Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Mary Van Note. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I wrote a novel before I got into comedy and shopped it around to a lot of micro-presses. It was close to getting published, but it didn’t happen. I wanted immediate gratification and small-press/DIY publishing could do that for me. There’s no middle man - just me, my ideas and a copier.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I made my first zine the first year I did stand-up comedy in San Francisco. I would read from my zine onstage and sell them after shows. I’m still proud of my first zine. It’s kind of a Mary Van Note classic. It’s called Mary Van Note’s Experiences (of the sexual variety) by Mary Van Note Volume 1. It details several funny and sordid MVN sexual experiences with accompanying stick-figure illustrations.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. That’s hard to say, there’s so many who I think are amazing. I like a lot of San Francisco based underground zines/comics. From R. Crumb to V. Vale’s RE/SEARCH, and John Marr’s Murder Can Be Fun. It’s neat to see people who started in underground publishing move on to getting their work published and recognized like John Porcellino’s Map of My Heart, Julia Wertz’ The Fart Party, and even Broke Ass Stuart.
Q. Do you have a favorite memory of the SF Zine Fest?
A. I have great memories of doing Zine Fest. I loved meeting and being tablemates with such interesting and diverse artists and writers. The first year I sat next to Julia Wertz, which was awesome. She came to my comedy show and drew a comic inspired by sitting at the table with me. She had all these fans coming up to our table and she graciously pimped out my zine to her fans.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. Along with performing stand-up comedy I make short films and webisodes.
My short film Papercuts won an IFC short film contest. I also fill my time with learning how to sew and knit so I can one day make my own clothes from vintage patterns. I’m a vintage addict and love
going to flea markets and swap meets.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Currently I’m working on things I’ll have for sale at zine fest like handmade zine holders/totes, and a new zine that’s a collection of my comic strips. I’m also starting pre-production on two new short films.
As you probably know, the SF Zine Fest is having a terrific Benefit Show this Thursday at Amnesia, with some great indy bands contributing their time, energy, and musical awesomeness to the Zine Fest cause! Just as we've been been highlighting our amazing exhibitors in a series of Creator Q+As this month, over the next few days we'll be giving you a peek into the lives and thoughts of these great musicians. Today we're checking in with M Zelaya (Harbours) & Heather Marie (Uni & Her Ukelele), who will be playing a special combo performance at the Show! Stay tuned for more, and we'll see you at the show!
Q. What inspired your current musical project? Influences?
MZ: Sailing at the Attic on Tuesday nights. Electricty. The Faces. Years of riding MUNI. Gino Washington. Most everything DJ Neil Martinson plays for SMiLE! Michael Zapruder. Littlejoy. The Zombies and all the other usual suspects.
Uni: My latest album is inspired by Lite-Rock and Mom Rockers.
Q. What is your all-time favorite band/album/zine/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
MZ: DIY hero & album Kelley Stoltz - Antique Glow
Uni: Daniel Johnston is my personal DIY hero
Q. Do you have a personal connection to the DIY/small-press world? Did you ever do a zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us?
Uni: I am a big fan of DIY pressing. I screen all my band t-shirts, tote bags, and cut-paste-glue-sew and burn all my cds.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the indy-music world? What similarities do you see (if any) between the music scene and the small-press world?
MZ: We are broke.
Uni: We are broke too. I like DIY style because it's more personal and has more personality.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring musician or other creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
MZ: Do something with the craft you're working on everyday.
Uni: I don't remember getting any advice. Maybe I need to clean my ears out. My story is I'm lucky I have a strong will. I would say to always do what U love, and not get hung up on what other people are doing.
Q. In addition to the kind of music you will be playing at the SFZF Benefit Show, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
Uni: I just joined Crossfit. And I love traveling. I love wigs and Lee press on nails.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
MZ: Recording a new album, which will be the Harbours' thrid release.
Uni: I am about to mix and master my next album. It has been two years in the making.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is François Vigneault. Stay tuned for more!
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. My first zine was called "The Comics Review," which I published when I was 16. It had started because my first girlfriend had put an ad in the back of "The Maxx," a quirky superhero comic, asking for contributions to a Maxx fanzine that never came together, but did attract a certain amount of attention from the fans. I took the project over, taking it waaaay too seriously! I was trying to make a really "professional" publication, which makes it all the more cringe-worthy when I look at it now! I did manage to interview Paul Pope (THB) and Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), two of my then-favorite creators, with the intention of featuring them in the second and third issues, but the project folded after just a single issue!
Q. Do you have a favorite memory of the SF Zine Fest?
A. This is my fifth year organizing the Fest (!!!), and at this point I've got too many wonderful memories to narrow it down to one or two anecdotes. The best thing about the Fest has doubtlessly been all the wonderful people whom I have gotten to know over the years through the Fest... It's been such an honor to meet and become friends with so many amazing creators, volunteers, and fans!
