How many copies of your zines do you print/photocopy?

[AD]

Hello!
I've printed 50 copies of my first issue, but the second will be 100 because it's a split zine, 50 for both of us. So, what about you? And how do you decide?

Oh and sorry if the subject has already been discussed, but I'm pretty new here and there are 692 discussions...

[twilight gecko]

i start with 20..

[CocoaPuss Zine]

i start with about 15 and then just keep making more copies. i can't afford to make that many copies at one time. maybe one day.

[AD]

Since my zine is 16 quarter pages, it only cost me 12€ (about 15$ I think) to print 50 copies. Cheaper than I'd thought.

CocoaPuss Zine said:

i start with about 15 and then just keep making more copies. i can't afford to make that many copies at one time. maybe one day.

[Giz]

I start with 75 copies/16pages , then 100/20 pages and 100/32 pages as as split. the next one will be 150.
Since it will be a 1/4 size one and 32pages, it's cheaper, 24€. I love to trade zine and I give away a lot when on show, so I need to get the cheapest printing around !

[kami]

Sprak! is usually 50 or 60 first run and then 10 or 20 to follow up when i get low. a couple of other one offs have been limited to 10 or 20 depending on how much extra work i want to do (printing paper bags/cdr's that sorta guff)

[1k]

I print on demand as I don't have a copy place picked yet and I cut each page by hand with my rotary cutter.

[kit feral]

I start with 15, and then go from there. That's easiest for me right now since they're short and I'm using my parent's photocopier, but once they get longer and I have to pay for them myself, I'll probably make around 50. 15 was definitely not enough this time around!!

[Alex Wrekk]

I don't really count. I always think that I might start but then I don't. I have done the offset route but I like making changes to photocopies and printing to demand. I have once numbered a zine to 1,000 and I'm in the 800's but it's a zine about getting and IUD so the interest is a bit limited. I guess, for me, a good number is 2,000 but I know there are several issues that I have gotten rid of over 2,000. I just printed 50 copies of Brainscan 25 for Halifax and Canzine and over half of those are gone so far. I didn't want to cross back into the US with a lot so I'll have to make more when I get to NYC and the Richmond Zine Fest and then a lot more when I get home..

[Sophie Bee!]

I usually make 20 or 30.
I don't spend money on much else, and when I don't have any money, my photocopies are funded by my otherwise evil grandma. Or I borrow money from my mom and slowly pay her back.

But staples has this new thing called a photocopier card, which my mom got me for my birthday (with $40 on it). You're able to add money to it when it's running low on money, so when I get paid fora babysitting job or some such, I just put $20 or so onto it. So if I don't have any physical cash for photocopying purposes, I can use a card that I put money on awhile ago.

[kami]

jeez mate, i wish this country could accomodate that many but yeah, getting more printed does make each issue cheaper... how long does it take to shift that many?

Joe Biel said:

Well, this question is really predicated on what you are doing with your zine.

Do you print for 20 friends? Do you send out copies for review? Do you actively solicit trades? Are you going to a zine show sometime soon?

But definitely printing a copy before printing a bunch is a good idea to make sure it's correct.

I normally start with printing 1,000 and that's a 2 year supply ideally. That may sound crazy in contrast to the postings here, but it's about $200-300 which is then 20-30 cents each. Some zines I've started with 4,000, because I didn't know what I was doing, wanted to get a really cheap price per zine, or never wanted to do a reprint.

if i was photocopying something now that i didn't want to share with every yahoo that i met at a zine conference, i would make 100-200.

because if you even sent out 5 copies for review and gave 10 to your friends you'll be getting orders for around 2-3 per review, it seems you quickly pass 50 copies if you going to sell them anywhere.

[ramsey everydaypants]

it's gone up with each issue, which i guess is a good thing. for my latest issue i got 400 copies printed and am getting low now, about 4 months later.
for the issue before that i got 250 and then needed 200 more about 6 months later, and have since gotten 50 more and am running out again.

i'm finding that the ease of just having a big pile on hand outweighs the burden of having to pay for them up front. i hate running out of zines and then having to cough up money for new copies. if i just throw a big chunk up front and don't run out for a long time, it's easier to forget about the fact that you're spending money on it. i think it makes the process more enjoyable because you're not constantly worrying about how much money you have to spend on more copies.

[Adrian Fynch]

I do five printings of my zine before it gets "retired". The first printing is usually 10-15 copies, and consecutive printings are usually about 20 copies, so that's about 90-100 copies altogether.