Produce & Share a Zine Round III - Complete (Nov - April 21)

When can you NOT attend a proposed 7.30pm Zoom meeting of 40 minutes to chat about these Zines?

  • Total voters
    11
Cloudforest said:
I'm currently working on my first zine. A bumper 32 page one which I'm hopefully going to use a a fundraiser for the charity I work for (I'm doing it in my own time as a personal project). I still need to get a pic for the front cover but all the rest are all laid out in Affinity. It'll go to print in the next couple of weeks all being well.

When I see how this one works, I'll have to give some thoughts to ideas for the one for the swap.
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I'll buy a copy.
 
To all those who offered to send me a zine, please don't think i'm being rude if I don't acknowledge receipt straight away.
My missus insists all incoming goods are quarantined for 72hrs, so thank you in advance for the kind gesture.
 
MrDrizz said:
I'll buy a copy.
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First and for most this thread was allowed under the explicit condition that no buying or selling took place
 
Updating the possible entrants list for my own benefit. If you're reading this and I missed your name (and/or clear commitment @sirch) please let me know.

Mr Perceptive
Harlequin565
MrDrizz
Ed Sutton
Allan.H
Thmaga
Shugpug
flook999
Cloudforest
tijuana taxi
yamahatdm900
gjhill
Richardhall
Stegosaurus
FishyFish
Sirch

I was going to add a poll to the OP so that anyone thinking they might join will have their expectations set. Question - "How many zines would you want to send?"

Options:

1. Don't care. How ever many people enter.
2. Randomly divide the group into an equal number of groups with a max size of 12. So 12 people would be 12 zines to send, but 13 would be 1 group of 6 and 1 group of 7. You know that the max number of zines you would have to send is 12
3. You Tell Me. When the due date rolls in, you send me your postal address along with the number of zines you are prepared to send with a minimum of 10, and I allocate (randomly) that amount of people to you. This could mean that you receive more or less than what you send out and/or send less than you intended, but I'll try and balance it as best I can.
4. We'll decide at the end. This is so anyone coming to the thread knows that we're going to be figuring it out at the end.
5. Other. Someone has a better idea.

I don't want to break people's wallets, or force them to send more than they want to, so unless we get a unanimous vote, I'll be going with the most equitable option.
 
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Harlequin565 said:
Updating the possible entrants list for my own benefit. If you're reading this and I missed your name (and/or clear commitment @sirch) please let me know.

Mr Perceptive
Harlequin565
MrDrizz
Ed Sutton
Allan.H
Thmaga
Shugpug
flook999
Cloudforest
tijuana taxi
yamahatdm900
gjhill
Richardhall

I was going to add a poll to the OP so that anyone thinking they might join will have their expectations set. Question - "How many zines would you want to send?"

Options:

1. Don't care. How ever many people enter.
2. Randomly divide the group into an equal number of groups with a max size of 12. So 12 people would be 12 zines to send, but 13 would be 1 group of 6 and 1 group of 7. You know that the max number of zines you would have to send is 12
3. You Tell Me. When the due date rolls in, you send me your postal address along with the number of zines you are prepared to send with a minimum of 10, and I allocate (randomly) that amount of people to you. This could mean that you receive more or less than what you send out and/or send less than you intended, but I'll try and balance it as best I can.
4. We'll decide at the end. This is so anyone coming to the thread knows that we're going to be figuring it out at the end.
5. Other. Someone has a better idea.

I don't want to break people's wallets, or force them to send more than they want to, so unless we get a unanimous vote, I'll be going with the most equitable option.
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Add me to the list please. :)

When I used Mixam for my first zine it was the same price for 25 copies as it was for 10, so I'm happy to send out quite a few (although, in the unlikely instance that lots of participants are overseas, then that might be an issue in terms of postage costs).
 
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Thank you
I reckon roughly 20 is about as many as I would want to send, so lets say absolute maximum of 25.
Judging by the current sign up numbers that should be within my figure.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Thank you
I reckon roughly 20 is about as many as I would want to send, so lets say absolute maximum of 25.
Judging by the current sign up numbers that should be within my figure.
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(y)

There's also the matter of how many zines you can find space to store!:)
 
just to complicate matters, if we do end up splitting into groups, then you could factor in anyone who wants/can make a swap meet (north west players as discussed prior to covid) meaning you could print say 25 at no additional cost, but only be liable for postage costs for 12, and still end up swapping 20 (I'm definitely going to need a bigger shelf)

:welcome:
 
Is the expectation that all zines are swapped at more or less the same time, or does it happen over a period?
 
richardhall said:
Is the expectation that all zines are swapped at more or less the same time, or does it happen over a period?
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I believe this answers your question nicely

Q: Wait... Deadline?
A: Yes. Your zine needs to be finished in principle by 30th April 2021. You can then commit formally, and we will know how many people are taking part and how many prints we need to make. Zines should then be printed, and posted out after the 30th but before the end of May.
 
