That’s a wrap! International Zine Month 2021 has come to a close, and what a month it has been. All told, I read dozens of zines, wrote nine #IZM posts on Instagram, made some trades, posted two new zine review videos, distributed some flyers, taught two workshops, and learned about lots and lots of new-to-me zines. This was also the month when I got the news that some of my work had been accepted into a museum’s collection, and that I was accepted to table virtually at the 2021 Bay Area Queer Zine Fest. So many zine-y things have happened in just 31 short days, and I had a great time celebrating DIY publishing with the online zine community.

 

 

Day 26 – Organize your zine collection. Post a shelfie online. Done and done! This prompt was a great excuse to file away all the zines I had pulled out of storage for video-shoots. They had started to pile-up on my desk, so I’m glad I took the time to put them back where they belong before the whole thing turned into a zine avalanche!

The shelfie at the top of this post shows the space on my bookshelf where I keep all the zines I have yet to read, or am wanting to revisit soon. The tabletop display at the back of the shelf was an awesome alleyway trash find; it’s made of lacquered wood and plexiglass, and I still find it hard to believe that someone was just going to throw it away! Their loss is my gain, as now I use it to display all the half- and quarter-size zines in my to-be-read pile. Just next to it is where I keep oversized zines, and in front of that, in the memphis-patterned magazine holder, are @zinereviews submissions. Just outta frame, tucked in between the magazine holder and the shelf wall, is my collection of zine compilation books. And right in front is a box full of minis… plus the latest issue of the “East Village Inky”, and a tattered, princely Gund-pup overseeing it all.

Once I read (or re-read) these zines, they either get added to my zine library donation bag, or they make it into my permanent collection. That collection is comprised of two Bankers Boxes stored below the shelf in a cabinet. One box is for one-off zines, organized by topic (ie: political, music & pop culture, magick, etc.) and the other is for specific authors’ works that I collect, organized alphabetically by pen name. This is the box where some of my very favorite zines end up, as once I read one zine I like by a creator, I am wont to seek out more! The only exception to this cataloging rule is for issues of “You Don’t Get There From Here” by Carrie McNinch – I have so many issues of that zine that they have their own special spot, in a little bear-shaped rack that I keep next to my comix compilations.

Day 27 – Ask a zine friend if they would like to do a split zine or collaboration with you. While I didn’t ask a zine friend to collaborate, I did brainstorm some ideas for a collaborative comp-zine project. If I end up making it happen, it’ll end up being my first foray into fanzines, which is exciting! Hopefully, I’ll be posting more about this mystery project soon.

Day 28 – Post online about your favorite zines! Without a doubt, my very favorite sorta zines are perzines… that means zines featuring personal storytelling or memoir. I’d been working on a video about perzines, featuring some of my favorite issues of “Telegram” and “My Aim is True”, as well as a fantastic split by Jonas and Julia, and IZM Day 28 seemed like the perfect day to hit publish. Take a look:

Day 29 – Take a photo of you with your zine or zine collection and post it online. Ha! I got so into organizing and snapping photos of my zine collection, that I didn’t actually stop to take a selfie with the zines. Oops! Maybe next year, IZM, maybe next year. 😏

Day 30 – Write a letter or online post about your IZM2021 experience. I sorta think that that’s what this post is! The introduction feels like a nice recap of the entire month, so I’m counting this one as done!

Happy #IZM2021 everyone! And now there’s only 364 days until #IZM2022!