Q. What subjects do you wish there were more comics about?
A. I’d like to see more non-fiction and journalism-oriented comics. It seems that there could be some really great work done in that field, either on the web or in print. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, some more indy-oriented fantasy and science fiction comics!
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. Since I am one of the organizers of the SF Zine Fest, I obviously think a lot about ways to expand the audience for small-press. One of the main things I'd like to see is more mini-fests cropping up around the nation; small, single-day regional shows with maybe only a dozen or so creators. If you set up a show that's fun, unique, and free (this last point can't be stressed enough! Don't charge the audience to come to your show!), then I think that the public will come out to it, and that is a tremendous boon to the small-press world in general.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. In the last year I've gotten into bird-watching, which I have been able to dovetail (no pun intended) with my self-publishing by doing a zine on the subject, Bird Brain.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. I am working on the latest issue of Bird Brain, which will feature lots of stuff from a recent trip to the Gulf Coast. That should hopefully be out for the Zine Fest; a month or so later, at APE, I'll be bringing out the first issue of volume 2 of Elfworld, my alt-fantasy comics anthology! I'm incredibly excited about that, since it has been so long since the first volume came out.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Susie Cagle. Stay tuned for more!
Q. Do you have a favorite memory of the SF Zine Fest?
A. Jesse Reklaw's watercolor tutorial a couple years ago was really great -- it was awesome watching everyone work, and cringe-worthy realizing how terrible I was myself. I hope he's planning another one this year! I won't try to follow along this time with my own paints and brushes, though; I kept missing all the best action.
Q. What subjects do you wish there were more comics about?
A. I'd love to see more non-fiction comics on the whole. I think comics and journalism are really a perfect match: a lot of true stories are complicated and boring, and comics can not only elucidate the narrative but illuminate the story and characters with art. I'd say it's a spoon full of sugar for the medicine, though reportage doesn't taste bitter to me (I realize it does to some). Anything to bring broader and different attentions to real things. I like fiction too, it just doesn't hold the same power for me as a true story.
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. Events like the SF Zine Fest are absolutely central to the continued success of small press. Especially when it comes to literary comics, which still don't really have mainstream acceptance or success, I think free events that expose people to new work are immensely important. Keeping things small doesn't benefit anyone; it's in our best interests as creators and consumers of small press to always be expanding our audience -- not by changing our work, but by finding new and creative ways of reaching more people. I think we're at a perfect point for this now: on the flip side of the economic collapse and the still-rising popularity of DIY, people want cheap entertainment and they want to know where their money is going. Now's our chance!
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. I'm a journalist by trade, and I guess a simple question asker/friendly harasser by passion.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Besides the run of Nine Gallons (next issue out really soon, and then two more after that!), my next projects include some illustrated obituaries and a book of real-life gags from my time working with the Decennial Census.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Amy Martin. Stay tuned for more!
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I made my first self-published book when I was six or so. It was called "Lin the Pin." Its hero was an anthropomorphic diaper pin (I have a lot of younger siblings). I stapled it backwards.
In adult life.... you can still read my first mini comics at the Isotope. They were 8-page stories written by my then-boyfriend, drawn by me. They were fantasy, not at all my kind of stories, but it got me going! Publishing my first book I created all by myself was one of my proudest moments. I still love that book.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. I am such a big fan of Team Atrox. Everything they do is pure comedy gold. And they don't waste time or energy on fancy printing or binding---stapled with a card stock cover, thank you! Though, that is changing, now that they are doing the world's first ever sculpted comics (the first I've ever seen anyway).
Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite/exciting/cringe-worthy memory?
A. 2009, with a half hour to go before his live reading at the Cartoon Art Museum, my friend suffered complete brain crash at Kinko's. I took over and worked absolute copier fucking magic and printed the entire book in time. Double-sided pages, correctly aligned (they were an odd size), collated, stapled and I almost got 'em trimmed as well. I think they had the copier gilded.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. Mini comics with good, solid stories. There's a lot of beautiful art being done in minis, but substantial, well-developed stories are rare. Books that come out regularly and are consistently fun to read and engaging would also be swell.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. Definitely get to know other people. Make yourself a community. Don't create in a vacuum! It'll take you ten times as long to figure out how to do the things you want to do.
Also, done is better than perfect. Seriously, just get it done and print it up---what on earth's stopping you?!
