mailing lists

[Harley R. Pageot]

How do you let peole who read and enjoyed old issues of your zine know when you finish a new one?

I just have a Facebook group which I use to mass-message everyone when I finish a zine or when I'm tabling at a fair or things like that.

The thing is that 90% of the people in the group are friends of mine and I've gotten rid of a lot of zines at fairs and through distros and leaving them at libraries in other cities. So it kind of bums me out that the people who got those copies apparently didn't like it enough to want to check out the next issue.


I know I've got a couple of zines I've picked up at fairs and other places where I'd definitely like to know when the next issue is done but they left no way of finding that out.

[Maranda Elizabeth]

In a nutshell, I think Etsy makes reading and trading zines seem more like an ordinary business transaction between faceless internet usernames. Snail mail is my preferred method of participating in the zine community, and having an Etsy shop is kind of like a necessary evil (although there are pros as well, like having permanent listings and the ability to upload pictures). Dealing with PayPal, and all the extra fees of PP and Etsy is a tedious hassle, and sometimes I get weirded out by people who buy oodles of my zines and never, ever write to me.

Amy said:

What don't you like about etsy?

[Kate Haas]

I have an email list and I send out an announcement when I have a new issue. I have a blurb on the back of my zine telling folks that if they liked Miranda, to send their email address and I'll add them to the list. Quite a few of them do.

[Amy]

How much does it cost to list your zine there?

Maranda Elizabeth said:

In a nutshell, I think Etsy makes reading and trading zines seem more like an ordinary business transaction between faceless internet usernames. Snail mail is my preferred method of participating in the zine community, and having an Etsy shop is kind of like a necessary evil (although there are pros as well, like having permanent listings and the ability to upload pictures). Dealing with PayPal, and all the extra fees of PP and Etsy is a tedious hassle, and sometimes I get weirded out by people who buy oodles of my zines and never, ever write to me.

Amy said:

What don't you like about etsy?

[Amy]

Sometimes I get flyers WITH my zines. I thought that was a cool idea. Maybe WMZ should set up some sort of flyer trading thing?

Meaghan Schaible said:

Have you tried fliers? I have received 1/4 size fliers from fellow zinesters that always get me hooked! It also gets you in the creative spirit.

:)