Steal Your Hearts: A Zine Primer
By The Mosquito Bandito
There are a lot of things to consider when beginning a serious, long-term magazine. While these facts will help individuals that are doing extremely small-run or one time only publications, the facts will be of much greater use to those individuals that eventually want their publication to be somewhat self-supporting. Also, be aware that NeuFutur/InterStitial is not that solid of a publication; we suffer from many of the same issues that seem to befall independent publishing. These include issues like uninterested staff and work and school drains of time. As such, we just might not come up with some of the best hints and tips that are available. If that is the case (and we�ve forgotten something), we�d like to eventually cobble together a collection of hints and tips that would make the zine creation process less of a hassle.
Step One: Talk Big.
Someone does not even need to have a zine together or have a monthly schedule established to start getting materials to write about. In much the same way individuals flock around people that are in a band (however much they are goofing around), bands themselves will flock around promises of reviews or interviews. Merely mentioning that one runs a zine ensures free entrance into concerts, free CDs from the local bands, and a tremendous number of invites into practices and closed shows. With the advent of MySpace, the amount of acts that one could conceivably touch and listen to is exponentially higher than it was a scant few years ago; one could go for hours simply messaging bands explaining quickly about the zine and be awash in CDs. For example, when I started the site that would eventually be https://neufutur.com I made it a point to e-mail 100 bands a day requesting materials for about a week; I quickly became so backlogged in material that I had to actually pick and choose what I wanted to cover. In much of the same way, after a person gets their name out to a few local bands the buzz will gradually increase to the degree that bands will be soliciting you for show reviews, interviews, and the like.
Reviews:
Reviewing CDs is the bread and butter for any music-based zine, no matter how large of a role music plays in the finished product. Even political zines like Slug and Lettuce and Punk Planet have sizable music review sections. By having some structure to the review itself, chances are that more individuals will get into the habit of sending you materials. More materials means that fund raising is easier (see ebay later) and that publicity could even increase; after seven years of doing various zines, my reviews are finally being placed on different promo sheets. It is a snowball effect; the better of reviews that are doled out by a magazine (in quality, not highness of rating), the more bands learn about the zine. This is due to the fact that most local scenes work together to help other bands out, and if a zine is seen as a place where a band can get an honest review, all the bands in that scene will begin to work with them.
For the review, make sure that the reader knows how to get a disc if they like how the band sounds from the interview. Give the album title and the band name, while making sure that some form of contact (website or e-mail) is close by. That and a description usually is all that is needed, but many bands like the added ego boost of a numerical rating system. One thing that I�ve learned about my own rating system is that individuals are accustomed to a school style type of system (where a 7/C is average, an 8/B is good, and a 9/A is great). This flies in the face of my own system which is based on a numerical average (5 = average, 7=good, 9=great); one cannot count how much confusion and how many angry letters have been generated as a result of this policy.
Show Reviews:
It is dreadfully easy to get into any show involving a local band, provided that you make it known that you wish to review the show. Give the band enough time to get you onto �the list� (who gets in for free), and you will have the reign of the place. To not tarnish your reputation, actually come prepared to record specific facts about the band. A tape recorder is not needed unless you plan on listening back over the show before making a final decision about it. Bring adequate writing utensils and something to write on (does not need to be fancy, I�ve written reviews on bar napkins and backs of fliers). There does not need to be a blow by blow reporting of the show, just write down the song titles (to increase reader familiarity and immersion) and the most impressive/shitty aspects of the bands. If a band is continually out of tune, write about it; just try to come up with a balanced review of good and bad. What I found myself guilty of during the dark days before NeuFutur was started (when I was still doing Amish Drive-By) was giving bands a review based on the style of music that they were. While it is essentially your magazine and that you have carte blanche to do and say whatever, greater credibility and success is linked to focusing on explaining how the band sucks, instead of the fact that they are �emo� and that they suck.
Interviews:
One note here: unless you have the equipment for it, DO NOT attempt to do live interviews. By equipment, I mean a tape recorder that will work with Microsoft Word and approximate the words that are being spoken into the recorder. A half-hour of discussion will often turn into three or four hours of translation, especially if the band was interviewed in a noisy place (a club or with a number of onlookers). If a fancy tape recorder is not available, use two tape recorders spaced out evenly between the band members and the interviewer. Of the two, put the �better� (stronger) towards the bandmates; chances are that you�ll remember what you asked (doubly so if you come prepared with a handout) better than what each of the band members (and in which order) said. Another quick note: bring a pencil and create a naming system so that the larger sections of the interview are linked to who said them; this makes it a lot easier if the band mates sound similar.
