Four perzines about family arrived in the same week. We read them all in one sitting and then called home.
Everything reviewed here arrived in the mail or was traded at a table. We don't do star ratings; we do honest notes about what each zine is trying to do and whether it gets there.
The zines
- Perzine, 24 pages, quarter-size
- Comic, 16 pages, risograph two-color
- Guide, 40 pages, saddle-stitched
- Cookbook, 32 pages, hand-bound with thread
The paper stock matters more than people think. A zine printed on heavier paper feels like it wants to be kept, and a flimsy one feels like a flyer, even if the writing is brilliant.
We don't do stars. We do honest notes.
Where to find them
If you want your zine reviewed, send it to the address on the contact page. We read everything, even the ones stapled in the wrong corner.
Everything in this post works just as well at a library copier or a corner copy shop. You don't need a studio, just a flat table and about an hour.
Print nights are pay-what-you-can. The jar covers toner and paper most months, and when it doesn't, we hold a swap and sell the duplicates from the lending shelf.
A note on paper: we buy recycled 80gsm by the box and it runs through every machine we own. Heavier stock is lovely for covers, but it will jam the old copier if you try to feed it more than ten sheets at a time.
Hana Sato
The bit about making the dummy first is so true. I learned that the expensive way.