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Welcome to Make Zines! -- a community for, well, making zines. We want to make zines, and we want to encourage others to make zines!
With a bit of writing, a bit of doodling or collage -- physical or digital -- and a bit of scanning or photocopying or printing, anyone can make a zine.
And that's awesome!
We want to encourage making and swapping and sharing zines :D
This community is for sharing zine resources (whether outside links or books or zines, or your own experience), asking questions, talking about plans and projects and progress, chatting about zines ... if it's zines, we're here.
( Community Guidelines )
A Few Interesting Stops:
Zine on Wikipedia: because why not, lol
The Zine Arranger: an app to help you put your zine pages in order (I've used it to make templates, too!)
Tiny Zine Swap Shop: an entire resource for a DIY minizine-making workshop
Stolen Sharpie Revolution: a DIY resource for zines (and a zine culture, but it's not the only culture, just saying)
Make a Mini Zine Month: I made a zine!
Jul. 1st, 2025 04:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
used_songsI made a zine about a few of my favorite people to teach about in US History part 1. Unless I messed up the link, you should be able to see it here.
I made it using this template that I made in Slides.
I made it using this template that I made in Slides.
it's International Zine Month!
Jul. 1st, 2025 09:18 amtaicharaAs created decreed noted by Stolen Sharpie Revolution, July is International Zine Month and they have a whole slate of 31 prompts for IZN :D
Echo Zines also has prompts -- a Zine Month bingo -- and has collected up a cute third set geared around minizines; both of which prompt sets can be found here ~
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makezines doesn't have an activity planned, yet -- but what about a low-key sort of thing? :3?
How about Make A Minizine Month?
On any topic! Borrow one or more of the prompts linked above, or posted to the comm here, or anything else you might like!
Echo Zines also has prompts -- a Zine Month bingo -- and has collected up a cute third set geared around minizines; both of which prompt sets can be found here ~
makezines doesn't have an activity planned, yet -- but what about a low-key sort of thing? :3?How about Make A Minizine Month?
On any topic! Borrow one or more of the prompts linked above, or posted to the comm here, or anything else you might like!
Crosslane Station (#01?)
Jun. 5th, 2025 04:01 amtaicharaAfter weeks of wharrgarbl I've gotten together Crosslane Station, a collection of scifi microfiction (originally posted on fedi, mostly); 14 wee scenes and stories, all set in and around one space station. It's a half-letter zine because that made using coloured paper for the outside easier lol, 16 pages including the front and back covers --
( inside peek ~ )
This one's my test copy, but if anyone would like a copy to fly off through the postal, just let me know and I'll make one up ~
Similarly, since they use the same stuff, if anyone would like a dead tree of Hand-Stitching Zines, just drop a line :3
( Hand-Stitching Zines dead tree example under here )
(I have yellow, orange and red paper as well as the green and blue, or I can leave the covers/outer pages white like the insides, whatever you like)
( inside peek ~ )
This one's my test copy, but if anyone would like a copy to fly off through the postal, just let me know and I'll make one up ~
Similarly, since they use the same stuff, if anyone would like a dead tree of Hand-Stitching Zines, just drop a line :3
( Hand-Stitching Zines dead tree example under here )
(I have yellow, orange and red paper as well as the green and blue, or I can leave the covers/outer pages white like the insides, whatever you like)
Zines and kids
May. 30th, 2025 06:17 pmused_songsI went to a professional development for teachers on arts integration and the presenter was this fantastic elementary school teacher who has his kids do so many cool projects. In particular, he had a bunch of different zines (and more zines) his kids had made that he showed us. I was really surprised that none of the other participants seemed to have even heard of zines; he kept saying, "It's like magazine" which was really kind of cute. Anyway, the note catcher he gave us for the session was in the form of a similar zine (the one sheet of paper folded to make a 4 page booklet), so maybe there'll be some new zine projects in some of the classrooms!
I'm thinking I will have my students create zines this upcoming school year on a topic of their choice.
I'm thinking I will have my students create zines this upcoming school year on a topic of their choice.
Organi-zines
May. 24th, 2025 01:16 amkallowayThis old file box hasn't had anything in it in years, but now it's a nearly-complete collection of 25+ years of flats/copies and will keep me organized for a bit!
How do you keep projects organized?
How do you keep projects organized?
Tiniest Tales #1
Mar. 30th, 2025 06:09 amkalloway
I finally figured out the layout for my first quarter-sized zine, Tiniest Tales #1. It's a collection of some of the 'tootfic' stories I posted to the Fediverse last year. Each one fit in a post, so each one fits on a page. There are nineteen stories (+index+covers) for a total of twenty-four pages.