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. Meh, I don't really care about getting the general public into small press. Then it's not really small press anymore, is it? It's fun when it's our. little. secret. Also I like when it's small and personal. I like that it's not an easy scene to crack. There's more reward for those who do.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. I knit like crazy!! I love to knit toys. Toys are such wonderful things, capable of holding so much significance and representing so much about us. Plus, soooofffft. I love soft things. They calm me down.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Chris C. Cilla. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. In high school ('87?) I met a kid, Kevin Byrd who was xeroxing a comic book and selling it at punk shows & record stores; I was drawing comics & stuff in sketchbooks, and he asked for some contributions. After helping to copy, fold & staple a couple of issues of his comic digest, I realized that this was easy & fun, and I started to meet other people who were doing interesting things (thanks to Trevor Blake [ovo] for giving me a copy of Factsheet Five), and I've been photocopying booklets ever since.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I made proto-zine things as a kid, whenever I had opportunities to play around with xerox machines, but after 1988 or so, I started to make 8 page minicomics which I would sell for a quarter around town, then I got a job at a xerox shop & cranked out tons of different format zines by myself and others. The early comics & zines are pretty embarrassing, but I can see some good things here & there, and you have to do the work to make any progress.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. I don't have one favorite; I love all of Ryan Iverson's different sized zines, Zak Sally's Recidivist and John P's King Cat get re-read a lot, and Tom Hart & Jon Lewis' minicomics were (& still are) inspiring. I could go on & on with a list like this! I don't have a single zine hero, but I'd like to make special note of Jeff Zenick, his zines are grappling with the world around & within him, with comics & reviews and art.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. More home made comics.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. My full length book The Heavy Hand was just published by Sparkplug Comic Books, I have been working on that for several years. I just finished the cover & some gags for Tom Neely's Bound & Gagged, a couple of drawings for a show at Pony Club in Portland, some illustrations for The Pork Torta website, and Stun Nuts #7. I'm drawing more comics, on different sizes of paper, for books of various sizes. I'll also be making some novelty t-shirts soon.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Keenan Marshall Keller of Drippy Bone Books. Stay tuned for more!
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I hated zines all through life until I was much older. Everyone I knew whom made them through high school & college were poets or punkers and that shit was real boring…
It wasn’t until I was older and focusing on my own drawing and art that I started thinking about publishing, then started to think realistically about that and turned my focus to zines. The 1st zine I actually made was with a large group of people and it came out pretty lame, but it was only a year from then that I made Whore Eyes #1 & #2 (my first zines as part of DBB) and I’m very proud of those….
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is
your DIY hero?
A. Well my partners, Mario Zoots & Kristy Foom are 2 of my art heros…. They do it all,
art, publishing, curating, music and zines…. They’re like mini-mutant-moguls… Also
people like fore mentioned David Magdaleno, Mike Diana, Le Dernier Cri, Victor Cayro, and Gary Panter all whom endlessly inspires me.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. “Support Weird, Create Havoc, and Stay Savage.” Really, just keep it weird.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. Art. Books. Comix. Music. Everything we (DBB) love as a group, works it’s way into
our publishing. There isn’t really a separation between myself and what I do…. Oh
yeah, I also like weed.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. A shit-ton of stuff going down! We will have 4 new titles for SF ZINE Fest:
Galactic Breakdown #2, I Gotta Grunt, The Best Things in Life Are Free if You Are Rich, and Pushing It with Roids: a special SF Zine Fest release only!!! A life guide to bad-ass-ary.
Plus later in September, we are releasing our biggest book to date. Grawlix Comix #1 featuring the works of: Victor Cayro/Bald Eagles, Michael DeForge, Derek M Ballard, Matheiu Desjardins, Becca Kacanda, Evan Meister, and myself. A full color, uncensored collection of the best underground commix artists working today! Raw, deranged, graphic beauty for the enlightened savage in all of us.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are Megan Quinn and Liz Brent CAliCO Umbrella Collective. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
MQ: Ten years ago, I saw my first-ever zine at a record store in CO. I thought, "I could do this! This is awesome!"
LB: My BFF and co-exhibitor, Megan Quinn, introduced me to zines when we were both at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My first zine festival was the '07 Denver Zine Fest, and when I saw all the ways people zine, that was it for me - I was hooked!
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
LB: My first zine was a single poem that I spread across several pages using abstract illustrations. I still like the poem, and actually think it was a decent first project, but I would totally do it differently now!
MQ: When I was 15, I had much different priorities for my zines and was still figuring out my voice. Today, I'm happy I started self-publishing at all!
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
MQ: Kelly Shortandqueer really inspired me. His zines about his life as a trans author taught me more than school ever did. He is a brave, honest and visceral writer.
LB: Besides MQ here, my DIY comic hero is Amy Martin, who I met at SFZF last year and has become a great friend and continues to inspire me.
Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite/exciting/cringe-worthy memory?
LB: Last year was our first year at SFZF, and our neighbors (Amy Martin & Ingrid Keir) were my favorite part of it because they are still my friends today! SFZF also was a major reason why I decided to move to San Francisco!
MQ: It was my first-ever trip to SF, and my face hurt from smiling and meeting new people!
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
MQ: In Denver, I'd like to see more resources for small press authors. That's part of why we created CAliCO Umbrella.
LB: In the arts in general, I would like to see more USA inter-state and international, cross communication/collaboration. The internet is a great medium for that, but there's a lot to be said for physical presence (especially with zines!), artists getting to take their work other places.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
MQ: I wrote lots of handwritten letters to zinesters I admired. I never met another real-life zine writer until I was in college. Now I'm a journalist, and I 100% value asking questions and putting yourself out there. I am so glad I made those connections! You never know who's out there until you ask.
