Do-It-Yourself
Zine Fair
Think of it
as being a patron of the arts. Not a patron of opera or
abstract painting or similarly desiccated cultural husks,
but the arts that matter -- like punk rock, comix,
and zines.
IS YOUR
CITY RIPE FOR A FAIR?
If it is,
you'll smell it. When I was living in Vancouver, I was
surprised that there was no regular zine fair despite
the more-than-ample number of zines in the area. Back
in Toronto, there were three different fairs for small
press and underground publications.
I'd had some
of my best times at these fairs -- sitting at my table,
throwing paper balls at rival zinesters, calling out
to passerbys that my zine was smarter than I looked,
blathering to my tablemates about folding callouses
and long-arm staplers... I'd met some of my dearest
friends at these odd little events, in between hawking
my wares and indulging in trading orgies. Folk wih similar
obsessions, gentle big mouths who were receving secret
radio transmissions at the exact same frequency as I.
Knowing the delights of the zine fair, I couldn't let
Vancouver go without one for any longer.
Your city
might be similar to Vancouver, or you might find that
the fairs that do go on are... lacking something. Maybe
they don't focus on what you like. Maybe the organizers
are ripping people off, with admission prices and high
table costs. Maybe you just figure you can do it better.
LET'S GET
IT ON, BANGAGONG
Put out the
word that you're planning a zine fair. Gather phone
numbers of everyone you know with a zine and peruse
the stores for any you don't.
As far as
enlisting other people's help, be careful. It's usually
more trouble than it's worth. This section isn't called
DIBC (Do-It-By-Committee) for a good reason -- in this
case, for a grassroots, small scale one-day fair you're
better off to handle it by yourself. Less uncertainty
and wasted energy. (1)
If you are
thinking big, consider that with a couple of the small-and-regular
variety under your belt, you'll be better informed/networked/known
and ready to tackle that four-day, guest-star-havin'
zine-ephiphany. It's kind of a macro version of the
zine itself -- better a small, humble zine than grandiose
plans for one that never reaches print. (2)
VISUALIZE
ZINE UTOPIA
Now you get
to engage your creative faculties by picking a name
and theme for the thing. (3)
I chose Zine Crusade for mine, considering the tremendous
pleasure the zine community takes in blasphemy, and
announced that there would be a 4pm unveiling of the
Sacred Zine of Christ. Other "draws" include spoken
word, music or theater -- whatever makes it sound like
an interesting and happenin' event. But be sensible
-- make it something that's self-maintaining. Also keep
in mind that many draws will break up the flow of a
fair (i.e.. people feeling they have to stop and listen
to spoken word artists), be too noisy for conversation
(the staple food at zine fairs) and will run the risk
of boring people who came to see zines, damn
it. A zine or book launch -- even a couple -- will probably
be happening naturally, because of the event. If they're
well known or interesting sounding enough, this is a
good quick-and-dirty draw. But in a nutshell, the theme
and the draw are intended to spark interest and make
promotion easier. They shouldn't take up more effort
than the main attraction -- zines.
STALKING
THE FREE VENUE
Try your
darndest to get a place for free. Pitch the idea to
an art gallery in need of street cred or a centrally-located
church or community center. There'll probably be a few
places that would love to be the site for an explosion
of young creativity/ political radicalism/ democratic
free speech. Talk in their language. Start out by asking
for free, stressing your zero budget, non-profit status.
Sometimes places will need a few months leadtime.
Another option
is to go to a bar or club and tell them you'll bring
in customers on a time that it's usually dead -- Saturday
or Sunday during the day. Mention the publicity that
they'll be getting on the posters and the goodwill they'll
be generating. They should do it for free.
Naturally,
you'll need tables, perhaps a coffee percolator, a sound
system -- if not for a live band, then for playing soothing
music with subliminal buybuybuy messages. Any venue
worth its salt should have these for no extra cost.
