Zine-making resources: Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine?

Last week, I attended my first zine festival, which really rekindled my interest in zines. So I read Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine? The Art of Making Zines and Mini-Comics (2006) by Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson to learn about other people's motivations and interests in zines. With contributions from more than twenty independent indie comics and magazine creators, I find the book to be a great resource on everything zine-related, from generating zine ideas to self-publishing.

I love the approach to zine-making that many of the zinesters featured in the book seem to share, as explained by Raina Lee:

“Zines to me became an instantenous paper rebellion. Anyone with a pen, paper, and impassioned thought could make one, rich, poor, skilled, or not. Zines are for people with something to say, right now. Zines are for people who don't see themselves represented in mainstream media or disagree about what is being said. Zines are for those who go beyond conventional writing and opt for a melody of word and pictures, vision and thought - cut out, glued, photocopied, and all stapled together.”

Anyway, the entire book appears to have been created in such a way:

Fanzines, perzines, confessional, or dealing with mundane or provocative topics. If you’re passionate about speaking your truth, zines are a good outlet.

It is impossible to remember all the resources mentioned in the book, which include advice on photocopying, different zine formats and folding instructions, types of paper and binding, as well as distribution. I'm glad I have my own copy because I'm certain I'll be returning to it again and again.