LB: Mine would be pretty simple: Have no fear! Just go for it! Try it! It's way easier than you think. But I definitely second what MQ said. I had her to guide me in my first zines, but I think asking others for help - and now it's so easy with the Internet to find folks - is a great idea!
Q. What communities do you wish there were more zines/comics/etc for?
LB: A comic/zine I've had in mind for awhile to make, and a project I'm hoping to get started ASAP, is for dancers. It would be interesting to see zines for performers, actors, athletes... people in the physical arts.
MQ: I don't necessarily want to suggest a certain "shape" to the landscape of zine topics-- I just want to hear about what is important to the creative people in the small press community!
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
MQ: When I first started, zines were much more common. They have since faded somewhat in Denver. Nowadays, the scene here is quite a bit smaller but very supportive of each other. I'd love to let people know how easy and liberating zine writing is, and I know Denver zinesters do too!
LB: I'm honestly not sure what the "general public" knows... I think film, like the recent premiere of "Handmade Nation," is a strong way to reach people. Also, I find the Internet as a networking tool to be a powerful way to inform others.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
LB: LIFE is a creative pursuit! My life is all about dance, drawing, painting, sewing, crafts, exploring San Francisco, biking, hiking, yoga, rock climbing... and my amazing family and friends.
MQ: I love sewing things (badly) on my sewing machine. I'm not really religious, but I love my job as a religion columnist and blogger about all the zany weird connections between religion and pop culture.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
LB: I'm working on taking my various art and projects I've put on the backburner for a long time to a whole new, professional level. I'm revamping my website with and I just set up an Etsy account to sell various things I make. I have a part-time job, but these days I think of my main career as a freelance/professional multidisciplinary artist. Gotta make it happen!
MQ: I hope to continue writing for as many mediums as possible, though I consider zines to be the most creative and heartfelt means I have of expressing myself. Here's to more ideas and more photocopies!
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is R.John Xerxes of Love Bunni Press. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I photocopied my first zine in 1988. What has kept me involved in the zine scene is its power to inspire me. The cut and paste revolution might have failed and the blogOsphere might have siphoned off a lot of potential voices, but the zine is still an important and vital source of self-expression and political change.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I started by writing a page of music reviews for a zine called NOISY CONCEPT. The reviews were all rap albums and NYHC. This was 1987. I recently found those reviews. There were a lot of spelling mistakes. And dot matrix printouts. That was embarrassing...
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. Joe Franke's Life is A Joke, zine/comic. But Brains is up there too.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. More reading. We need to give each other more feedback.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. What you have to say is important. And people will read it. Sometimes. But you will get ZERO feedback. Keep at it. People like what you are doing. Just not as many as you would like.
Q. What subjects/groups/themes/ideas/communities do you wish there were more zines/comics/etc about/for?
A. Seriously critiques. There is too much scenester bullsheets.
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. Careerists should be distrusted at every turn.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. I watch a lot of movies. Bad, bad movies. And read philosophy.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. I am trying to get more people involved...
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are April and Quin of Cliterally Speaking. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. We're broke!
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. April: Hothead Paisan by Diane DiMassa. Quin: April Thompson.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. Ladies and queer.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. Bubble baths, eating stuff and saying things. Making stuff.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Cliterally Speaking issue number 2!
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are Lark Pien of Little Bird Books. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. I don't have an all time favorite zine, but i enjoyed Leland Myrick's run of Sweet, and Kevin Huizenga's black and white mini Gloriana with the fold-out centre left a deep impression on me.
Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite/exciting/cringe-worthy memory?
A. SItting low on the floor in the middle of an island of tables and listening to the whir of jumbled voices and shuffling feet.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. More cartoonists drawing on each other's junk, please.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. Find and read as many minis as you can, whether they're interesting or not... Trading is good... If you loan out your long-arm stapler, be sure to remember who you loaned it to... Don't give your art away for free, unless of course this is what makes you happy....
Q. What subjects/groups/themes/ideas/communities do you wish there were more zines/comics/etc about/for?
A. I'd like comics to function as a common use tool in public forums (on billboards, restaurant menus, etc.) I'm tired of having to choose between the comic events that are fan driven and the comic events that are market driven. It would be really nice to just see comics around, all the time, as another form of communication.
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. The general public and particularly the publishing world believe that small press stories (and comics) are inferior publications. while this may be true in terms of volume or sales, it is not true in terms of quality. Just as there is a gem that wins the National Book Award, there's is a gem of a mini-comic that deserves high praise (to keep things in perspective, the inverse is also true: there are also bad bestsellers and bad minis). Somewhere amidst the jungle of stories there will be ones that will find your fancy.
