Have you ever dreamed of owning your own magazine?
Did it seem like it was too hard, too much work, and you’d need too much money to even start it?
Well, think again. Magazines, or zines as they are now commonly called, are blowing up right now.
And they’re actually easy, fun, and inexpensive to do.
So get trendy and start making your own zine today. Here’s how:
Choose Your Magazine’s Theme & Name
You obviously can’t start your own zine if you don’t have a theme.
Here are some popular ideas for zines:
- Collective Zines: Where a community joins together to create their own zine.
- Politics: Want to start your own revolution? Start with your own political zine.
- Health: A great way to share information with others.
- Comics: Start your own version of DC Comics.
- Poetry: Or short stories or whatever kind of prose you love to write about.
- Personal Zines: Otherwise known as “working through my stuff” zines. This one is great if you’re ready to share your personal stories.
- Fine Arts: Silk screening is a great and inexpensive way to share your art with the world. Even Andy Warhol did it.
Once you pick your theme, find a name you love. This will become your brand so make sure it’s something that really captures your zine’s theme.
Magazine Cover Template
Choose the Format to Produce Your Work
There are various ways to format and produce your own zine.
Depending on how creative you want to be and what your budget looks like, you have some options.
- Folding
- Binding
- Page Layout
- Page Order
- Magazine Cover Templates
- Create a Master Copy: This is your test piece to see if you’re ready for publication. Make sure everything looks perfect before you head to the printers.
- Budget: How many copies do you need? Do you want to print in black and white or in color? Know these answers before you start printing.
Get creative and see what looks and feels best. After all, you want your zine to be something that’s easy to assemble but also visually appealing.
Of course, if you don’t have anyone reading your zine, there’s really no point in doing any of this, is there?
How to Build Up Your Collective
For any zine to be successful, there have to be people involved besides yourself.
You need a team of people supporting you each step of the way.
Here are the teams you need to build:
- Contributors: Are you going to write, edit, and print the whole zine yourself? Other people contributing means extra ideas and help. Just remember that too many contributions will lead to chaos and confusion.
- Connections: Your zine is to communicate, connect, and exchange ideas with others. Who better to connect with than other zine writers, publishers, and platforms?
- Distribution Friends: You have your zine but you need places and people who will happily distribute your zine. Research where your readers and fans spend their time and then ask to distribute your zines there. So if your zine is about art, see if design stores and galleries would be open to selling them for you.
Creating your own zine can be a wonderful way to express yourself, share ideas, and even make a little money.
You can even sell them on Amazon.
