice of this century?
So it is comforting to know that there are people out there who want to publish and distribute work just for the sake of loving the work itself. The fanzines, the dedication that comes with the subculture (perhaps not so 'sub' these days), and the love that drives the smaller publishing world is what really gives me hope to not only get my book published, but to not have it altered for the mainstream media in any way.

Paper: Here to Stay, or like, SOOOOOO last week?

The whole time I was reading the article about Zines, I couldn't help thinking... wouldn't this work way better on the internet?

Zines seem to be a sort of prerequisite to-- yes, I'm going to say it-- BLOGS. They're pretty much the same thing; people saying what they feel needs to be said to anyone who will listen. Or, in Blogging's case, read. Think about it: Wright's article, when expounding on Revolutionary War Broadsides, mentioned that Benjamin Franklin published Zines because he "published his own thoughts using his own presses." Isn't that what blogging is, only on the internet? 

In addition to blogs, I think the closest thing to Zines on the internet (besides eZines, obviously), are Forums. Most forums deal with highly specific material, like 

Point-Blank Forums, which was created originally just to talk about/trade Anime, but has since adopted other topics and subject matter. Other forums are pretty much about anything the members want to talk about. Often there are "staff members" who write articles or begin threads, and then members/readers respond to the threads and to each other's comments The Velvet Howler is a great example of this. 

As much as I love Zines and the idea and passion behind them, I can't help but wonder if they are becoming slightly obsolete with the onslaught of the internet. Websites like the ones I've linked to above seem to be much more efficient-- and cheaper (and of course, more environmentally friendly) than the printing of Zines. Which probably explains why there are so many CRAP sites  in general, and specifically Blogs, Forums, etc. 

All in all, I think there's a market for both mediums, and I do have an attachment to things on paper, which is most likely one of the contributing factors to my chosen profession (writing, in case that wasn't obvious). I like paper. I like Zines. I like reading. But I'm just worried that paper is kind of going out of style.

Tuesday night, 2/5

Just a reminder that class is meeting Tuesday, February 5, at 6pm at Quimby's Bookstore. That's 6pm sharp. At 7pm, class will move down the street to The Green Lantern Gallery for a reading and then discussion with Carolyn Picard (Green Lantern Press) and the folks from Bad at Sports. This is a mandatory trip, and an absence will count as a missed class.

Zine Scene

I found both articles on "The History and Characteristics of Zines" useful to my understanding of the growth of the fanzine and its position in the lit world amongst the magazines, or should I say in comparison to the function of magazines. Through visiting Quimby's and learning more about zines I've surmized that their popularity, like all unregulated plops in the pool of message output, exists because anybody who likes them, never heard of one before today or can't stand the last one they've read can produce one with Microsoft, a printer and a stapler. Nowhere in either of these articles does Fred Wright mention that majority of these intense overtures to the sanctity of fantasy and sci-fi are offering earth shattering literary art.
Quite a few of these zines are produced for freedom of speech sake not to uplift mankind or participate in any cultural statement much like that of the Patterson novels we read about last class.

If someone's paperback novel has a picture of a bare-chested man on a horse and is sold in Walmart does that automatically make it crap? If someone produces a fanzine filled with poems and flashfiction about clown wigs that is "uncorrupted by money or the demands of advertising" will it, without question, be ushered into it's place in history as a part of the ancestors of Zines, insofar as the Beat Poetry Chapbooks or Revolutionary War Broadsides? Are the same numbers of people really working that hard in today's Zine scene, fighting that hard, thinking that hard about what they send out into the world or are they just sending words out? I think that no matter the format or the packaging all of these forms exist to fill a niche. Someone wants it, so someone is producing it. As writers we're all hoping we fill a niche someday, right?

Patterson: Phone(y)?

"Honey, James Patterson just called again.  He said that last week's idea needs to be a novel by Tuesday."

If some writers just "phone it in," Patterson must be AT&T.  And he has become mega-rich because of it.  But what's wrong with that?  I want to be rich.  But I also want to be true to an art - not be a sellout.  Where is the line?

I don't think there is anything categorically wrong with making money on the premise of art, even if it is money for money's sake.  Many A-list actors and film makers started out in cereal commercials.  Ron Howard had to awe-shucks his way through Happy Days before getting to Apollo 13.  Bill Cosby sold Jell-O on the side.  Rumor has it that Sly Stallone dabbled in porn.  [Insert your own joke here]  But for most artists/writers, crap art that makes money is just as necessary as high-brow art that pays, well, like crap.  One has to live today in order to create tomorrow.  But, for those of us that are in a creative industry, there should be an obligation to try to better the craft.  If James Patterson really wants to be a "writer", he should have to write.  And not just memos to his staff.  He can make all the money he wants, however he wants, but he should be required to also write something legitimate.  All by himself.

On another note, when re-reading the piece on Andre Schiffrin by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Punk Planet), the thought that kept creeping up on me was, "why don't they just switch notepads and have Schiffrin interview Moore?"  She seemed just as interested in her own story as she was in Schiffrins.  Toward the end she even uses Schiffrin's own memoir, A Political Education, as a segue into a cover story that she did on Students for a Democratic Society (which resulted in a perplexing question from a 14-year-old Punk Planet reader).

But back to the point: Andre Schiffrin uses his creative talent solely to fulfill his passion.  And he is worldly, connected and prominent.  Until I am either of those things, I'll be lucky to write beer commercials.

The Zine Scene

The History and Characteristics of Zines by Fred Wright goes into detail about what a zine technically is, why they're published and how they're viewed by the people who publish them. The idea that zines are published to go against the commercial magazines is a very valid one. It seems that people who produce zines are publishing them for a very specific audience, dealing with singular topics such as Sci-Fi or Punk. Many of these publishers aren't making any money off of their zines but the fact still remains that they are important to the readers who subscribe to them or randomly purchase one.

Many of the zines I've seen at Quimby's are crudely made and are merely put out there to give an audience to their content. Whoever produces a zine needs to have a real passion for whatever they are producing or it will just fold. It seems that there is no profit in zine production at all, but these people still put the material out there for a small but significant audience.

This passed semester I was introduced to the world of literary magazines as well as the hierarchy of which literary magazines are the best and which are just starting out but are still producing quality work. I assume that the editors of these magazines produce them because they feel there is a need for more literary short fiction in the world and so they create a market where literary writers can submit their work and have it get out into the open. Even though mostly writers read these zines the idea is to somehow get the work to a broader audience.

This article didn't deal with lit mags, but mostly fanzines. Fanzines seem to me to be more of a place for genre-type things to have a home. I don't read sci-fi stories or fantasy but I'm sure there are many people out there who do and who know of what zines have the best. There is a market for that type of material and so I don't understand how zines of that nature aren't making a profit. Truthfully I feel like those zines, or zines that only deal with a specific topic, are more profitable than literary magazines, just because they apply to a more specific audience.

My opinion on the idea that producers of these magazines don't want a profit but would rather just exchange different zines is that it's bullshit. I think whenever someone produces something that they truly care about, they want it to do well, they want to see a profit. That doesn't mean that they want to make millions off of it, but that they want to gain enough funds to keep the damn thing going. Not wanting a profit seems ridiculous to me. How else would these people keep their zines going? There needs to be some sort of money coming in or else the zine will fold.