What may work better for the zinester that is just starting is to e-mail the band in particular and ask if they are cool either doing a phone or (easiest) an e-mail interview. An e-mail interview would have everything captured exactly how the band wishes to say it, but the structure of the questions may make the interview rigid. An instant messaging interview has the greatest flexibility and best recordability of all formats, but it becomes a nuisance for the band to fight over a keyboard for each question. Each method has its positives and negatives, but what I find easiest for both me and the bands has to be the e-mail interview. There is a record, the band has as long as they want (within reason) to respond to it, and it is typically in a format that is easy to work with (either Word or a text-based e-mail client).
Contact:
To ensure that the lines of material are kept open, constant contact and communication is needed. At the very least, e-mail the band/firm/label with the review. Other steps may increase your standing with the organization, including an e-mail when you receive the disc, when the disc is reviewed, and when the disc review makes it into print. Contact is also vital for those organizations that do not check their e-mail or tend to give you the run around; I�ve had to wear down organizations for months and sometimes years before service was extended to me.
Fundraising:
Fundraising is one of the largest problems ensuring the viability of any commercial enterprise, and this is really multiplied in zine creation. Aside from the cost of just printing a magazine, there are other costs associated with the zine: sending copies out (especially considering the rate increase the United States post office instituted in January of this year), giving out free copies to bands and potential advertisers, and sending in review copies to zines that have that sort of section (Wonkavision, Punk Planet, Jersey Beat, Zine World). What may have originally cost about $250 to copy 250 copies has jumped to $400-500 after all the costs have been tabulated. One cannot expect that even a majority of the zines will be sold, either. Even the zines that are the largest in the independent scene (Venus, Punk Planet, Razorcake) have thousands of issues that are destroyed and otherwise unsold at the end of the day. So how can an individual actually begin to recoup money? Like the mythical underpants gnomes, there is a clearly defined problem (high costs) and a clearly defined goal (a break-even point).
There are quite a few different options, and someone who wishes to create a lasting magazine can do quite a few of these to make the financial blow typically present with running a magazine much less.
Connections:
Beginning Steps:
Label Webpages:
Some of the best information can be gleaned from looking at the most self-serving material in magazines; the advertisements. Just by picking up a magazine like Impact Press or Filter from a local zine shop, one can find a number of leads concerning new bands, albums, and labels. The vast majority of advertisements have a link to the labels� websites, and from there most labels (excepting the major labels) have a �contact� page. On this �contact� page, there is an e-mail link to the person that handles press or print (online) publicity; fire an e-mail off to them and properly explain why they should send albums to your publication.
HINT: A form letter will cut down on the time it takes to e-mail a label an ensures that you will not forget any of the selling points of your magazine. Also, the form can easily be changed to reflect updates to the magazine. Make sure though that the insertion points (places where individual or label names are used) are up to date for that specific record label. Failure to do so will either result in a complete rejection of the letter or a smarmy letter back.
Other Magazines:
There are hundreds of different publications of varying staff size. I work for two other publications besides editing NeuFutur; Jersey Beat and Altar Magazine. Both send out packages of CDs every month or so (or as fast as someone can review them), and I would say that a good half of the magazines continually need reviewers. For some reason, reviewing is a high-turnover type of job. We�ve personally had five or six different ones come through our offices in the past, but this job is essential for both being a part of an independent publication. At Jersey Beat for example, the editor there actually encloses the promo sheets that come with the CDs that bands send him; each sheet has contact information for the record label, the PR (promotional) firm working for the band, and the band themselves. As long as you actually do your job for the first magazine, most editors will not care if you contact the PR firms and record labels privately. Most of the PR firms will be more than receptive to your request for materials; aside from the album that you mention, make sure to say that you would be happy reviewing anything that they are currently promoting. By currying favor with the PR firms, chances are good that they will add you to their auto-send list; remember, they are being paid to get publicity and the old adage goes �any news is good news�.
Money Raising (DUH):
This is the most obvious way for a magazine to get funding. However, in my experience it has also been the hardest to ensure funds from, with NeuFutur (over the course of 12 issues) perhaps pulling in $50 or so worth of advertising. Honestly, this is perhaps the hardest step in zine creation due to the time consumption factor and the shadiness of advertising clients, both big and small.
Getting Individuals Interested:
However anti-capitalist, anti-corporatist and anti-formal a zine must be, the sad truth of the matter is that the editor (or marketing editor) has to sell the zine to make it �sexy� and something that the company will want to place their money into. Many firms will want to see what work has previously been done; this can be seen as a deposit on their money, a promise that they will not be burned. If this is an introductory issue, an ad placement may have to precede payment unless some other assurance can be procured (a receipt, schmoozing with the proper authorities). When one is eliciting advertisements, try to size up where exactly the zine is going and what type of groups would actually benefit from their ad being in your zine. For example, an old folks home is not going to benefit greatly from being in ScumFuck #5, and the New Life Christian Church probably will not get converts in Intelligent Atheist #23. However, don�t let this thought be too much of a barrier to the places that one hits up for cash. Pretty much any independent store�s business will be helped by the placement of an advertisement; they may not have the money to publish in the local paper. Coffee shops, tattoo parlors, venues, hippie/head shops, family diners are all open game for prodding. Essentially, for trading a block of space in your magazine, you are getting free money for this and future issues. However, where you seemingly get this free money, you also get a set of regulations that may lead to a shoddier product than you may be happy with.
