How do you go about starting a fanzine?

[PDorr3]

I was always curious, I mean I would find much fun in starting a 15-20 page videogame fanzine w/ my friends just to share w/ people for free, but how do you go about getting the magazine type paper, or piecing together these magazines? how much does it cost? and if you ever bring it online for subscriptions, how do you even get started?
Im just really interested, fill me in!
(I would do fanzines for free if they are not too costly)

[whoisKeel]

if it were me, and i know nothing of this, i would learn how to make .pdf documents (i think pagemaker). it seems you could make professional looking documents with that program...then from there either peeps could download them, or you could go to kinkos or something, and have them printed out.

[Ed Oscuro]

PDFs are the devil...use HTML, much better.

For printed stuff you'll need something like Adobe Pagemaker, sure.

[wberdan]

is this for real???

wow.

ok here is a tip:

you write down everything you have to say-
you format it on a notebook or something how you like it.
you photocopy it and pass it out for free.

of course you can do it on a computer now as well- but thats so inhuman, and it focuses all the effort on writing, and not just layout.
any computer can layout a good fanzine.

im in the process of writing my own, let me know how yours turns out- id be happy to trade

willie

[Ed Oscuro]

you write down everything you have to say-
you format it on a notebook or something how you like it.
Forgot the trading cards!

[Daniel Thomas]

Putting out a zine is a cinch. Really, it is. It all comes down to just what look you want to go with, which often comes down to using what you've got.

You could just grab a pen and scribble on paper. That's what a lot of zines do. Most of the gaming zines were just word processors, broken into columns and artwork and/or photos taped on.

You put the pages together, then head over to Kinko's and spend away your college fund on copies, staples, and stamps.

That's all there is to it. It would be nice to see some gaming zines again, even though it's far easier (and far more successful) to throw up a website. You'll want something that's 12-20 pages, or as much as you can ship out for two stamps.

Next lesson: we'll be going over the proper "sorry I'm six months late" excuses, and how to officially shrine your zine by getting a letter from Russ Perry, Jr.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Putting out a zine is a cinch. Or you can take the faster route, cutting a hole in your wallet and running down the street with money spilling out every which way - it's quicker, and at least that way you'd have the opportunity to retrace your steps and find your money.

Oh, did I mention that it can be pretty expensive? ;)

[TRM]

Funny thing is, I was thinking about doing something of a similar sort to go along with my website. I was going to start with the folks at college, and then maybe expand if things went well.

[THXII38]

I made one for my UK Football board.

I got a laser printer, used openoffice, and did it in the wordproccessor, inserting photos and pictures and objects into boxes, a bit of fancy text in text boxes.

Got various people to e-mail contributions. Printed on both sides of the page, and then stapled the whole lot together, and mailed them out. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was quite fun all the same.

[Gamereviewgod]

I picked up Adobe Pagemaker with my scholarship account in college (which I wasn't supposed to do but it worked ;) ) and went with it. Printed it at Office Max. Went with it for about a year and half before the cost was just to prohibitive.

My suggestion: TAKE YOUR TIME! Spell check! It makes all the difference.

[slapdash]

Dan, if you're right, maybe I shouldn't be responding to him HERE, lest he NEVER do an issue... :P

Also, as far as Earl's post, you don't have to spend THAT much money... After all, if you don't send many out, you won't spend that much. Only make ten at a time unless you already have more people than that that you plan on sending them to. Odds are you won't be able to send many out, as it's hard to find people interested in zines. I'm not saying they're not out there, but they're hard to find.

The best advice I can give is "don't expect to get ANYTHING out of it". By that I mean don't expect any kind of fame, don't expect free games, don't expect to do anything other than LOSE money, and don't even expect any responses". That sounds kind of cynical, but if you set your expectations low, you won't be hurt by a lack of response. Then if you DO get any, you'll be ecstatic.

[Daniel Thomas]

Dan, if you're right, maybe I shouldn't be responding to him HERE, lest he NEVER do an issue... :P

Also, as far as Earl's post, you don't have to spend THAT much money... After all, if you don't send many out, you won't spend that much. Only make ten at a time unless you already have more people than that that you plan on sending them to. Odds are you won't be able to send many out, as it's hard to find people interested in zines. I'm not saying they're not out there, but they're hard to find.

The best advice I can give is "don't expect to get ANYTHING out of it". By that I mean don't expect any kind of fame, don't expect free games, don't expect to do anything other than LOSE money, and don't even expect any responses". That sounds kind of cynical, but if you set your expectations low, you won't be hurt by a lack of response. Then if you DO get any, you'll be ecstatic.

Great advice. In other words, "don't expect all those cool perks we all got a decade ago." Hey, I wouldn't put it past anyone to pull that off again, but you'd have to rebuild that community first.

And, if I recall, the kid's supposed to publish his first issue, and then get the Letter from Russ. And then the second issue shows up two months late, with 20 pages of apologies.

You don't need a huge fan base for zines to work, just some friends to swap with; they, of course, should be publishing stuff, too.

[slapdash]

Great advice. In other words, "don't expect all those cool perks we all got a decade ago."

Heck, it wasn't exactly easy then either, but it's certainly worse now.


And, if I recall, the kid's supposed to publish his first issue, and then get the Letter from Russ. And then the second issue shows up two months late, with 20 pages of apologies.

Surely you're not suggesting that it was MY LETTERS that caused these delays?!?

[Daniel Thomas]

Hardly. But the kid's gotta have an incentive to keep publishing. I don't know why we were never on time with out zines, especially when most of us were on a bi-monthly schedule. It was probably a money thing.

So where's his doggone fanzine, anyway? He's had plenty of time to put it together! Somebody get me a pen and paper...