In deciding whether to look at small press work, I'd urge you to consider your personal penchant for originality. The experience of reading small press works provides viewpoints often unique and new. May it be autobiographic or fictional, the small press story offers the uncompromised voice of the creator. It may reveal the creator's personal strengths, insights, quirks, and flaws. Do we not find these things endearing, inspiring, entertaining? For the adventurous reader, small press stories and comics are not to be missed.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. I paint and draw abstracts; like listening to Drei Fragezeichen (3 Investigator) stories and brainscience podcasts; love my wii fit; love Eiichiro Oda's One Piece.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. I'm retiring the little 4x4 animal series, which I have been painting since 2003. The abstracts will continue. My first non-comics children's book Mr. Elephanter will debut in late September this year.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Meredith Wallace of False Start Independent Books & Zines. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. My love affair with zines began about 10 years ago, when I was 12 years old. I was a total internet dork and would spend hours looking at websites made by girls my age and reading the message boards they would write on. Through those message boards I found out about Bikini Kill, feminism and zines. Reading zines quickly became an obsession and shortly after discovering them, I jumped right in and started my own zine distro, named Supernova, that I ran until I left for college. There was something so immediate and honest about these perzines I was reading. As an incredibly shy and anxious teenager, it was freeing to read the words of young women just like myself, women who were able to write down the words I couldn't speak. Zines were incredibly life-changing for me.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I made my very first zine when I was 12, and it was absolutely ridiculous! It was your average hideous cut and paste zine filled with rants, lists, and pictures of the Smashing Pumpkins. Luckily I was only 12, so I have age as an excuse. My first really serious zines were done when I was 16 and 17 and are short fiction/memoir. Looking back on them, some pieces are pretty cringe-worthy, but I'm actually surprised that they really aren't all that bad. I'm surprised that I had such a strong style and voice as a writer at such a young age. I'm also proud of having the balls to just go for it and self-publish as a teenager. I've been sitting on what I know is a great piece of writing for a year now, just because I'm too nervous to publish it. I'm working on getting back that teenage fearlessness.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. This is such a hard question! Brainscan by Alex Wrekk is a classic, and she is someone I completely look up to for her DIY spirit and work ethic. She's a pretty amazing person. Truckface, by LB, is another long-time favorite of mine. There's something really beautiful about her writing. It's emotional, honest, smart, always makes me laugh and sometimes wanna cry. That's a rare combination. As for recent discoveries, I'm obsessed with Manderz Totally Top Private Diary. I could read each issue a million times and still never get bored of it.
Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite/exciting/cringe-worthy memory?
A. No, I haven't! Which is insane considering I grew up in the Bay Area. I use the fact that I grew up in Marin County, the land of Volvo station wagons and soccer moms, as an excuse though. Without a license it's tough to get to San Francisco, and after going to Ladyfest with my mom when I was 13, she wasn't too keen on me going to any sort of 'fests' again for awhile. I think all the butch dykes did her in. It only made me love San Francisco even more.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. This is a tough question. I would like to see more short fiction, but mostly because that's what I write and it seems to be underrepresented. And I'd love more diary comics,for no good reason other than that I'm totally obsessed. Shotgun Seamstress, a zine by and for feminist, queer black punks, is also really amazing and probably the only one of it's kind. So more zines like that, please!
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. Stick with it! Don't get discouraged if people aren't into your project at first, but don't be too lazy about it either. Doing it yourself really is hard work, which is why most people get others to do it for them instead!! My main problem has always been staying motivated and on top of things. It's hard when you're juggling your day job, social obligations, remembering to feed yourself, etc., but if it truly is your passion, you'll make it work. That's just the way things go.
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. When I'm tabling at an event I love nothing more than when someone who is completely new to zines picks one up, is totally blown away and starts asking me questions about it. I feel like the zine world can be a little intimidating if you've had no experience being a part of a subculture or a creative community before. I'd love it if zines were more accessible to people who don't venture into independent bookstores, or look online for distros. I feel like zines are kind of like a gateway drug to so many possibilities -- learning about alternative living, activism, feminism, anti-racism, sexuality, mental health. You get to read the stories that never get told. I would love it if somehow we could figure out a way to get zines into the hands of people that aren't out there looking for them already.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Right now I'm organizing the return of super*MARKET at Meltdown Comics, a little comics fest they put on a few years back. I'm making it a little more zine-oriented this time around, and am getting some really amazing bands to play (some members of which are writers, distro owners, or zinesters themselves). I'm really excited for it, but also beyond nervous! If you're in Los Angeles on August 14th get your ass down to Meltdown from 2-7 PM! Aside from that, I might be collaborating on publishing an anthology of one of my favorite zines. It's still in the works though and isn't a sure deal yet, but I'm hoping publishing will be False Start's next big thing!
