Self-publications and Zines - Recently Updated Pages

The Original Universe

JeffAB — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:54:36 CDT

News (March 19,2009)The online ballot is available here.

(March 17, 2009): Then it was on the shortlist, now it's an official nomination!
(March 6, 2009): The Original Universe has been nominated for the Aurora Awards, Canada's Hugos.
(August 7, 2009) The awards were presented. We won!

INFORMATION (FAQ) ABOUT THE ORIGINAL UNIVERSE

I figured I’d share some Q&A on this venture

Q: So what is The Original Universe?

A: It’s close to the works produced by Dr. Jerry Bails, Roy Thomas in the first incarnation of ALTER EGO, and the zines that Len Wein and Marv Wolfman contributed to in their early lives -- except that I only compare in kind, not in quality! I don’t think that big of myself.

A fanzine has a much smaller financial requirements from its membership -even no cost. In fact, the Usual could require nothing more than a regular Letter of Comment [LOC] (I’ll explain both of these later in this missive).

Q: Where’s “The Original Universe” name come from?

A: A few years ago DC Comics used this name to promote some of their product, to separate it from Elseworlds stories.

I found the name ironic; the original universe at DC was really the original multiverse pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC now has another multiverse after 52, but the damage has been done to many characters as different writers tried to tack on more origin ideas. It also lead to calling characters ‘radioactive’ when too much messing around made them untouchable, as well as the dreaded ‘retcon’ (retroactive continuity) word, when everything about the characters was changed yet again for new continuity. A prime example: The Legion of Superheroes now in its fifth history rewrite - although there are seeming originals in the present day at the moment.

Many of us in this zine were readers before Crisis, so we know where everything came from. Parts of this zine will hopefully celebrate that past.

Q: Who are you?

A: In 1990 I originated COMICOPIA, a comicbook APA. This I contributed to for 100 issues, more than 16 years. I began writing for APAs 6 months earlier, and at one time was a member of 4 of them.

I’m a 4-time winner of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) [so far; it’s 2007 when I write this]. As of June 30th I added 1st-time Script Frenzy winner to my resume. I got a BfA in Cinema: Animation Option in May 1990, so it’s about time I used it! :)

I’ve had 13 letters published in comics to date, and so far have 5 tabletop roleplaying game publishing credits (as of July 2007), 4 of them in super-hero games. At least 2 more will come out this year.

As you can read, I have a lot of know-how here... not to mention collecting comics for more than 26 years!

Q: Just what is “the Usual”?

A: This is a tradition with zines, in ways similar to Minac. It takes several forms:

i. Letters of comment (LOCs). My fellow APA-folks will be familiar with this. They are like MCs, only shorter. Often they are about 2-3 pages of text before the font size is reduced. They can be comments on the zine itself, comments replying to other LOCs... they tend to share the vibrancy of MCs like that.

Even if you contribute other things to the zine, you’re encouraged to still LOC for this reason.

ii. Cover art / illustrations

There’s a zine tradition called “fillos”: small illustrations to go as fill between long blocks of text.

Likewise, I hope contributors can provide artwork for covers. Some such artists have gone on to wider exposure and awards.

iii.articles

One zine I’m a part of prints several pieces by others. Some are reprints from FAPA (the now-legendary F/SF APA that’s been around for over 50 years so far); some are columns from his mom on the incredible travels she’s gone on worldwide... and one deals with the life of a man as he went through WW 2 as a soldier.

The Original Universe deals with comicbooks, so pieces will most likely cover that. Some of them may be original fiction, from me or others; I print them up at no additional cost to readers (if from others, obviously), but please be mindful the length isn’t too great (4 pages max).

Some of it can just have a link to comics as thin as the fact all who write for it / read it are comic fans. I’m not going to push for anything more strict than that -- and since we all are fans anyway, that will not come into question. I hope for more comicbook content, but if I’m the sole provider for that, it’s fine.

iii. Letters of Comment (LOCs)

As I said, these can be similar to the MCs we APA folks are accustomed to.

LOCs as e-mail are fine. I send my LOCs to my 2 other zines that way. You don’t have to worry about formatting; that’s my deal.

iv. zine exchanges

This is another longtime tradition for zines: trading your zine for mine.

Q: Is this an electronic zine?

