Why do you make zines?

[Tina]

I am about to start working on my 6th issue of Cough. and I'm having trouble getting inspired. Why do you make your zine? What drives you to keep churning out issues?

[TheUnrememberedOne/MorbidiaDrekk]

W. Alan Fare said:

To do something for over thirty years and not make a red cent off of it seems like a waste of time in America, but the friends I've made along the way have paid me more than money can buy!

Sad that so many people think that if it doesn't make money it's a waste of time. Not everything is about money. I applaud you for sticking with it for so long and knowing that money ain't everything.

[Dr. Danny Swank]

THIS is why I write zines:

Waiting at the curb in a torrential downpour I hoped that the bus would be on time, or at least fairly empty. It was neither. Soaked to the bone by the time I boarded I was stuck clinging to a handrail at the back until a seat opened up. It was the night of the presidential election, an event that fueled conversation among the strangers on the bus.

"It just scares me to death," said a middle-aged woman. "Obama's gonna win. You know why? Because there are witches in this country and they're all casting spells to get people to vote for him. There's so much evil in the world today. I tell you, these are the end times."

"Mmm hmm," agreed a man sitting across the aisle from her.

She continued. "I teach up at the college and there is a woman who works there who actually admits to being a witch, a white witch. Can you believe that?"

"Oh dear!"

"Yes, she's teaching teenagers depravity like that when they should be learning about the Lord before it's too late!" She looked out the window and quickly pulled the cord to stop the bus. "Oops, I was so upset about the witchcraft that I almost missed my stop!"

"God bless you!" said the man as she left the bus.

"God bless you too!" she replied.

Meanwhile I prepared to take her seat, but as I was sitting down I noticed that she'd left a little gift – a Jack Chick religious tract!!

Shelter from the rain, hilarious drama, free comedic reading material, and an empty seat all coming to me within the span of one minute? I don't know about her, but I sat there thinking that the world may not be such a bad place after all.

[W. Alan Fare]

Dr. Danny Swank said:

THIS is why I write zines:

Waiting at the curb in a torrential downpour I hoped that the bus would be on time, or at least fairly empty. It was neither. Soaked to the bone by the time I boarded I was stuck clinging to a handrail at the back until a seat opened up. It was the night of the presidential election, an event that fueled conversation among the strangers on the bus.

"It just scares me to death," said a middle-aged woman. "Obama's gonna win. You know why? Because there are witches in this country and they're all casting spells to get people to vote for him. There's so much evil in the world today. I tell you, these are the end times."

"Mmm hmm," agreed a man sitting across the aisle from her.

She continued. "I teach up at the college and there is a woman who works there who actually admits to being a witch, a white witch. Can you believe that?"

"Oh dear!"

"Yes, she's teaching teenagers depravity like that when they should be learning about the Lord before it's too late!" She looked out the window and quickly pulled the cord to stop the bus. "Oops, I was so upset about the witchcraft that I almost missed my stop!"

"God bless you!" said the man as she left the bus.

"God bless you too!" she replied.

Meanwhile I prepared to take her seat, but as I was sitting down I noticed that she'd left a little gift – a Jack Chick religious tract!!

Shelter from the rain, hilarious drama, free comedic reading material, and an empty seat all coming to me within the span of one minute? I don't know about her, but I sat there thinking that the world may not be such a bad place after all.

Encounters like that make me want to go out and mingle with people! But then again I'd have to be around people to do that...

[Yul Tolbert]

Life as we know it is extremely boring to me. As such, I like the idea of expressing ways of life that aren't so boring to me. Thus, I produce zines with that theme. Besides, there are few things better than freedom of expression. And if you have the ability to communicate, you might as well use it.

[Either Orr]

Because any moment could be my last and I want to make a large contribution before that happens.

[tim scannell]

as edmund hillary said of everest...

'because it's there.'

world-wide correspondence...i have my zines in
uzbekistan.......................among 100 other
foreign places...

and in every state...'cept vermont...since 1992

[Nico.]

i write zines because i'm angry and feministy and want to have my voice heard. i write zines because i'm a creative and a verbal artist and i like painting with a photocopier. i write zines because i like to challenge traditional notions of print media and expand/help progress DIY culture. i write zines because i am horny and i like making other people horny too. i write zines because it is seemingly raw, fairly unedited, and allows for a creative exhaust. i write zines to make friends, to make lovers, to connect with people as real and emotional as i am.

<3

[ashlee swanson]

therapy, communication, artistic expression, and it's fun!

[twilight gecko]

i'm driven by the fact that i get depressed when i'm not creating in some way.. i started to do these as poetry books to share with my family, than i started adding photos and stories and drawings, and finally they just turned into zines..

i trade them because i need to stop living inside a bubble.. lol
and i LOVE to read other peoples..

[Meaghan Schaible]

Personally, when I first started writing zines I did it all for myself. I did it as a release from the every day world. I wanted my true self to come onto paper and to be able to refer back to my own writing when needed. The fact that others might actually be interested in what I was writing was a small factor, but a rewarding factor none the less. To some it up, zines make me happy (which is not often an emotion I feel).