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Carolee of superdilettante. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I was disenchanted with the art world, and started exploring other ways to communicate with people.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I was working at a photo processing shop in Columbus, Ohio, and I started drawing the photos that ended up in the trash because they were underexposed or the wrong color balance. I drew people's bad vacation pictures, people's eye-boogery cats, and people's white trash wedding portraits. I started photocopying some of them to put in letters to my friend TC, and then one day I thought "hey...I should make this into something I can send in to Factsheet Five!" I called it "Bottom Feeder", because I was making no money and was digging junk out of the trash. It also featured the creepy interactions I had with my customers. Looking back, it was a total mash-up of "Moonlight Chronicles" and "McJob".
I am still pretty proud of the earliest issues of Bottom Feeder. I think it had a nice singular focus, initially, that got diluted later on. And every issue had a color photograph glued to the cover.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
A. Lynda Barry is for certain my DIY hero. She is psychological. As for all-time-favorites, does anyone remember Gogglebox?
Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite/exciting/cringe-worthy memory?
A. Getting to hug, heckle, and throw stuff at Clutch McBastard is my kind of high.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. More zines, period! Everyone should make lots of zines!
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. My advice would be "get it out of your system", meaning "don't be such a perfectionist." The advice I wish I'd gotten would be to not worry so much about whether people liked or understood what I was up to. It's not like any of us do this to get famous or make money. I spent a lot of time worrying that no one cared what I had to say. Who cares? Just say what you want to say!
Q. What subjects/groups/themes/ideas/communities do you wish there were more zines/comics/etc about/for?
A. I just want to see more honesty and less posing. I really, really loved zines like "About My Disappearance" 1 and 2 because they deal with a subject that is still pretty taboo and isolating. I thought Dave Roche just did the most incredible job with such a difficult topic. I hope that it helped him as much as I know his zine has helped other people. I'd also like to see more zines by oldsters like me!
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. Not very much, to be honest. The general public doesn't understand anything that doesn't have a bar code; they also don't understand endeavors that are outside the realm of "how can I make the most money possible from this thing?" I think trying too hard to reach people is fraught with peril. I'm a firm believer in just doing what feels right and letting people get it on their own time.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. I spend a lot of time writing letters. I've recently become very interested in philately and pigeons, and collaborative narrative experiences. I also spend a lot of time with glue, a guillotine, and a perforator, at the San Francisco Center for the Book.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. I am putting the finishing touches on a comp zine about people's specific experiences of their surroundings, I have another one about fictional saints in the works, and I'm doing a little giveaway zine for the end of August (road trip from SF to PDX and back!) with my friend Marissa Falco of Miss Sequential. After that, it's all about this rather elaborate zine/book/zook thing about people who don't really exist.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Jamaica Dyer. You can also catch Jamaica reading her work at "Now See This", our third annual comics reading at the Comics Art Museum on Sept. 3! Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I'd only seen newspaper comics and fully-colored superhero stuff as a kid, but as a teenager I started reading gritty little hand-drawn black and white photocopied comics that had such a hands-on personal approach that I realized it was something that I could make, too.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. I was 15/16, and I created a comic called "Paranoia Park" about a girl who woke up in a coffin of circuitry after realizing the world around her was fake (original, I know). It was all inky and had mismatched text pasted onto backgrounds, very experimental, and looks NOTHING like what I do now. It feels a bit alien when I look at it now, but I'm proud of little me for taking that leap.
Q. Do you have a favorite memory the SF Zine Fest?
A. I stopped by last year, and met Susie Cagle and Helen Jo, and both of them are so talented and awesome! That was my favorite part. The whole place seemed very chill and everyone looked like they were having a good time, so of course I had to get a table of my own this time around.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. I like the unique touches, the slips of paper and cloth that some zine-makers paste into each copy of their books. With the ease of digital media all over the place, I'd like to see truly original pieces of DIY art coming out, I want to see more fantasy and fiction, and books that take advantage of the tactile experience.
Q. What subjects/groups do you wish there were more comics about/for?
A. I'd like to see more sci-fi monster stories geared at teenage girls, with screen-printed covers and kick-ass washable tattoos in every issue.
Q. What do you think the general public knows or thinks about small-press? How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
A. I think it'd be better for the population as a whole if people made their own entertainment, when you realize that you can draw and write and create your own stories this puts the power back in your hands. I get nervous as technology gets more "user friendly" and gives the illusion of being creative, by customizing a character in a game or filling out questionnaires on a social networking site. I think kids are the ones that should be shown that they can make their own t-shirts, books, bags, animations and program their own websites, and not through some template, but by getting their hands dirty. 
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. Well gee, I love making comics and painting, but I currently work in animation, and that's pretty great. I really enjoy the music scene in San Francisco, and the energy from the shows gets reflected in my drawings, and now I'm working on my lettering so I can start putting out concert posters.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Currently working on my next graphic novel. Along the way I'm printing smaller booklets of the completed parts of the story and posting the finished pages online as I complete them. I'm aiming to get this book done by the end of the year, then I want to focus on a collaborative experimental animated film with a fascinating musician that I know.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are MC and Jen Miller of ButterSword. Stay tuned for more!