Set the date:
any Sat or Sun will do, between the hours of 11-6. Figure
out how much a couple hundred flyers are gonna cost
you, plus any other advertising costs, plus how much
the venue's gonna cost (hopefully 0). Then estimate
(be moderate) how many people are going to want tables,
and divide your costs by this number. This is how much
your base table cost is. Keeping in mind how profiteering
is viewed in the zine scene, and how rarely people doing
zines themselves break even, you can then add in a little
cream for yourself. However, your rep's worth more than
a couple of bucks so be reasonable (avoiding the extremes
of greedhead and martyr), and be honest and direct about
it if asked. Admission charges suck for everyone involved.
A free event means that attendees will have a couple
of more bucks to spend, and will attract the type of
borderline person who has heard of zines but isn't sure
it's their thing. Just 'cause they charge money
for their culture doesn't mean we should.(4)
REV UP THAT
HYPE MACHINE
So now that
you've got it all planned out (well, sketched out) in
your own mind, give the zinesters a call. Sound confident
and interesting to inspire confidence and interest --
think of it from their perspective: would you set aside
a Saturday, rush to get your zine done and tell your
friends about a fair that "might be in the 24th... or
the 31st. I dunno, whatever."
Here's how
a typical call went:
Me: Hi. Ryan
Bigge gave me your number. He said you do a comic zine.
Her: Yeah.
Me: Well,
I'm having a Zine Crusade on Saturday February 2nd.
Free admission and tables are $5 a pop. It's just a
way to get all the zine people in one room and for the
public to check out all the local indie publications.
Her: Oh yeah...
Me: I'm also
telling people there's going to be an unveiling of the
Sacred Zine of Christ. The idea of it is: what would
Jesus do with access to desktop publishing -- do tour
diaries? Political diatribes against the Romans? Write
bad poetry?
Her: [Chuckle]
Me: So what
I'm asking people who do zines is to do a page of the
zine and just bring it in. The more blasphemous the
better! I'll put 'em all together and photocopy them
that day, then people can buy 'em for a buck or whatever.
Like a souvenir thing.
Her: Sounds
good.
Me: Will
that be VISA or Mastercard?
OK, I got
a little carried away at the end there -- my telemarketing
reflexes. But you get the idea. Finish up by asking
them to spread the word, and if they know any other
zinesters phone numbers. Get them to reserve tables
(it formalizes things -- so you'll have an idea of how
many people are really planning to show) either by telling
you right then, or by calling you back. If you leave
it up to them, and you have the fair fleshed out from
the very beginning, you won't have to call more than
once. Making it easy on yourself by being organized
with the basics means that you'll have time for the
fun details. But first...
A "FEW"
PROMOTIONAL DETAILS
First thing
you need is a poster. Take some time with it -- it'll
be one of the bigger ways people will hear about (and
remember) your fair. Find a balance between communication
and funkiness, and graphics and color never hurt. Having
the word "Zine" dominate the poster will make sure it'll
catch the eye of people who like/have heard of zines
(and there are hordes by now). If you also mention that
it's a fair for independent publications, you'll also
be including the uninformed. Include your number for
media and late zinesters. Include the admission price
(guilty small) or announce proudly that it's a free
event. Make three or four hundred copies. (5)
Three weeks
prior to the fair, fax out the poster to community and
university newspapers, radio stations, and any local
magazines -- look in the white pages for their fax,
or call for it. (You might contact a few especially
friendly places to see if you can wangle free/dead cheap
ad space. Any extra costs will mean higher table costs,
so consider this very carefully, and don't be blinded
by the glitz of Real Publicity.) You might even want
to fax the TV stations, but keep in mind that (best
case scenario) they'll show up there with their cameras
and attitude and might even expect people to fucking
pose for them. When I did the faxing, I was ambivalent
about media outlets, and much more interested in pre-publicity
than post-event coverage. But then post-event coverage
came out raving about individual zines and often including
ordering info -- and this was a real boost for many
zinesters, and inspired new people to get their first
issue together. Plus, even if the media outlet doesn't
cover it some people who work there will probably go
to the event. So fax boldly and fax widely, young promoter...
