We’re just gonna pretend that it isn’t already halfway through August and that I’m not only just now finishing up my International Zine Month posts. I’ve made a bad habit of starting every blog with some sort of apology about the post coming out late (how zinester-y of me!) or waxing poetic about how fast time flies… and I’ve gotta stop that. It’s boring.

Let’s be real: I’m shouting into a big internet void on this blog. Time here is flexible, malleable. Any deadlines are self imposed. This post could have premiered at anytime and it really wouldn’t change a thing about it. I’ve noticed that when I hem and haw and worry over self-imposed deadlines, I’m more likely to miss them. So consider this the last time I apologize for a late post: it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, now does it?

Now, onto the meat of this post – the last weeks of International Zine Month, wrapped up all pretty:

Day 17 – Make a flyer for your zine Flyers? Yea, I’ve got ’em. The long flyers pictured above use up excess paper from when I print Coco Zine. And I printed a bunch of the smaller handbills below before KC Zine Con #8. I’m really happy with how both of these flyer designs turned out, and I’m eager to give more of them away at next month’s Paper Plains Zine Fest in Lawrence.

Day 18 – Zine Trade Day I’m always up for a good zine trade; if any of my titles look interesting to you then drop me a line!

Day 19 – Zine Distro Appreciation Day 😍 I’ve got big heart-eyes for the Spiral House Shop at Portland Button Works, who have been distro-ing my witchy zine titles for years now… and, coming soon, you’ll be able to find my newest titles at Neither/nor Zine Distro again. (I’ve been owing Jay a restock for, like, years now!) Alex of PBW and Jaydream of N/n are two of my zine heroes — reading about Alex’s secular witchcraft practice gave me the push I needed to explore my own craft, and Jaydream was one of the OG founders of KC Zine Con — so it really means a lot to me that they carry my zines in their shops.

Day 20 – Talk about a thing you learned in a zine. The first zine that springs to mind for this prompt is Handout #9, with it’s descriptive subtitle: “The Greenpoint Oil Spill & some of the people who died in horrible fires along & on Newtown Creek for Standard Oil and others as covered in the newspapers + other interesting items discovered.” Reading this zine for a review taught me about one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. And as I prepare to visit Brooklyn this fall, the Greenpoint Oil Spill has been on my mind… I think it’s time for a re-read.

Day 21 – Check out zine channels on Youtube and Tiktok Well, well, well, if this isn’t the perfect prompt for a self-plug. Subscribe to my Youtube channel for filmed zine reviews and all-new episodes of Roll for Zine (more on that later), then follow me on Tiktok to see even more zine videos, plus record hauls and music recommendations.

Day 22 – Zine Library Day At the end of July, I roadtripped down to Austin, Texas for a little vacation. Unfortunately, the famous Sherwood Forest Zine Library was closed, but I did have the opportunity to check out the Austin Public Library zine collection. What a fantastic buncha zines — I could’ve stayed at the library and browsed this collection for hours and hours. They had old issues of classics like Ben Is Dead, Doris, and Cometbus, as well as lots of new stuff from contemporary zinesters. I settled down with issue one of “Who Killed Laura Palmer” (the gender issue), “Sound Bites: the Hub Story” by Bethany Clarke (a fun “get to know them” zine about the employees of a community bike shop), and Ben Snakepit’s “Going to California” (I gasped with delight when I stumbled upon this zine on the shelves… a Snakepit I haven’t yet read?! What a rare gem!) The APL Zine Collection is a great example of how public libraries can get in on the zine collecting game. And now that I know it exists, I’m going to look into donating some of my own zines to the collection… it would be such an honor to share that shelf space with so many great zinesters.

Day 23 – Tell 5 people about zines I like to think of my Tiktok account as a good place for zine evangelizing; most of my followers came along for the ride thanks to posts about my record collection, and they often aren’t zinesters or zine collectors themselves. So when I share an episode of Roll for Zines, or a video about my process, I get to share our DIY world with a whole new audience… I think that’s pretty cool!

Day 24 – Teach yourself a new zine skill This past spring, I taught myself how to foil my zine covers. I love adding a little bit of sparkle to the front of my zines with this super easy technique. If you print your zines with a laser printer, then all you need to achieve this effect is a laminator and special, heat-activated foil that is made to react to printer toner. I used this technique on the cover of my zine Hag Witch: in real-life, the stars on the front cover are shiny and silver (my scanner can’t pick up the shine!)

Day 25 – Make a zine for a non-profit cause Been there, done that. Years ago, I worked for a non-profit dedicated to promoting the art of chamber music. I helped set-up a children’s zine workshop before a pianist recital; we played the kids some of the music they would hear at the concert, then had them collage images of what the music made them feel. I collected the collages in a zine that we shared with the participants and their families. It was a lot of fun, and I’d love to facilitate similar workshops for other non-profits. Know of any music non-profits looking to host zine workshops?

Day 26 – Organize your zine collection I’ve got a couple of different collections: my favorite zines, which I keep in three boxes in my bedroom (sorted by author or genre); my to-be-read pile, which is shelved in my studio/home office; a smaller to-be-read pile of future zine reviews that lives on my desk next to the computer I’m typing this blog on; the actively-being-read pile that lives in the wicker basket next to the couch (books that I’m reading live there, too); and last-but-not-least, the big ol’ bag of zines waiting to be donated to a library.

Day 27 – Split zine? Collab? Maybe one day… it is on the Roll for Zine Wild Magic list… 🤔

Day 28 – Read or create a comix zine I’m working on it! Without saying too much, expect a new zine from me that fits comfortably into this category by the start of September (just in time for Paper Plains!)

Day 29 – Write out a list of zine ideas and use a random way of selecting one to get started! (D20 Dice work great, but get creative!) Well if this prompt isn’t the perfect excuse to debut the newest of Roll for Zine, then I don’t know what is! Check out the latest episode, then go give my channel a follow to stay up-to-date on future episodes:

Day 30 – Write a post about your #IZM2023 experience Wanna know a secret? If you blog about each of the International Zine Month prompts throughout the month, when you reach the penultimate prompt, all the work of recapping your #IZM23 experience has already been done for you. You can just re-share your previous posts and call it good. 😉 But, in the spirit of the prompt, I’ll summarize my July and International Zine Month 2023 in a few descriptive words: frantic, productive, fun.

Day 31 – Hallowzine I feel really lucky that I’m coming up blank for this prompt, that I don’t have any zine friends who have passed away. But it did strike me when I visited the Austin Public Library Zine Collection that zine collections are like little time capsules, preserving titles that would’ve otherwise been lost to the sands of time for future generations to enjoy. <3