Hello there! I just wanna say update your bookmarks because the old address link to Gimme Brains is a website I can no longer access. So sorry if there was any trouble!

(www.onceuponadistro.com)
(Sorry for all the cross posts!)

ATOMIC SWAN ZINE FEST



Friday, April 8 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
The Lunch Studio
444 S. Saginaw St.
Flint, MI

The first in what will hopefully become an annual zine fest for Flint, MI. Brought to you in collaboration by Atomic Swan Films and If EZine with Chairperson Chris Reed overseeing the event.

More info at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183959314966362

Alright, let's keep the ball rolling.

I'm learning Ruby on Rails, a high-level rapid web development language, and as my practice run I'm going to design a new website from scratch for my distro. This will be fully backed by a real database as opposed to simply hand-coding content, like I've been doing with my previous website. It's also going to be my inventory-management tool, so that I get alerts when I run low on stock for certain zines, for example.

I'm looking at Microcosm's website as the baseline for what I'm trying to accomplish, and I have a few extra ideas for what I'd like to do on top of that. But since many of you have been running distros and distro web sites, I'm polling you to ask what you would see as ideal features in a platform specifically geared at zine distros. If you have been using existing packages, such as the PayPal shopping cart, Etsy, etc. please comment about the features you have found good and the things you have found frustrating or completely lacking on these platforms.

Alright, some spam became the first comment in a while in here. I thought I'd revive this place a little bit... How many of you are still in business? Are you planning on keeping your distro running or, like me, have you been wondering what's the point? Has anyone (re-)started a distro in the last year?

I'm not entirely sure if this is the best place to ask, but I'm vaguely at a loose end, either way feel free to ignore or delete if this isn't allowed.

Basically, I'm in my third year at university, and as such am writing a dissertation. I found the following quote “The day I quit punk rock was the day I found out that while the boys love to talk about how they aren’t sexist and how oh-so-fucking-PC they are, it never seems cool to be a girl in the scene.” in the book the Post Subcultures Reader, and it was credited as Sarah, The Day I Quit Punk Rock, one off zine. Google tells me that she was a co-founder/used to moderate this community, hence me asking here. I want to base my dissertation on this quote, and would therefore love to read and perhaps utilise the original zine, but I cannot find it anywhere online and so was wondering if anyone on this community has access to it, or knows where to find it?

Sorry if this doesn't belong here, but my friend Jenna (a.k.a. trashcan_chica) needs some help:

"does anyone know of any queer zines about living in rural areas or going to rural areas?

any help/pointing in the right direction would be amazing. i went through the whole Queer Zine Archive and couldn't really find anything.

thanks!
jenna b

p.s. i just got a wordpress site, sassyfrasscircus.com!"

Her (AIM) away message also says: "is looking for zines about/by members of radical queer ANTI-URBAN communities, so if you know of any..."

So please comment if you can help at all; thanks. :]

-Beth

Alabama Underground



Greencup Books, a not-for-profit bookstore and publisher in Birmingham, AL is holding a book/zine/music/art fair on November 14th & 15th featuring "writers, literary magazines, small presses, comix artists, record labels, artists, bands, zine makers, and handmade book artists, along with live music and readings."
Registration for vendors is $15 for Friday and Saturday.
You have until October 31st to register for a table.

Friday will be a "welcome party/reception for participating vendors starting with setup at 5pm. there will be a meet and greet party for all the vendors, labels, artists, that will go until about 8:30 when we will open the doors and have a reading by THE2NDHAND, followed by live music."

The book fair opens on Saturday at 11:30 with readings and live music all day.

Check out the website for more info.

EDIT: I know it says Lit Zines, but I've got a table and I don't solely carry lit zines, so don't feel excluded because of that label if you run a distro and are interested in getting a table

Does anyone know if Office Depot/similar places have scanners that can be used by the public? The scanner I was going to use to make scans of the covers of the zines for my distro (Black Light Diner, opens October 1) does not work. I'm going to buy a new scanner eventually, but not right now. My local library doesn't have one, I thought they might, but no go. So frustrating!

Also, what ARE the cheapest scanners out there (that work with Windows Vista), for when I break down and buy one? I found one for $50 on Amazon (a Canon) but this is the kind of thing I'd like to see and buy in person. I'm assuming flatbed will be the cheapest. I don't need anything fancy, this is just for zine covers and b/w comics. Photographs look SO cheap.

So i am new to distro-running. I just opened my distro, http://www.clickclackdistro.com. It's not online yet, and i will be starting it off by tabling at the Richmond Zine Fest on Oct. 11th.


So here is my question... in 3 days of announcing, i have already gotten 4 submissions. (yay and boo!)

How do you handle reject submissions? Do you write them and let them know? Do you say anything at all?

If you do contact them, what are some soft blows that you use to let people know their work is not up to par? (Especially if it is something really bad.)