Aside from this proof-of-concept, I haven't assembled any of the others I printed, but if anyone would like a copy, let me know and I'll send one your way when they're ready. ^_^
( Inner Photo )
some inspirational links ~
Mar. 1st, 2025 12:08 pmtaicharaYes, technically~ these are links to ttrpg blogs. *lol*
However, the points behind them are universal -- with zines and otherwise -- and are absolutely worth reading if you're feeling uncertain about the whole making-a-zine thing.
(believe me I get it, imposter syndrome is a bitch)
Just, trust me on this one --
* Seedling, What's a zine? And why? : what zines are and aren't, gatekeeping, what zines are for and can be for, the freedom to create ...
* Playful Void, The Zungeon Manifesto : how and why to make "zungeons", handmade zines of ttrpg dungeons (and a lot a lot of what's in here applies to other zines) ...
However, the points behind them are universal -- with zines and otherwise -- and are absolutely worth reading if you're feeling uncertain about the whole making-a-zine thing.
(believe me I get it, imposter syndrome is a bitch)
Just, trust me on this one --
* Seedling, What's a zine? And why? : what zines are and aren't, gatekeeping, what zines are for and can be for, the freedom to create ...
* Playful Void, The Zungeon Manifesto : how and why to make "zungeons", handmade zines of ttrpg dungeons (and a lot a lot of what's in here applies to other zines) ...
Hand-Stitching Zines (a zine. lol)
Feb. 27th, 2025 12:47 pmtaicharaA new zine!
I (finally) finished off Hand-Stitching Zines (Or Other Small Book Things) -- 16 half-letter pages including the covers, explaining how to do saddle stitch, my best guess at a 18th century chapbook stitch, and a basic stab stitch.
The printable pdf version is right here:
https://taichara.smol.pub/hand-stitching%20zines.pdf
and if someone would like a copy posted (lettermail) to them, let me know; I think I can do a few, at least X3I even have some coloured paper for covers whoo
I (finally) finished off Hand-Stitching Zines (Or Other Small Book Things) -- 16 half-letter pages including the covers, explaining how to do saddle stitch, my best guess at a 18th century chapbook stitch, and a basic stab stitch.
The printable pdf version is right here:
https://taichara.smol.pub/hand-stitching%20zines.pdf
and if someone would like a copy posted (lettermail) to them, let me know; I think I can do a few, at least X3
CC0 typewriter fonts!
Feb. 19th, 2025 01:56 pmtaicharaRight over here Richard Polts has made available almost two dozen fonts adapted right off of vintage typewriters (literally).
They're Creative Commons 0 Public Domain released 833333
I could have died of joy when I found this and saw that Olympia Script was in there; my entire childhood school nonsense rushing back at once *lol*
And I still really am tempted to make a zine in the kind of magenta colour you got from spirit duplicator mimeograph machines ...
They're Creative Commons 0 Public Domain released 833333
I could have died of joy when I found this and saw that Olympia Script was in there; my entire childhood school nonsense rushing back at once *lol*
And I still really am tempted to make a zine in the kind of magenta colour you got from spirit duplicator mimeograph machines ...
Want Some Inspiration?
Feb. 16th, 2025 03:22 amkallowayZines on the Internet Archive! More than 84,000 zines to read and be inspired by on all subjects, including old fanfiction zines, punk zines, zines about alien encounters, and everything else imaginable! (And since it's everything, there's likely NSFW.)
BUT WHAT DO I MAKE?! -- some zine ideas!
Feb. 13th, 2025 03:59 amtaicharaSo you want to make a zine! And you sit down with your pen or your mouse or your phone and --
-- and your brain skids to a halt.
What should I make a zine about? DDD8
Sure, the pat kind of answer is "everything"; but that's not really helpful when you're trying to brainstorm or get out of a creative rut or making your first zine and looking for a bit of direction.
So, here is a (very much non-complete!) list of possible zine topics to maybe get the ol neurons firing ~
( Creative Stuff )
( Creative Fannish Stuff )
( Personal )
( ... but honestly, it really is 'Everything' )
And of course these aren't cut-and-dried category types either. Smash things together! It's all good!
-- and your brain skids to a halt.
What should I make a zine about? DDD8
Sure, the pat kind of answer is "everything"; but that's not really helpful when you're trying to brainstorm or get out of a creative rut or making your first zine and looking for a bit of direction.
So, here is a (very much non-complete!) list of possible zine topics to maybe get the ol neurons firing ~
( Creative Stuff )
( Creative Fannish Stuff )
( Personal )
( ... but honestly, it really is 'Everything' )
And of course these aren't cut-and-dried category types either. Smash things together! It's all good!
