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ENG 201: The World of Zines, Zine Making and Self-Publishing

This guide is for students in Steve Bookman's ENG 120 courses. Explore this guide and think of it as an OER text. Read about the history and significance of zines and related self-publishing and small-publishing in the Western world.

Print copies of your Zine

Your Digital Zine

If you have created a zine in Word following the templates provided here, you can easily print copies of your zine. You must use a printer that can print double sided, however. You can do this as the library, the computer labs, or off campus at Staples or Fed Ex. You can also print your zine made in Google Docs, Powerpoint, Kanopy, etc.

If you made your zine in Word or Google Docs and saved as a PDF, just download the file; select File > Print; select double sided; select FLIP ON SHORT EDGE (not long)

Voila! You can even print color copies if you visit the library.

For binding your zines:

Zines and other booklets are usually "bound" or held together with a staple (for some reason, called "saddle stitched"). Others are sewn with needle and thread or string-- or even sewn on a sewing machine. Others are just not bound at all: the pages are just folded, and generally they stay together. All these choices are up to you. You can use the long-arm stapler at the Pace University Zine Library on William St. Just email me for access! sthomas7@pace.edu (A normal stapler doesn't work when stapling a booklet.)

 

Your Paper Zine

Your print zine (made by hand on paper instead of in Word) can be photocopied. You can print as many copies as you'd like!  This is the quicket way to publish your print zine. Or you might scan the pages or photograph them and then print. Add the scans or  photos in two columns or one column in Word.  This allows you to put the pages in order for reading. Save as a PDF so people can open without Word. Here's an example.

Self-Publish (With some Help)

Lulu  is a great choice if you want to publish many copies and want to have a lot of different choices. You can choose whatever type of cover or binding you'd like, including booklet, magazine, and what is called "perfect" binding, which is a good choice if you are trying to make a publications that looks like a paperback or hardcover book.

Newspaper Club A guide to templates in Adobe InDesign, Canva, or Word for publishing a newspaper zine.

Printer Resources for Independent Art Publishers (East Coast) This is a list of high-quality, small publishers who specialize in small artists' publications

Printing and Binding Glossary from Printed Matter, a place to learn the terms related to publishing, such as risograph, screenprint and letterpress.

Otherwise, you should consider just printing copies of your zine or booklet yourself on a photocopy machine. The defining feature of zine culture, overall, is a print booklet!