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. MC suffered from a lifetime of non-completion. After years upon years of unfinished comics, games, bands, films, and/or any other artistic pursuit, money scheme, or combination of both, MC finally took one of his abandoned webcomics and with it made his first zine in 2001. It was actually a pretty good zine about a band of drugged-out nerds and their misadventures. It was loosely based on a gimmick band that he played the drums in called, The Geeks. After the luck of his first zine being pretty ok, popular, and well selling, MC went on to make many very lousy zines that no one liked. When he looks back on his first zine, The Geeks, he still thinks it was a good zine.
Jen co-created her first zine in 2007. It was called, Helicopter Arms and was comprised of comics made by her and a friend. Most of the comics were lighthearted jokes with a few repeating characters; a spoon, a mosquito and a squirrel. However, like MC's comics the pages were also riddled with adult language. It was due to this zine that MC and Jen were able to meet at her first DIY/small-press event and trade zines. When Jen revisits Helicopter Arms, she isn't very proud of it. In fact, she cringes when MC gets nostalgic and pulls it off the bookcase.
Q. What is your all-time favorite zine/comic/etc (by someone other than you)?
A. Long ago, MC ordered The Haunted House Handbook by Shawne Baines from the classified section of Fangoria magazine. It turned out to be a zine. It was a great zine.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. We'd like to see zines be more available. Every independent business across the nation with seating or a waiting room should have at least a small zine rack. 
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
A. As far as advice, MC thinks had anyone ever bothered to give it, he wouldn't have listened. So he'd rather not give it either. Just go for it. You'll figure it out in some way. Be influenced by yourself, otherwise you'll be an imitator. And after all, that's what zines are all about anyway.
Jen's advice to someone making a zine would be to really view every page in your zine as valuable real estate. Zines can get expensive to make the more pages there are, and that becomes a bigger problem the more zines you make.
Q. What subjects do you wish there were more zines about?
A. More informational zines and entertainment zines please. We grow weary of the perzine and poetry zine trend. This is opinion. Many are quite popular.
10. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
10. In addition to their webcomic ButterSword, MC and Jen also create a second comic for Vegan Mainstream called Plant Life. Aside from all this drawing, zine and game creation, and the making of grab bags, MC and Jen find the time for gardening, unusual home improvement projects, biking, hiking, knitting (Jen), scavenging for curbside treasure on bulky trash days, learning basic carpentry, and dealing with those damn day jobs.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Currently we are making preparations for our 2010 late summer zine tour. We'll be tabling in Portland and Dallas as well as San Francisco. After those thirty days of for what is to us a vacation, we'll return to ButterSword, and we'll have to learn how to draw again. Hopefully it won't take as long as it did the first time.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are the folks at Zebratron / ZFA Works. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
Small press seems to offers an uninhibited expression of ideas.
Q. Who is your DIY hero?
We've recently been inspired by Maria Sputnik and Jason Martin.
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
More clues and signs.
Q. How can the zine/comics community reach a greater segment of the public? Or is it better to keep the small-press scene more tightly knit?
The Zebratron Friendship Association welcomes all readers. Animal readers (viewers) are also encouraged.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. Billiards and music, making beer
Q. What are you working on now?
A. Zebratron's Popular Operators, a series of animated shorts.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creators are Aaron Shadarko Almanza & Jef Scattini of Mockery Press. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
Aaron: Reading a mock up on how to fold paper to make a tiny zine via a Happy Mutant.
Jef: Didn't see any reason NOT to do it, really. And Aaron dared me.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be?
Aaron: Shut up and make something.
Jef: Get back to work.
Q. What subjects/groups/themes/ideas/communities do you wish there were more zines/comics/etc about/for?
Aaron: More GLBT writers, illustrators, stories. OK and I want to see more adventure comics featuring pirates, people riding Sawhorses and maybe a flying car or two.
Jef: I'd actually like to see more zines to do with clowning and circusy/gypsy folk that doesn't include molestation. It would be nice for that community to do something with the written word. And also, yes to flying cars!
Aaron: It seems that if it’s not polished or published/created by well known names or companies it’s not taken seriously. Not all art is polished.
Jef: I agree with Aaron. It also seems like the general public can't see art as anything other than a means to get rich and famous. As for keeping the community small... It's great that there is a support network, but the danger is in excluding ideas and being too close-knit. That way leads to stagnation and dragons. But not in the good way.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
Aaron: You name it I work on it.