For example, if the local venue (we�ll say Howard�s in Bowling Green, Ohio) ends up purchasing advertising space in your magazine, chances are their ad will deal with upcoming shows. The upcoming shows still have to be upcoming when the magazine comes out, even if the product that showcases the advertisement is not as pristine as one wants it. Failure to live up to the expectations of the agreement may result in a block from future monies (and if they are pissed enough about it) a case in small claims court. I really think that the expectations give to a magazine along with the money for advertising is one of the main reasons why NeuFutur has always been relatively ad free. One can actually get around this by getting advertisements that are not so tied in to a certain time period; if one works with a record label (for example), some have their stuff together far enough in the future that even if a magazine runs late, there is ample time for the advertisement to have an appreciable effect.
Ebay:
After getting onto a larger-market set of PR firms and record labels, there is another option available to make money. For those that are scared of the law, you may want to avoid this section. The way that we have been able to make the most money for the magazine has been through selling CDs on half.com and (now) ebay. Most labels send out CDs that are virtually indistinguishable from their retail counterparts, aside from a UPC punch or a grind mark in the spine. There is a good market for these CDs on ebay, and with shipping costs one can make anywhere from $6-10 off each CD. One may say �wait, isn�t there costs in postage and shipping�, but each of those can be decreased considerably by a savvy zinester. For the material cost (padded mailers), just use the ones that the CDs originally came in. If you are on a college campus, see what exactly the local radio station does with the mailers. I know that I literally was able to take hundreds of mailers because the station just threw them away; I only had to purchase mailers once in the two or three years I�ve been selling CDs, and that was because I was back home and had no access to my stash. Buying a roll of tape is only a few dollars and will cover at least one hundred packages.
There is a sad reality that postage will likely be something that someone pays for, but it need not necessarily be the individual zinester. Charge $3-4 shipping in the United States and it will cover all fees and also put some small change into the bank; $6 shipping to Europe (as the average European person has considerably more money than eir counterpart in the United States, owing to a strong Euro), and $9 to those nations that are on the Pacific Rim/may not have a reliable mail service (Australia, Russian republics). Insurance can be offered but not enforced; every other service that is offered from the post office just adds to the amount of time that one has to stay at the post office. More time spent = less money for your efforts. Anything that is sent overseas needs a customs form; to increase your customer base and ensure repeat customers, mark whatever is shipped as a �Gift� that is worth $5 USD. Most nations have a customs fee that hits the receiver of a parcel if the package contains commercial or pricey goods.
HINT: A few record labels actively pursue �promotional� copies of materials and kill the auctions off of ebay. These labels (to my knowledge) include the so-called �punk� label TKO, Nitro Records, and is really hit or miss based on the artist that they are promoting. Now, what is really the top of the pops in terms of ebay sales are pre-release Drive-Thru Records releases; the problem here is that each of their early releases are tagged with a number that will identify which magazine received that copy of the magazine. I�ve not examined their system yet, but they WILL prosecute. I�m not sure if the story is correct, but an ebay auction that ended near $300 for the newest Hidden In Plain View auction was turned over to the authorities (maybe having something to do with stolen merchandise, since it is technically still the property of the record label that sent the disc in the first place). Drive-Thru actually has people that purchase the albums in question and then report back to the record label. I don�t necessarily get their train of thought behind that (the record label always has the right to cancel the auction through eBay), but maybe they wish to ensure that all copies do not fall into the hands of non-Drive Thru employees.
What I�ve done personally to avoid possible cancellation of my account on ebay is set up a dummy account that can have auctions cancelled on it to avoid my main account being killed. Considering my main account is �neufutur�, it also hides the paper trail a little bit.
Postage:
Most CDs (for one CD, a case, and a normal lyric booklet) will only cost $1.11 or $1.35, but those digipaks (cardboard type of cases) go for .87. If someone buys a number of CDs (or other forms of media) off of you, look into Media Mail. Media Mail is for magazines, CDs, DVDs � anything that is a form of media � and goes by pounds. 1 pound shipped using Media Mail costs $1.59, which is cheaper than any package weighing between 7 to 16 ounces shipped first class. The time it takes for the package to get to a United States address does not tend to vary by more than a day between the two services, so one need not worry about it taking too long to be received.