A: No. I’ve already spoken at length over the years on how I have a dislike for electronic-only zines. There’s an archive of electronic zines for me to e-mail (printed sample issues are $3 Canadian as I state below, but the PDFs are free) , and I have a Web archive of the zines after the fact on Efanzines, but the originals will indeed be printed and mailed first.

Q: Are there rules for flame wars?

A: Nothing official, just a simple guideline: I read everything before I print it. If it’s just there to start a fight, I leave it out. In general we’re mature enough not to pick fights anyway, so I likely won’t even need to use this guideline.

Q: Is there a subscription fee?

A: Not an enforced one. There is a voluntary one (another form of “the Usual”), but it isn’t a necessity. It’s not a huge dent: $3 US per sample issue, $12 for a year. I’m attempting to stay with a bi-monthly schedule.

Would I like people to subscribe? Of course! Any subscription funds will go straight to paying for photocopies and mailing.

Q: Are there MinAc rules? (Minimum Activity. An APA term)

A: Yes and no. Yes, because you have to contribute the Usual every 2 issues or you drop out. No, because subscribers still receive issues until their subscriptions run out (if they’re subscribed). I’ll let you know an issue before, so you’ll have approximately 2 months to re-subscribe. You just don’t get feedback unless you LOC as well.

There are no concepts like Member or Waiting lists. If you contribute non-flames, I print you.

Q: How long in pagecount will this be?

A: Well what I’d love is a 32-page zine, but the ones I’ve seen at that length are 15-20 years old. I’ll be happy if I start at 12-16 pages. More will just be gravy, but 32 will be the maximum for now. I just received one in early May that was 46 pages, but for me that’s just crazy.

(I just realized: it may be shorter for financial and content reasons.)

Q: When did this all start?

A: In July of 2007. So far 9 issues are out.

I hope you all join in!

Q: How do I reach you?

A: theoriginaluniverse(at)NOSPAMgmail(dot)com.

Q: Is there a past issue archive on Efanzines now? (Sept. 10, 2009)

A: Yes: Here.

Send To Phone

The Zine Dump

JeffAB — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:53:26 CDT

Editor: Guy Lillian III

The Zine Dump is a review of all the zines that are sent to Guy Lillian III. It's through here that I found the zine I started with in 2005, The Knarley Knews.

Guy has big ties to comicbook fandom, as I learned in the Comic Effect zine.

Eclectic

JeffAB — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:52:43 CDT

This is a category for mixed zines, stuff filling so many genres - at least too many for me to categorize them!

Love Bunny Press: This seems to mix Webcomix, fiction and essays, and is available generally in exchange for US postage stamps.

The Original Universe: A comicbook fanzine. Click the link for the FAQ.

The Zine Dump: This is a zine to review other zines.

The Home of Fan Activity

JeffAB — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:49:15 CST

Zines, APAs and Self-published Projects Welcome!

On this site, I hope to help celebrate many kinds of fan writing. If you the readers have things to add, feel free! One person alone can't hype eyerything well enough. After all, if this site only hypes my own projects, the egotism would be insufferable. :-)

I began an APA called Comicopia over 16 years ago contributed until issue 100 in April 2007. I now have another project instead. Counting my years before that, it has been over 19 years that I've been a member of different APAs, written letters to zines, and letters to comics as well. I hope to celebrate all these hobbies, as well as to advertise them through this site. I'm also encouraging others to do the same. Use this site to promote your own zines and fan products as well!

Comix

JeffAB — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:45:38 CDT

Unlike the traditional comicbooks of the mainstream, these tend to be personal works by independent artists and writers. In fact, they generally don't deal with mainstream characters either.

Examples:

React to Broken Dishes: by Olivia Arrow. Billed as a micro comic, this fits the name; it's very small in size.

The artwork seems to be a mixture of hand-painted with clipped in photos. It's almost an abstract piece as a result.

Heart: writer: ToeKnee Tuan Vutran Website. Artist Olivia Arrow Website. This is a slice-of-life, drawn in a more traditional (yet personal) style. Many of us have been in situations like this one.

zines

JeffAB — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:28:15 CDT

A big detailed research piece on zines is on Wikipedia here. I'll share with you my own personal experiences:

While you can purchase zines by mail, many of them are available without cost for effort on your part, called "The Usual".

