What's an average 'print run'?

[Elaine]

I know it depends on the zine, but what's considered an average print run on zines?

And I know a person can always print more, but how much do you think would be 'too many'?

[Ericfishlegs]

If it's your first zine I would say 200 would definitely be too many. "Average print run" depends on how many distros you have. If we're talking your first zine I would say maybe 50-75 knowing that you can always make more if it goes well. Don't go too crazy until you have some idea wat you're doing.

[Maranda Elizabeth]

Yeah, you pretty much answered your own question. It depends on the zine. For some, an average print run is 20 copies, for others it is 2000 copies. And it changes over time. For me, it's somewhere around 200-300, sometimes more after they've run out, sometimes not. But when I started, it was probably 15 or 20 copies. There is no "average print run" for the zine community as a whole.

[Saling Pusa Distro/closed]

20-25 on average... i like keeping my runs small since i come up with a new one quite often...

[Milo]

When I first started making zines I would average about 400-500... then one day I had to carry the box of unstapled zines from Oakland across the SF Bay on BART to MUNI and then the 3/4 mile hike up the hill to my flat. After that I typically keep the runs from 50-150 at a time, knowing that I can do additional printings as needed.

[Harley R. Pageot]

I make 10-15 at a time because collating, folding, and stapling more than that in one sitting gets tedious and I like doing all of that at the copy shop as opposed to at home. (They have a nice long-arm stapler, free staples, and a great cutter.)

Right now I'm capping it at 50 copies of each zine and then putting it "out of print" (unless somebody special particularly asks for a back copy). As it is, it still takes me months to get rid of those 50. Even with accounts on WMZ, Facebook, and Etsy, zines in stores, and tabling at fairs and concerts.

[Elaine]

Pretty much what I figured. (And yes, I can understand the 'weight' thing! LOL! Especially if you have no cart to help carry it).

I printed up 50 copies each of my 4 issues of mini-comic and sold half of them at a pet expo and a ren faire event, it was a plus that they were only 25 cents each, people were willing to get the whole set for a buck. The ones I went home with were used as freebies for any order I got on my crafts that I was mailing out. The mini-comics were one sheet of paper each, folded twice, cut and stapled to make an 8 page comic, so it wasn't any big deal. Those, um... were printed at work. (Shhh!)

But the bigger 'booklets' of 40 pages, I got the best deal at Office Depot by doing a print run of 100 each. Yeah, it cost me $214 even with the discounts, but I sold enough at one event to pay back the entire cost so I was happy. I'm looking at getting enough put together for another series of 8 booklets of cartoons but need to get something up online so people can FIND me and see what they look like....

[sandy]

I did 20 for my first zine, and I think about the same amount for my next two too. My mate who ran a distro at the time, always got the first bundles, kept asking for more stock, but those zines were meant to be short-term, one-off cathartic projects.

With marbles, I bought a colour printer so I could print one at a time as needed. Sometimes when the mood strikes, I'll do a small batch (5-15 at a time) just to get all the cutting, folding & stapling out of the way in one hit.

I think it depends on your situation and what you want to get out of it. :) I don't think you can really call it "too many" if people are still interested in buying, and you've not gotten bored of that zine yet!

[Emma Jane Falconer]

I have no idea what the total printrun for my zines is, because I've got all the ones after my fourth issue still in print. When I make a new issue, I tend to print up 50, because I can't face cutting and stapling more than that. After that I do reprints as and when I need them. Often before a zine fair I do a big back issue reprint, so that I have at least 25 of each issue to bring. As I've got 11 zines currently in print, it takes me a long time to cut and staple all those, often every night for a week, and I'm pretty sick of guillotines and staples after that. I usually have quite a few issues left after the event though to stockpile, so it means I don't have to do a print run for at least a month or two. Sometimes I get through a lot of zines, sometimes my stockpile lasts a long time, it really depends on how active I'm being.

[Emma Jane Falconer]

My 1 tip to you (learnt from painful experience)- if you get into doing big print runs, remember to number the pages of your zines. Last year when we did the programme zine for the Brighton Zinefest, I stupidly forgot to put page numbers on, when you have 500 issues to cut and collate and you're constantly trying to figure out what page is what, it'll really drive you crazy.

[riotgrrrlaz]

I too keep mine small as I am creating new zines often. No need for overkill right?

I Am said:

20-25 on average... i like keeping my runs small since i come up with a new one quite often...

[twilight gecko]

i always run 20 right off the bat.. than more if needed..

[Dan 10things]

It all depends... it seems smaller perzines with little distro action do 20-80 on average. Established perzines with good distro probably average 200-600. I did a bigger music zine, I averaged 3,000-5,000 copies, that seems about the norm for big zines like Cometbus, Genetic Disorder, music zines, etc. that get good distribution.