I’ll add video, links, and other resources that I may happen upon to this page for you. It’s for you if you are brand new to zines, or if you just want to see what other people are doing. Got a suggestion? Let me know here.
‘What are zines?’
From Reddit: DustDevil66
- “Zine” is short for Magazine and generally refers to self made, self printed, self distributed multi-page print content of any genre of contents. It can be photographs, essays, poetry, comics, or a combination of different things. Yes if you printed your own short comic and self distributed it that would be a zine. The classic way to make them is by photocopying and stapling them but people get fancy with it and do saddle stitch binding, risograph printing, screen printing, amongst other production techniques. Really zine-making is just artistic expression via the small scale production of multi page printed goods.”
‘What are some cool zines you’ve found, Dipika?’
So many! I will add to this page, here, but for now, this one is pretty cool. I found a Venn Diagrams zine on Reddit. Here is one, too, that is quite visually nice and shows how materials can be part of the ‘content.’ It’s here: https://archive.org/details/redspiralbowling00laur/page/n41/mode/2up
Fareeha Khan wrote a zine about Capitalism. Here is her post about what that involved and how it felt for her to make something tangible from an idea. https://fareehakhan.substack.com/p/is-making-art-under-capitalism-futile
Outsourcing: Anti AI Zine
byu/obzokie inzines
‘How do you sew them closed? I noticed you sew them.’
I do. I’ve tried lots of things. I am experimenting even still.
What is Art & Copy?
Our zine! We make it with Art & Copy International Zine Club. Here are some pics:
Recently I learned about ‘blanket stitch,’ here is a video someone made about that…
‘Which zine festivals do you recommend?’
I highly recommend going to a zine fair or zine festival, as it’s so much more rich (than youtube or instagram) to meet people and see their zines and see things happening in real time.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Portland Zine Symposium. My first real zine festival experience was the Portland Zine Symposium which hands down was the most extraordinary one, ever, of my life. I think it was the first one, that’s why. You had all these really amazing, passionate people who were also very nice about taking to people who came by the tables. About what they were doing. (There wasn’t the snobbery I found later, at other festivals. I mean, it’s zines, so the aesthetic and the vibe of the place, I feel, ought to be aligned. Open, accessible: those are my things and why I make zines and I felt that the PZS had that. Maybe I was inspired because of them!)
- ⭐⭐⭐ San Francisco Zine Festival. There was a friend whom I have made lots of zines with who showed up to represent us, virtually, at the 2020 San Francisco Zine Festival.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Festival of the Photocopier. And earlier that year, I made a zine with a teammate who tabled it, at the Festival of the Photocopier in Melbourne – we made one issue of her works and that was it. I love the titleo f this festival. I really want ot go there and show more of the zines from my collections, if I can.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Unbound. I’d love to go to Unbound at Rhode Island School of Design, who had invited me to take part ’24 (!) One of these days.
- ⭐⭐ Tokyo Art Book Fair. On paper it looked cool so I went, but I was less enchanted by Tokyo Art Book Fair when dropping by as a visitor (insular, not very many activities for engagement, not very open or welcoming, kind of a publishers invite-only kind of vibe, not very ‘cross-disciplinary,’ in my humble opinion.
Where can I find out where zine festivals are happening?
Nice Zines keeps things very up to date. Full disclosure: Nice Zines also once featured Art & Copy.
https://nicezines.skynash.co.uk/category/festivals-events/
‘What do you look for to rate zine festivals?’
Me? I like fun. I like niceness. I like welcoming and inviting and creative but mostly nice.
Look for the accessibility, and the range of people who are showing to get a sense of how much diversity and how much fun it will be. If it’s a lot of ‘big names’ it might be more of a snob festival than a zine fair, which I think is popular because people want to talk to each other, see what we’re each doing, learn, and share. Mostly: share. I love that.
‘Who is a “zine libarian”?’
This podcast episode by Long Arm Stapler is an interview with librarians who care about, make, and advocate for zines.
Zines in schools
Some people teach with zines. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zg9hWdW1I-tUeeZ5eDYMQfRT-dynt7xcQDsN2LRmlew/edit?tab=t.2v55t05sh8kg
‘What are some of your lessons learned?’
Well! There are a lot. Will share a link to a private page with details, when you join Art & Copy, if you want to know.
More handwriting is good. Like, really good. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5631779/ai-schools-teachers-students
‘What should I make a zine about?’
- This is a Tumblr community called Sharing Zines: https://www.tumblr.com/communities/sharing-zines
- ‘Zines will Save Your Life’ by Rachel Moss has a ton more resources. https://internetbedroom.substack.com/p/zines-will-save-your-life
- Here’s a video I found of a popular YouTuber, who has suggestions.
‘How can I make zines with you, Dipika?’
You can apply to join Cojournal – Art & Copy Zine Club!
Apply here.