A number of the post offices around the United States miss postmarking the postage on mail, so all one needs to do is re-send the package out (no harm, no foul). The postage can also be removed from practically any piece of letter, provided that one is careful when peeling it off. Begin with one corner and try to remove the entire side of the stamp. If one continues to just peel the corner off, chances are that the stamp will noticeably rip, ruining it.
A few other notes about postage; if you actually peel off the stamp and try to place it on another mailer, DO NOT tape over it. The post office will not send it out and may actually send it back if you drop it into a mailbox. The correct procedure is to get a gluestick and stick the postage on firmly, holding it tight against the package for adequate adhesion.
Copying:
Chances are that you or some family member or friend has a job in which they come into contact with a copy machine. The last two jobs I�ve had have had easy access to a copy machine, and my mother is a secretary. I�m sure most individuals have a little bit of a hookup, but just ask around and see if you could get some copies made. This process will not necessarily work for those magazines that wish to start off with a larger print run, but for those 250 copy and under magazine, the scam is something completely doable. A hookup can do some of the copies, but another way to decrease cost is to underreport the number of copies made at those copy shops that have the honor system. Even when the shops have a printout saying how many copies you have done, just make some copies, end the print job, and start again. Bring the second sheet to the register (which is usually pretty far away from the copiers), and just make sure that the copies you�ve made are stashed away where the individual cannot eye them. If you can make friends with the person at the copy center or a person at the register, they could probably use an employee discount or mark off a little of the price. For those larger publishing magazines, the small press co-op (http://www.spco-op.com/) is a cheap alterative (1000 copies at $350 total or so).
Selling Your Zine:
The final method that a zinester can conceivably make money for their zine is by actually selling the product that they have created. Individuals would be able to sell a number of copies if they set up a table at the show, provided the audience is into the type of zine that you create. Another option is to place stacks into local music stores, and ask for them to be sold at commission. Commission is the only way that most individuals will be able to place their magazine in a store, as a store owner is not going to want to pay even wholesale prices for a magazine that may just collect dust on their shelves. For those uninitiated, commission is where a store agrees to sell your magazine at a price deemed proper and after all the copies are sold, the store pays you a certain percent of the profit generated.
Another way to make cash (and is a method that I�ve found to be a lot easier to collect from over the years) is by having your zine sold at a �distro�, a place (typically) that stocks independently-made material. There are distros of all sorts of shapes and sizes, dealing with anything from music to queer zines to feminist crafts and much more. They are much smaller than the local music store, but have a fanbase that is actually looking for magazines and the like. Where I�ve only sold a few zines in stores on commission, I�ve sold many more times the amount through distros. Distros are mainly (but not exclusively) an online phenomenon, only existing in a tangible form when zine festivals come around. Since the amounts of materials dealt with in distros are smaller than the amount in a local music store, distros (in my opinion) are the way to go as they are more personable, quicker and more ready to actually give money than the bigger stores.
Other Ideas:
Make a Webpage:
After working with the magazine for a decent period of time, chances are that the amount of material that you are sent is going to be well beyond the amount you could conceivably print in a magazine, even if the publication schedule is monthly. For example, we receive 7-20 CDs on an average week. To continue to have a high amount of service and at least give every act a review, even if it never makes it into print, a humble website can be created. While https://neufutur.com has everything that is ever written for the zine, this is merely an extension of our personal policy rather than a blueprint for how to conduct a webpage. All that are needed are links to other people�s webpages (to reciprocally link and make more publicity for the magazine), the material that does not make the cut for the actual print magazine, and perhaps some formal information (advertising rates).
Do Not Waffle:
Some of the PR individuals are very pushy and domineering when it comes to specific bands. Oftentimes, these bands are absolutely horrible and the label is pushing big bucks to the PR firms to ensure that they sell a decent amount of albums. The PR firms, wanting to get repeat business will contact you a number of times about these bands, but all you need to do is say no. The zine scene is filled with a number of publications that are slaves to the PR firm (Skyscraper seems to be the worst of these) and this really could wreck with the flow that the magazine is attempting to create. If a band is being promoted by a PR firm that works well for your publication, you can use them; PR firms will be happy with reviews or online material if it will not work.
Do Not Trust Anyone But Yourself:
The staff that I�ve had all throughout the years have not had the same commitment to the magazine as I have; Hobbes was right when he said human nature was brutish and self-interested. Individuals do not want to review some local band from Alaska; they want to review the huge bands that are played on mTV (you know, those same CDs that would conceivably be sold on ebay if you go that route) and they want to review the same idiotic shit that has been covered in major magazines to death. If you can find staff that actually want to work with new bands and are fresh in their outlook, pamper them and try to entice them to stay. If you give an individual a certain date that materials are due back, expect it a week after you�ve asked them�for the second time.
[JMcQ]