Are zines ever too long?

[Nichole]

Typing up the raw copy for my next zine, I was surprised to have over 7,000 words begging to be edited. Up until now my zines have been anywhere between 2,000 and 3,000 words, turning into a 24 to 40 page 1/4 size zine.

My question is, can zines ever be too long? Are you turned off by mammoth-size zines, even if they are well written? Maybe they do the opposite?

What are your feelings on longer, more hefty-size zines?

[Nichole]

Thank you to everyone that has responded. Your input has really helped me out!

[Alex Wrekk]

The only time a zine can be too long is if it is too thick for a stapler or if it isn't engaging.

[Josh Saitz]

This is my first post but I thought maybe my 2 cents would be valuable. Like many others have said, if the zine is well written and interesting, longer and more variety can be wonderful. If the zine is a lot of navel-gazing poetry, I think 1,000 words may be too many. That said, I am about to publish a new issue of my zine which will be 68 full-size, ad-free pages that I wrote and designed solo. Last time I checked, the word count was over 70,000 words. There's a lot of artwork and a good mix of short and longer pieces but when something is good, I want more of it.

[Persephone Pomegranate]

I think Alex nailed it. As long as it's engaging, I'm always up for more!

[Catherine Elms]

My zines tend to be between 8,000 and 10,000 words, and average at 40 1/4 sized pages. I've never had any complaints about them being too long - they never feel too long to me either.

I personally love long zines, as long as the layouts aren't too boring (plain black words on white background tends to get really boring after a while). Short zines are always disappointing, and I usually feel that they're not worth the postage I paid. Small, thick zines are just wonderful.