richardhall said:
Is the expectation that all zines are swapped at more or less the same time, or does it happen over a period?
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Rich answered this already but we try and do it all in the one month at the end. So you will have the whole of May to print and post your zine. Some folks will print a large number (20 or 30) whilst some like to know how many to print which is why we have a shutoff of the end of April. There tends to be a flurry of things being posted at the beginning of the month for those that have been waiting ages for the deadline to arrive, then there are those who send out for printing and get them out in the middle of the month. And finally there's @flook999 :woot:

Stegosaurus said:
It's probably already been mooted and rejected, but wouldn't the most cost efficient distribution method be sending our stack to a single point, then redistributing as mixed packs?
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It hasn't been mooted, and I have no idea if it's cost effective. We've not got into double figures with takeup until now so I haven't considered it. Are you talking about an individual doing it, or some sort of service? If the former, we'd presumably need to pay the "distributor" the postage & packing costs to do it, and we'd need a volunteer. If someone is willing to do this I'm happy to hear costs... Part of me thinks that it'll be more hassle than it's worth though. Perhaps we should leave it until March like Chris suggested. I'm crap at organising stuff.


flook999 said:
just to complicate matters, if we do end up splitting into groups, then you could factor in anyone who wants/can make a swap meet (north west players as discussed prior to covid) meaning you could print say 25 at no additional cost, but only be liable for postage costs for 12, and still end up swapping 20 (I'm definitely going to need a bigger shelf)
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I would very much like to do a meetup in April (open to anyone but probably based in the NW because that's where most of us are I think). Another one to think about next year.
 
I'm still in the "leave it until we know definite numbers" camp but...

An alternative idea just occurred to me - we send out Stamped, Self-Addressed Envelopes to people whose zines we want - obviously there is the problem of different zines costing different prices due to size/weight/vagaries-of-local-post offices but people could get the postage cost for their zine and put that up alongside their address. That way people can get as many zines as they want and there is no pressure if people are feeling a bit strapped for cash.
 
sirch said:
I'm still in the "leave it until we know definite numbers" camp but...

An alternative idea just occurred to me - we send out Stamped, Self-Addressed Envelopes to people whose zines we want - obviously there is the problem of different zines costing different prices due to size/weight/vagaries-of-local-post offices but people could get the postage cost for their zine and put that up alongside their address. That way people can get as many zines as they want and there is no pressure if people are feeling a bit strapped for cash.
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You've just doubled the postage costs haven't you?
 
Stegosaurus said:
It's probably already been mooted and rejected, but wouldn't the most cost efficient distribution method be sending our stack to a single point, then redistributing as mixed packs?
Click to expand...
That would take a way a lot of the fun for me. Opening each one individually is more of a surprise.

And there can be an added the thrill of a visit to the Post Office to hand over £1.50 for one with insufficient postage attached! :naughty:
 
sirch said:
I'm still in the "leave it until we know definite numbers" camp but...

An alternative idea just occurred to me - we send out Stamped, Self-Addressed Envelopes to people whose zines we want - obviously there is the problem of different zines costing different prices due to size/weight/vagaries-of-local-post offices but people could get the postage cost for their zine and put that up alongside their address. That way people can get as many zines as they want and there is no pressure if people are feeling a bit strapped for cash.
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Bit hard on someone who gets twenty copies printed and only gets for example five requests for their publication.
Maybe cap it at 20 entrants then within reason everyone can work out roughly what it will cost.
If you bunged a tenner a month away it should get near covering the cost, not bad at all for a fair bit of fun.
Soon spend a tenner in the pub or coffee shop, fish and chip supper is heading that way these days.
 
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Ed Sutton said:
That would take a way a lot of the fun for me. Opening each one individually is more of a surprise.

And there can be an added the thrill of a visit to the Post Office to hand over £1.50 for one with insufficient postage attached! :naughty:
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Don't worry I have a plan for next time, i'm not putting any postage on, that way when the robbing buggers charge you they will only have been paid the once :)
 
flook999 said:
Don't worry I have a plan for next time, i'm not putting any postage on, that way when the robbing buggers charge you they will only have been paid the once :)
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There's always a chance that people might forget to put stamps on the zines they send to you next round... :naughty:
 
Harlequin565 said:
Updating the possible entrants list for my own benefit. If you're reading this and I missed your name (and/or clear commitment @sirch) please let me know.

Mr Perceptive
Harlequin565
MrDrizz
Ed Sutton
Allan.H
Thmaga
Shugpug
flook999
Cloudforest
tijuana taxi
yamahatdm900
gjhill
Richardhall
Stegosaurus
FishyFish
Sirch

I was going to add a poll to the OP so that anyone thinking they might join will have their expectations set. Question - "How many zines would you want to send?"

Options:

1. Don't care. How ever many people enter.
2. Randomly divide the group into an equal number of groups with a max size of 12. So 12 people would be 12 zines to send, but 13 would be 1 group of 6 and 1 group of 7. You know that the max number of zines you would have to send is 12
3. You Tell Me. When the due date rolls in, you send me your postal address along with the number of zines you are prepared to send with a minimum of 10, and I allocate (randomly) that amount of people to you. This could mean that you receive more or less than what you send out and/or send less than you intended, but I'll try and balance it as best I can.
4. We'll decide at the end. This is so anyone coming to the thread knows that we're going to be figuring it out at the end.
5. Other. Someone has a better idea.

