we've come to the end

[Zine World]

I have decided to stop publishing Zine World.

I thank you all for coming forward and joining this group, for your willingness to help out. However, I don't think the group is solid enough to move forward. I can no longer continue as the zine's leader. Additionally, I think the world is a different place, and I don't think a review zine is as needed as it once was.

I will announce it publicly within the next day or two, as soon as I can figure out what to say. (Please keep this to yourself until then.) I regret that there wasn't a 'final issue' but I think this is the right time. I intend to issue refunds to subscribers. I have several zines here that had been sent for review and I plan to donate them to a zine library (although if someone wants their zine back I can send it back to them).

I plan to keep the website up, at least for now. I will probably transition it to a more static site focused on resource information. If anyone wants to help keep it up, I'd be glad to have your assistance.

thanks,
Jerianne

--
Zine World: A Reader's Guide to the Underground Press
PO Box 3556, Portland OR 97208
www.undergroundpress.org

[John Porcellino]

Hi all,

Jerianne -- I was just thinking about all this yesterday, and was imagining that this was the conclusion you were coming to.  I'm sad to see Zine World go, but I completely understand your rationale.

I do want to say, that as much as I love paper (obviously) I think the idea of a paper review/news zine is probably out of date.  The reviews and news are constantly turning over, and the internet is the best place to find this information, simply due to that rapid turnover and affordability.

I, for instance, always love getting a Zine World in the mail, but typically I read through it once, make note of the zines/events/news I'm interested in, and then donate it to a library (as I do with almost all my zines at this point).

On the other hand, I regularly checked the Zine World website many times a month.  I enjoyed the up to date news, and reading people's comments etc.  I think switching Zine World from print to wholly a web presence makes the most sense.

There could be a page for news, a page for events, a forum page, and then -- there could either be a section devoted to recent reviews, readable a month at a time for instance, or you could even upload the new "issue" as a PDF that folks could download and read, or print if they desired a paper copy.  This could even be done behind some kind of payment structure, to cover the costs of running the site/PO Box etc. Click a button, $3 goes to Zine World, and you get to download the new issue.

When I was running my distro in the 90's the hardest part money-wise was the cost of printing up a thousand paper catalogs, and mailing them-- catalogs that were outdated within a month as new items came in and others sold out.  Now, I list my catalog online, and those costs are gone.  And it's instantly updateable.

Another thought I had was Zine World joining forces with some other zine resource site already out there-- Stolen Sharpie, or Xerography Debt.  Even if the Zine World name is subsumed under the new entity (though I do love the name Zine World-- it's perfect!).

This is just me throwing ideas out there.  Running my distro, and drawing my comics, is already a full-time job for me, and I don't have much more energy I could allocate to something like this.  Also, I'm technologically challenged (ie old school), so someone with an understanding and facility of how the web works would be best to do this.

I understand Jerianne's decision to cease publication, but it seemed like she (you) were opening the door for someone else to maybe continue things somehow.  These are my thoughts on that subject...  I hope somehow, in some form, Zine World can continue!

Best wishes,

John P.

King-Cat Comics and Stories

Spit and a Half Distribution Co.

P.O. Box 142 / So. Beloit, IL / 61080 / USA

www.king-cat.net

www.spitandahalf.blogspot.com

www.johnporcellino.blogspot.com

---

Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:04:09 -0800
Subject: {zineworld} we've come to the end
From: zine...@gmail.com
To: zine...@googlegroups.com

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[Snout Snout]

I'm really sorry to hear this. I had just read my first issue a few months ago and greatly anticipated more, but I understand how life goes.

Will the website continue to host reviews of zines?

Good luck with whatever comes next!

[Tom Hendricks]

This is sad news, but not unexpected. The job is a hard one and the returns slim.

I've been there from the start. Big thanks to Doug Holland for starting this and his sacrifice, and then another for Jerianne for keeping it going.

One thing that I'll take away from this besides all the zine fun, is that this was a new way to review - honest opinions from fellow zinesters. Never corporate pressure in the reviews, never any pretension in the reviews, always open to ALL zines - no zines were blocked from reviews, and at it's best, just one person talking to anther and giving their honest opinion.  No one else really got that mix like zine world.  All my best to Jerianne, and everyone else involved. Maybe we can keep in touch some way.

Tom Hendricks 

(editor of the 20 year old zine Musea)