(6)
Two weeks
prior to the fair, think about all the places -- and
I mean all the places -- that have employees
or customers who should know about your fab event. Bookstores,
rep cinemas, record stores, community bike shops, cafes
-- all the hangouts where you've ever seen anyone vaguely
interesting hang, not just scenesters. Pop by and chat
'em up, mentioning that it's a non-profit community
soiree. Remember, you're bestowing them with a badge
of underground cool, not pushing some skuzzy little
product.
One week
prior to the fair -- because outdoor flyers have such
a short life span -- it's time for a flyposter frenzy.
Get yourself a staplegun or a tapegun or pull out the
big guns: a brush and a small pailful of wallpaper paste/condensed
milk. With the latter combo you'll be able to chemically
bond your poster to newspaper boxes, poles, garbage
cans, parked cars and bank windows. Obviously you can't
do the entire city, so plan a postering route where
print addicts are liable to walk by. Save a dozen or
so for the day itself, so that you can bomb your block
to attract curious passerbys.
Despite being
a technology advocate in many cases, I feel that Internet
promotion isn't particularly effective. Most people
who read Usenet or websurf will also read indie newspapers,
but if it's easy for you to do then do it. Don't stress
about it, though.
SOCIAL ENGINEERING:
FUNNELLING THE MASSES
Be on time.
Wear a tux, or something more formal. Say hello. Collect
the cash at the beginning, because at the beginning
they're dislocated and eager to please and and the end
they're counting their pennies. You can set things up
so that strangers sit together, and meet new people;
or sit with friends and have a grand old time. Whatever
you want -- it's your event. Nametags, with zine titles,
are a nice touch, as Seattle's alt.com.expo proved.
I had money left over at the Zine Crusade to provide
free coffee and cookies for all. If you can, be relaxed
and mellow, and mix it up with all the interesting kids.
If not, just be wired and tense as hell.
BASK IN
THE GLORY OF YOUR PATRONAGE
...But don't
be so damn patronizing that no one will help you clean
up.
###
(1)
BACK
Your comments
about doing it yourself, as opposed to doing it by committee,
ring very true. In L.A. I organized a committee of zine
editors which met weekly for months. Vile disagreements,
petty arguments, opposing points of view -- I remember
so much wasted time and energy -- and when the time
came for the convention itself, I ended up doing most
of the grunt work myself anyway. In Seattle, Susie and
I did all of the pre-coordination and publicity. We
involved De Kwok, editor/publisher of Milky,
in the pre-planning. He was an invaluable resource because
he's really familiar with the local zine scene. We bounced
ideas off of him, used him to get the word out to key
zine people, and had him make up the final schedule
for the weekend. We had one meeting where we brought
in local zine people and tried to get them involved.
It didn't accomplish much of anything, but it got the
word out that we were seriously going to do the convention
and that it wasn't just going to be a rinky-dink thing.
(brad)
You're right
in presenting a strong caveat to the planning-by-committee
approach, but putting together a successful zine event
is probably more than a one-person job. If you work
full-time and/or have a life, you'll definitely need
to enlist the aid of a few trustworthy individuals.
(seth)
(2)
BACK
Both conventions
were probably a little too ambitious (but part of the
fun was trying to create a huge spectacle that couldn't
be ignored). SPEW 2 lasted three days and nights, with
performances, parties, readings, film screenings, bands
& music, in addition to the actual convention. The
alt.com.expo added a whole other element: panel discussions,
speakers, and workshops. SPEW had a motto: "no boring
panel discussions". At CoCA (Center on Contemporary
Arts, where it was held), we thought the larger discussion
of censorship, what "alternative" means in the age of
post-Nirvana, and where the future of zines is headed,
was important and might attract a larger audience --
not just the regular in-crowd zinester audience. It
helped that Seth Friedman of Factsheet Five,
Dame Darcy of Meatcake, Vaginal Creme Davis of
Fertile La Toyah Jackson Magazine, Thomas Frank of The
Baffler, et al, agreed to participate. CoCA has
a mailing list of nearly 6,000 people, and we knew if
we presented the convention in the right way that we
could attract a large number of people who didn't even
know what a "zine" was, but who were intrigued by the
speakers, the performers, the beer, or the words "underground
publications."
