On the effectiveness of fliers.

[Maranda Elizabeth]

I have been back in the habit of making lots of fliers for my zines and sending them out with zines and letters and such, and I always have a ton of fliers with me when I table at zine fairs. I also get a lot of fliers in the mail, but I find that most of them are for zines I already read, so I am happy to pass them on to someone else who might be interested. I also like it when my friends send me a bunch of fliers for their zines so I can pass them on.

What I'm wondering is:

1. When was the last time you ordered a zine that you found through a flier?
2. Do people order your zines after finding them through fliers?
3. What information do you include on your fliers?
4. In what ways do you find zine fliers to be relevant or irrelevant?

I'm not sure when the last time was that I ordered a zine through a flier, simply because like I said before, most of the fliers I get are for zines I already read. I have gotten letters, trades, and cash in the past from people who said they'd gotten a flier of mine, but it's been a long, long time since that happened. As for information, I include the title of my zine, a brief description of what it's all about, size & price & trade info, mailing address and email, and my Etsy shop, and some sort of background photo, like a pattern or a small picture from an old book. And I suppose that even if no one is being directly influenced to order zines via fliers, it is still a pretty handy way to familiarize folks with your project.

DISCUSS!

[NicoleIntrovert]

I know that from my experience at zine fests, that the flyer table gets picked at a lot. How effective that is, i dont know. At least it may plant a bug in their ear.

I have some of your flyers Maranda and i put them in my distro orders for people who don't order your zines but order similar styles so they have you to think about next time they order.

I love making flyers and i love seeing them too. There is a special art to flyering.

[lauramarie]

Yeah, most of the fliers and business cards too that I get are about zines I've already read. I think a long time ago I ordered a zine or two based on a flier, but my memory is hazy. I made one flier maybe a year ago. It provides brief descriptions of issues one through four of my mental health zine functionally ill. The type is tiny, and there's no picture or pattern at all. It's a pretty poor excuse for a flier, and I don't think I've ever had an order as a result of one, though I do get some mysterious orders, so I can't be sure, really. Sometimes I include my flier when I'm sending someone a zine other than functionally ill so they're aware of this other project I do. I think it's handy in that way. In general, I find fliers nice. I don't like weighing down my envelopes with a ton of fliers, though. I've had a stash of business card-sized fliers for sinoun's trading project for a long time, including one every so often when I'm sending zines to someone I think might be interested. Anyway, great topic--I look forward to reading what others have to say about this.

[sandy]

i like flyers enclosed with zines i've received. perfect timing to catch me in a ziney mood. :) nice when they're designed in a mood that fits the zine they're advertising. when you make them, who do you give them to? will distros send them out for free?

[incurable hippie]

I love flyers, and I have swapped some with other zinesters so we send each other's flyers out with our zine mailings.

I have ordered zines from seeing the flyer before.

If anyone wants to trade any fliers with me, let me know :)

[incurable hippie]

What I meant to also say was... flyers are especially great when you're new to zines. When I first got into them, it was the only way I found out about other zines, as I really didn't know how to go about finding new ones.

[Adrian Fynch]

1. When was the last time you ordered a zine that you found through a flier? Ooh, must've been ages ago. I pick them up and mean to order from them, but I get so overwhelmed sometimes. I have a much better system now though, so maybe I will actually follow through.

2. Do people order your zines after finding them through fliers? I used to make flyers [accidentally typed 'flowers' there, hah] for my zines and they were really handy to hand out to people when I was telling them about my zine, but I didn't find they brought any more people buying the actual zines.

3. What information do you include on your fliers? I liked to have some sort of image that evoked the mood of the zine, the title, issue number, a phrase or something sometimes, and contact info [website, email].


4. In what ways do you find zine fliers to be relevant or irrelevant? I like getting them, and I do pass them on to people who I think might be interested, but sometimes it's just extra paper I'm not sure what to do with.

[Amy]

I got a flyer recently. I was thinking aobut printing a few and sending them out with my next zine.

[Rick Bradford]

I think the reason flyers may not seem to "work" like they did some years ago is because fewer people are writing letters and otherwise using the mails. There are so many zine shows these days that it seems totally conceivable that x-amount of zine readers will mostly wait for the next show to pick up a big batch of zines. Same thing happens in mini-comics circles. Kind of sad in a way.

But I think Joe's right in that the real value of flyers, especially in the internet age, is getting your project/name/website in front of more eyes.

[thugs of the heart]

you [and anyone else reading this!] are welcome to send me flyers and i will send them out with my distro orders.

thugs of the heart distro
109 market street
annapolis, md 21401

megan
[e-mail]

incurable hippie said:

I love flyers, and I have swapped some with other zinesters so we send each other's flyers out with our zine mailings.

I have ordered zines from seeing the flyer before.

If anyone wants to trade any fliers with me, let me know :)

[Brittney]

Flyers are amazing and great! I've actually ordered about 3 zines this month that I found from flyers, and when I end up with a flyer about a zine that I've already read I just pass it on.

I've just started a distro and if you are interested in sending me some flyers or you have zines you'd like me to stock please send them to:
This Saturday Night Distro
4535 S. Lockwood Ridge Rd.
Sarasota, FL 34231

or email me at [e-mail]