Zines

Zines are independent magazines, generally about esoteric topics (e.g., punk rock, science fiction, queer issues, feminist issues, and sometimes graphic novels), that are self-produced and distributed with limited press runs. The term is derived from the word fanzine, which indicates the self-published nature of most zines. According to R. Seth Friedman in his book The FactSheet Five Zine Reader (1997), most zines usually contain “writing that’s unlike anything else in the mainstream: more opinionated than newspaper editorials, more personal than magazine articles” (p. 8). This relative independence and sometimes subversive streak in many zines almost guarantees a small circulation (and readership). While some zines are still produced via copy machine and in physical form, many zines in the 21st century have discontinued their print runs ...