Were I to
do another zine convention, I would pare it down. I
would do an opening night benefit party/mixer with bands
and beer. It gives zinesters a chance to meet each other
and gives them an opportunity to have the correct indie
"haze" the next day during the convention. The convention
open to the public would take place all day Saturday,
with accompanying speakers, panel discussions and workshops.
On Saturday night, I would probably do an alternative
film/video screening or alternative performances and
music, and stop right there.
Three days/nights
is too much for the organizers, it is too expensive,
and it's too much for the participants. At the alt.com.expo,
our Saturday attendance was great, the room looked packed
and there was a great "buzz" in the air. People were
mixing, zines were selling, the panel discussions were
lively and well attended. On Sunday, sales were down,
attendance was down, people were tired and cranky, arguments
broke out, and people started tearing their tables down
early and leaving. It wasn't worth it, and personally,
as an organizer, I honestly thought I wouldn't make
it through the day. (brad)
(3)
BACK
Another thing
I should mention is that no matter how hard you might
try to please all the participants, most likely it's
not going to happen. Maybe the best way to mitigate
conflicts is to hold smaller, more focused zine fests
that focus on anarchist writings, riot grrls, or whatever
your particular interest is. If you're having a "general
purpose" zine get-together, be prepared for some ne'er-do-wells
to nit-pick. (seth)
(4)
BACK
We charge
$5, and I think that is fair. There is the huge amount
of effort involved by the organizer, plus it is something
of a fundraiser for BP (nb. Broken Pencil, which
reviews Canadian zines), which supports the zine community
and does not make dough. So, it is not just the costs
of renting tables, there is the time and effort involved
in organizing over 100 exhibitors, speakers etc., and
I think it's fair for the organizer to try to take a
little something financially back. (Hal)
We had complaints
about charging the public admission to attend. Without
it, table costs would have had to be significantly higher.
Keep participation fees and table costs low; zinesters
are your meat and potatoes. If zinesters think you're
ripping them off, or capitalizing on them, they're not
going to come. Both conventions I worked on barely broke
even, not including the (personal and organizational)
time spent coordinating them. (brad)
(5)
BACK
Actually
we prefer the handbill -- you can leave it lying around
and people can take it with them and you can mail it
to zinesters and ask them to hand them out. Easier to
reach other communities besides the downtown core. Another
good advertising thing is to make ads and send them
to all the zines -- way in advance. They will run the
ad for the fest, and other people will clip the ad and
run it, you really reach a lot of people that way. You
need to try to get people from other cities, small towns,
suburbs to make the trip. If you can, you will have
a much more vibrant event. (hal)
(6)
BACK
Other than
meeting other zinesters, the other goal zinesters have
is to sell all of their zines. This means attracting
an audience to the convention that hasn't already bought
your zine, i.e. people other than local zinesters and
hipsters without money. Whatever the implications, the
convention has to try to bring in a whole new audience
for zines. If an editor pays $25 for a table, sells
five zines and trades 10 zines, I don't care how great
a time she had at the party the night before, she ain't
gonna think it was worth it. (brad)
###
The Highly
Paid Consultants
Brad Thompson
co-organized SPEW 2, a queer-zine convention that took
place at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions).
He also co-organized Seattle's alt.com.expo, at the
Center on Contemporary Art.
Seth Robson
helped organize the Kill Zinesters Tour, a mobile zine
fair and an ongoing concern. He also does Bunnyhop.
Hal Niedzviecki
co-organized Canzine in Toronto and publishes Broken
Pencil.
Stuart Ross,
longtime small press activist, organized the first Toronto
Small Press Book Fair and publishes Mondo Hunkamooga
and Pumpkinhead.
Stacey Case
has organized six CutnPaste zine fests to date and does
Rivet.
#
This originally
appeared in Punk Planet Sept-Oct 1997.
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