Newbie Hurtles

[Lorna V.]

Hey guys,
I'm new to We Make Zines and still very much a newbie to zines themselves. I read my first zine about a year ago and shortly thereafter put out my own perzine out, "Purgatorials" (I've never been too in love with that title). I've done okay with getting it out via etsy and have done a few trades, but I'm starting to get a little frustrated about the lack of feedback and the slow moving sales. Didn't expect to be a millionaire of course, but some zines sell ridiculously well and others don't move at all-- more specifically my 2nd issue of Purgatorials. I've sent copies to a few distros too and haven't heard from them either. A couple of pre-zine friends have read them and seemed to like them-- of course they're probably a little bias.

I guess I'm kinda hoping to get some feedback from you guys on my etsy listings, see if there's anything I could do to beef up my descriptions.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5213017&section_id=5436459


If you want to buy a couple that's okay too. :)

Thankies!!

-Lorna V

[Emma Jane Falconer]

(I'm one of the runners of Team ZIne for etsy- fancy joining?)

I'm hardly raking it in zine-wise myself, but I do sell quite regularly (and you've got great sales with your doll stuff!_. Here's my tips

1) Make your announcement short and sweet, at the moment you have to scroll down through a big block of text to see the stuff, and a lot of people won't bother reading it, and will get annoyed at having to scroll down (etsy customers can be WEIRD about stuff like that)
2) Your photos are nice and clear and well taken, perhaps you should use a bolder background to catch people's attention more though
3) keep plugging away

I think your descriptions and presentation are great, so it's just a case of being patient and getting your zine name out there I guess

[Lorna V.]

Good point on #1. I don't read long announcements either. I've moved it into my profile, I think it's a little more appropriate.

I wanna be on team zine! I've contacted or tried to contact you guys before but nothing came of it. Joined the team zine group here and just commented. :)

[Emma Jane Falconer]

Sorry about that, sometimes I'm really lame at answering all the messages to join, they tend to come in waves. The way we have to update the official list is pretty stupid too, you have to email the updates to the etsy admin for them to do manually, and sometimes they cut off stuff that was there already! The group here is open to anyone, we're not bothered if you're on the "official" list or not, it's more a mutual support thing.

[Serah-Marie]

Your zines look super interesting! The one piece of advice I was given when I started selling publications on etsy was to take lots of photos of the inside, so people get an idea of what it'll be like (ie ratio of writing to text etc.) good luck!

[Amazing Sunflower]

It's been said many times before on other forum posts, but I think it is worth it to get your zine reviewed. Try Zine World (http://www.undergroundpress.org/) and Xerography Debt (http://www.leekinginc.com/xeroxdebt/), as any other zines that you can find that review zines.

Hmmm, that reminds me, I haven't placed any orders from the newest issue of Zine World.

[Lorna V.]

Definitely looking into the review zines. I ordered from Zine World tonight to see how they work and what they're pimping. Always on the look out for new zines. Thanks guys. :)

[NicoleIntrovert]

I don't have any experience with Etsy.. but as far as the name of your zine goes... Change it if you want! That is the beautiful thing about zines. You have no one telling you that you have to write under a specific name.

Also, send your zines out for review, that is going to be the best way to get the word out.

Don't rely solely on Etsy... trade with other zinesters! They'll be reading your zine and you get one in return. (Try the trading group here on We Make Zines)

Maybe find some people who are willing to look at your work and offer constructive critizism instead of just friends who will say, "it's good" no matter what.