I don't want to break people's wallets, or force them to send more than they want to, so unless we get a unanimous vote, I'll be going with the most equitable option.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to go with option 4 for now and see who's ready at the time and work it out then.
 
Sheesh! I was just floating an alternative idea :sorry:

flook999 said:
You've just doubled the postage costs haven't you?
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Well, hopefully not doubled, sending an SAE for something used to be very common but seems to have dropped out of favour.

tijuana taxi said:
Bit hard on someone who gets twenty copies printed and only gets for example five requests for their publication.
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As has been said up-thread Mixam charge the same for anything up to 25 copies, I think there were about 6 of us in the first round so same difference really.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I believe this answers your question nicely

Q: Wait... Deadline?
A: Yes. Your zine needs to be finished in principle by 30th April 2021. You can then commit formally, and we will know how many people are taking part and how many prints we need to make. Zines should then be printed, and posted out after the 30th but before the end of May.
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It does. And it enables me to answer @Harlequin565 's question. If it all happens over a month or less, I'd be reluctant to commit to posting more than 20. If there's a meet up I can get to, I'd be up for that.
 
Ed Sutton said:
That would take a way a lot of the fun for me. Opening each one individually is more of a surprise.

And there can be an added the thrill of a visit to the Post Office to hand over £1.50 for one with insufficient postage attached! :naughty:
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This^ - distributed centrally would rob us of this. And the 'volunteer' would probably end up waiting for those final zines to complete the sets before sending them onwards, and we've had zines of many different sizes which might make bulk packaging harder.

Lets just leave it until nearer the time and then work it out :)
 
I thought the whole idea was for the group to individually make a zine and then mutually share them.
Never done this before, but that's what it came across as to me on the opening page.

All seems to have got very convoluted now and not sure why the original idea is no longer acceptable.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I thought the whole idea was for the group to individually make a zine and then mutually share them.
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It is. And with the 6-8 participants it works fine. When that becomes 20 though (or more) some people may not want to post that many.

The above responses are right. I think we'll just wait until April, see who's committed then figure out distribution from there. My gut says there'll be less than 20 so it'll very likely be that each person will get a PM from me with a list of names & addresses and they just post out during May.

tijuana taxi said:
All seems to have got very convoluted now
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Yep. That's my fault.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I thought the whole idea was for the group to individually make a zine and then mutually share them.
Never done this before, but that's what it came across as to me on the opening page.
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it is

tijuana taxi said:
All seems to have got very convoluted now and not sure why the original idea is no longer acceptable.
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Think it's the sudden popularity that's got people a bit twitchy about costs that's all. Think @Shugpug was slaughtered by the US postal service last time out with just 7 of us (his own fault for buggering off abroad obviously) and it's got people a little conscious of what it could potentially cost.

In terms of costs, Mixam A5 colour with 12pages + covers was around £40, that gets up to (I think) 24 copies. so that's pretty fixed. Adding pages is a couple of quid so not a big issue

Postage costs....well mine was a first class stamp which worked well for all but @Harlequin565 who has a postie who dislikes him (and I'm starting to have some sympathy with that view :exit: ) , add an envelope 50p? so if you're posting out 20 zines you're getting close to doubling you costs due to the postage.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I don't look at the costs going out, I look at the value to me of the items that I'm sent. On that basis this is 'cheap' bit of fun!

But then I do have ZAS (Zine Acquistion Syndrome) and am a serial zine purchaser :D
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Does look like fun and worse case scenario including buying the software it will cost less than a set of inks for my printer.
 
tijuana taxi said:
All seems to have got very convoluted now and not sure why the original idea is no longer acceptable.
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I don't think anyone was saying it isn't but I don't see any harm in having a bit of a discussion? I was planning on doing something much more "home spun" this time around but if I have to produce 20 then I might change my approach so some idea of what the likely outcomes are is helpful.
 
sirch said:
I was planning on doing something much more "home spun" this time around
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Hah - indeed. Six Heads Of Me was homespun and I think I included one in each of the 9 original zines I sent out in round 2. Printing, cutting and folding 10 copies (I kept one for me because arrogance) was not fun and after I'd finished, I decided against doing that again. I'm not sure I'd have done 20.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I don't look at the costs going out, I look at the value to me of the items that I'm sent. On that basis this is 'cheap' bit of fun!

But then I do have ZAS (Zine Acquistion Syndrome) and am a serial zine purchaser :D
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I'm a regular zine purchaser myself, and thinking about it that way puts a different spin on it. Buying 20 zines would probably cost £100. If I send out 20 zines that have cost £40 to make and another £40 to post, and get 20 in return I'm actually saving at least £20. Who needs Black Friday?! :)
 
richardhall said:
I'm a regular zine purchaser myself, and thinking about it that way puts a different spin on it. Buying 20 zines would probably cost £100. If I send out 20 zines that have cost £40 to make and another £40 to post, and get 20 in return I'm actually saving at least £20. Who needs Black Friday?! :)
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Love a bit of Man Maths :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
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