At last weekend’s Paper Plains Zine Fest, I realized just how much the people are craving a club. (Like, a social organization. Not a sandwich. But club sandwiches are pretty great, too!)
For almost 3 years now, I’ve been facilitating the Kansas City Zine Club, bringing together a bunch of DIY weirdos (posi) to share zines, collaborate, and co-work on the second Tuesday of every month. A KC Zine Club meeting always gets me inspired, and the compzines we’ve collaborated on together are so silly and special. I look forward to our meetings every month. It’s just super invigorating to be in a room full of people who are passionate about the same weird, niche stuff that you are.
But it wasn’t until Paper Plains that I realized just how hungry other people are for that kind of environment. I brought a new mini I’d written called How to Start a Club IRL and sold or traded every copy before lunch. And when I sat on Saturday’s Zine Clubs panel and announced I had written this zine, there were audible oohs-and-ahhs in the crowd. The people are hungry for club-life! And that makes sense. Clubs, organizations, and meet-ups offer so much of what has been stripped away from our daily lives during the rapid enshittification of society (thanks to social media, corporitization, private equity, and all that jazz). Clubs offer community and socialization. They’re how we get to know our neighbors, meet strangers, make friends. And since most clubs have a pretty low-barrier to entry (ie: just show up!), most anyone can participate if they’re interested. They’re the quintessential third place. We yearn to actively participate, dive deeper into our hobbies, and nerd out with like-minded people.
Do I need to start a fanclub for fanclubs? Yea, maybe, because I think they’re really great and have such a positive effect on society. But for now I’ll settle for trying to get more people to join or start their own clubs, especially for niche hobbies like zines. All that is just to say that I’ve printed more copies of How to Start a Club IRL, and they’re finally up in the catmothcrow shop.
Paper Plains Zine Fest was also the debut of Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, a new mini zine series I’m starting all about cryptids, the paranormal, and monsters. I’ve decided that the Mothman zine I created last year is issue #1, and issue #2 is all about spontaneous human combustion, a phenomenon that has captivated me since childhood. Copies of both are also in the catmothcrow shop now, and I’m already scheming topics for future issues (number 3 will be all about the Missouri Mo-Mo!)
Star- and Sustainer-level members of my snail mail society got How to Start a Club IRL in their August shipment, and they’ll be getting the spontaneous combustion zine this month. Members also get September’s catmothcrow chronicle perzine newsletter and playlist (this month’s is very Camp Miasma-themed — that movie sunk it’s claws into my psyche!) and Star-level subscribers will receive some bonus stationery: three “zine mail” envelope seals and a postcard featuring my art. And star confetti!
If you want to see this mail in your mailbox, then become a catmothcrow chronicle subscriber — zine subscriptions start at just $5/month. When you join before September 20th, you’ll be sent a cheery envelope with this month’s newsletter perzine, plus the spontaneous combustion mini zine, playlist, sticker seals, and postcard when you register at higher tiers. Subscribers can also access digital perks like exclusive vlogs — I just posted one about my Paper Plains Zine Fest weekend — scans of my out-of-print zines, and discounts to my zine shop (in case you wanna pick up How to Start a Club IRL for a steal!)
Next week’s blog is going to be all about why I love writing my perzine newsletter, so if you’re curious as to what they’re all about, now is a great time to start your subscription. And to sweeten the deal, I’m offering your first month’s snail mail for free when you sign up as an annual member in the Star or Sustainer tiers (and that’s in addition to the 19% off annual subscribers already get!) Use code SNA1LY12 at checkout to access this deal.
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