Jef: Actually, Aaron is lying. He refuses to work on getting me a mechanical marsupial. No matter how many times I ask and even name it, he still refuses to work on it. I'm kinda bitter about it, actually. When I'm not being bitter, I try to write longer works of fiction and then I have naps.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Jose Angeles of Crude Dude. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I simply got bored of mainstream publications. With their endless advertisements and boring viewpoints, they're more catered towards braindead consumers instead of individuals with a mind of their own. Eventually I wanted to see something I could relate to for a change since my lifestyle and values don't really fit with the status-quo. What better way then to just make my own crap. Like the saying goes, if you want it done right, just gotta do it yourself. Also I was attracted to the nontraditional means of printing and lack of filtering/censorship. I can practically publish an extremely perverse comic overnight just by stapling a bunch of xerox copies together. No waiting a year and a half for an inevitable rejection letter. Just gotta make stuff happen, not just wait for it to happen.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. The year was 2003. I was a lonely, confused, angry kid in college trying to make sense of a senseless world I felt like I was a victim of. I did really crappy comics about stupid people pissing me off. They'd always get killed by their own stupidity. I stapled xerox copies of said comics (made at either SFSU or Kinkos in Colma at 3am) and that was pretty much my first mini-comic. I'm embarrassed by the under developed art and worldviews I had but at the same time proud that I had the guts to unleash such a crude publication which surprisingly got me some sort of following over the years.Q. If you have been to the SF Zine Fest before, do you have a favorite memory?
A. My favorite moment was having my table next to Jeff Plotkin of Happy Freak show. I was a fan of his comic before and it turned out he read some of my stuff prior to the show too. Cool guy, I get a Christmas Card from him every year ever since that show in 2006. I also liked when one guy's mind was totally blown away by some poster I did. He really wanted it but was like "my wife would kill me if I got it". I wanted to say "...then get a new wife".
Q. What would you like to see more of in the small-press world?
A. More transgressive work. And by that I mean stuff that is genuinely transgressive, not transgressive for transgression's sake.
Q. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be?
A. Don't expect profit. Otherwise it's so easy to be discouraged and call it quits. Be willing to do trades with anyone anywhere. That's the best way you can leave an impact with your work cause fellow zinesters/artists/publishers know how to appreciate this stuff more than your average joe.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Ansel Schmidt. Stay tuned for more!
A. How can folks find your zines?
Q. I have no website. You know how Mennonites just picked a decade in the 17th century and decided that technological development was irrelevant after that point? Well, my decade is the 1980s.
A. What is your all-time favorite zine (by someone other than you)? Who is your DIY hero?
Q. My favorite zine ever is Sandor Ellix Katz's Wild Fermentation, which was later expanded into a book. A cookbook. In my imagination, Sandor Katz is this superhero who battles capitalism by day and by night retreats to a giant cave lined with fermenting jars of glass and clay. He wears a suit made of living kelp which makes him nearly invulnerable to attack.
A. If you could give advice to an aspiring DIY creator, what would it be? What advice do you wish you had gotten when you were starting out?
Q. I think I need some advice myself. When I was a teenager, I wish someone had told me to listen when people gave me advice--but then again, maybe they did tell me that and I ignored them.
A. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
Q. I play gamelan. Also I like woodcarving.
Throughout the month leading up the the SFZF we will be running daily mini-profiles of some of the many zinesters, cartoonists, and other creative types who make the Zine Fest what it is. Today's creator is Melaina of Melaina Comics. Stay tuned for more!
Q. What inspired you to get into small-press/DIY publishing?
A. I first got into DIY publishing when I moved from the East coast to San Francisco *gasp* 11 years ago. I was struggling with finding a way to keep in touch with the friends I was leaving behind. Rather than write a boring form letter, I decided to start publishing zines with short stories from my life. The first several zines I published contained prose, collage and photography. At the same time I was self-publishing these zines, I was hanging out with my friend MariNaomi in her art studio, where we'd paint together. She noticed that I enjoyed telling stories from my life and enjoyed creating visual art and suggested I put the two together and start making comics.
Q. When did you create your first zine or similar project? Can you describe it for us? When you look back, are you proud, embarrassed, both?
A. The first comic I published was technically back in the second grade and was called "The Shy Boy Moved In." However, I only made a single copy of that one (fortunately for the rest of the world). My first zine intended for an audience outside of my family was written in 2002 and was called "Buttman III." No, there was not a Buttman I nor a Buttman II. I liked leaving a bit of mystery by starting with 3. I thought it was pretty good at the time, but I recently reread it and immediately hid it away on a shelf, where no one could find it.
Q. In addition to the kind of work you will be showing at Zine Fest, what other creative pursuits do you have? Hobbies? Passions?
A. In addition to the creative work that I will be showing at ZineFest (my comics), I also enjoy swing dancing and knitting. My comics are autobiographical or memoir style and I've also been working on what I call "Autobiographical Art" where I've been taking pages out of my high school diaries and turning them into collages or origami. I may bring some of that stuff to ZineFest this year, too.
Q. What are you working on now? What are you gonna do next?
A. Right now, I'm working on a comic called "Crash Course," which is about my attempt to learn how to drive again after taking public transit for 10 years. I'm hoping to have it done in time for ZineFest. Cross your fingers!
