So, music zines. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure that you have noticed the trend of folks collecting physical media. I’m talking books and dvds and music — we’re fighting back against the idea that we will own nothing in a streaming-filled world. In a time when corporations will alter our favorite books, or disappear whole series with just the click of a button, we are creating our own media libraries impervious to the whims of capital. It’s protection from enshittification. I have been collecting physical media for years and years and years now, ever since I was a kid with a boombox and allowance money to spend […]

First things first, Zinesommar. Zinesommar!! You know when you and your friends are just shooting the shit and you get an idea and then it grows and grows until it seems like it could never happen? But then, through some sort of magic, it does happen, and you pull it off, and it’s really, really beautiful? That’s what Zinesommar was. Whenever KC Zine Collective hosts an event — whether something relatively small like my monthly Zine Club, or our massive annual festival — I always get butterflies in my stomach leading up to the day of. All the “what ifs” nag my brain and I catastrophize. What if nobody shows up? […]

So much has been going on in my zine-y world, and I’ve got a lot to catch y’all up on! First up, today. Today is the summer solstice, midsummer, the longest day of the year… and this year, we’re celebrating zinesommar, too! My friends and I at the KC Zine Collective are hosting a day full of Zinesommar festivities, a way of bringing our local zine community together, raising funds for KC Zine Con (our annual fest), and building the lore around Bernie, our raccoon mascot. In a few hours, we’ll be gathering on the lawn of our local art museum for a picnic, fun, and games (including a zine trade […]