"The Usual" can be one of several things: an article a person contributes, trade for your own zines mailed to the editor, or an LOC (Letter of Content).

Letters are usually feedback on the previous issue, including replies to questions and comments by other letterwriters (called "letterhacks"). These letters are very similar to Mailing Comments in APAs.

Another similarity: letter writers also have to produce letters on a regular basis, often every 2 issues.

Often professionals will come to zines when they are burnt out by work.

Links:

These are the two zines I'm currently a member of:

The Knarley Knews (also an archive of past issue PDFs)

This zine accepts fiction and other prose.

Alexiad - doesn't currently have a Website. Editor: jtmajor(at)iglou(dot)com

This is mostly a review zine. It doesn't accept fiction.

ZineWiki

There are many zines hosted online at a site called efanzines . I've visited it, but for now want to devote my writing to the two I'm with right now. Adding my own zine's deadline and RPG work, I don't want to be oversaddled with stuff!

Zine definitions:

Distro
Genzine
Perzine

Other zine categories:
Music
Literature
Comix
GLBT
Movie
Television
Eclectic

APA

JeffAB — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:04:01 CDT

This three-letter word stands for an Amateur Press Association (or Alliance).

How it works: The membership produces their own newsletter and make sufficient copies. The number of copies are decided in the Constitution, determined well in advance.

The copies are then sent to the Central Mailer (or Distribution Manager, or deranged Maroon, depending on your definition). In turn they produce a volume containing one copy of each newsletter, plus likely an additional editorial and Table of Contents (in ours we call it a House Organ) and then mails back these completed volumes to the membership.

Generally a part of each newsletter is the Mailing Comments, commentary on the last issue and continuation of discussions. Some of these discussions stretch back months or even years, contributing to a feeling of isolationism by newer readers who don't get the references.

Definitions: Many terms have been created along with APAs.

DM/CM - Distribution Manager, Central Mailer. The person in charge of the publication who organizes everything.
MinAc - Minimum activity. For each APA, the requirements are different. Comicopia has 4 pages every 2 issues, some have more pages over more issues, some have a smaller page requirement but every issue.
MCs - Mailing Comments. The lifeblood of APAs and of many zines as well... this is commentary in a newsletter about the output of other nenbers in their sections, and even comments continuing discussions started in previous issues.

History:

Taken from Wikipedia:

" The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur printers. The earliest to become more than a small informal group of friends was the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) founded February 19, 1876 by Evan Reed Riale and nine other members in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first British APA was the British Amateur Press Association founded in 1890. The second United States APA was the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA) founded in 1895 by a group of teenagers including William H. Greenfield (aged 14) and Charles W. Heins (aged 17). This became a confederation of small amateur publishers which split into two organisations known interchgangeably as UAP and UAAPA. The American Amateur Press Association (AAPA) was formed in 1936 by a secession from what was then called UAPAA. The first science fiction APA was the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA) formed by a group of science fiction fans in 1937. SAPS, the Spectator Amateur Press Society, started in the 1940s. The first comics APA was started by Jerry Bails in 1964 in the United States. Called CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) it grew to its present limit of 40 members. It has become the archetype for most subsequyent comics APAs. Its members have included Dwight Decker, Mark Evanier, Carl Gafford, Fred Patten, Richard and Wendy Pini, Roy Thomas and Don and Maggie Thompson. Michael Barrier's famed animation fanzine Funnyworld started as a CAPA-alpha contribution. Decker and Gafford were also founding members of the minicomics co-op the United Fanzine Organization. The difference in a co-op and an apa is that an apa is helmed by a central mailer, to whom the members send copies of their publications. The central mailer then compiles all the books into one large volume, which is then mailed out to the membership in apazines. In a co-op, however, there is no central mailer; the members distribute their own works, and are linked by a group newsletter, a group symbol that appears on each member work, and a group checklist in every "member zine". The first European comics APA was called PAPA and was founded by a group of comics fans in 1977. It was soon renamed BAPA (for "British APA"). The APA model was picked up by artists in the 1980s. Groups of artists contributed elements of combined duplicated artworks that omitted the conversational elements of the fandom-based APAs. These pieces are sometimes called "assembly art"."

Some additions not mentioned there:

Donald A. Wollheim is credited for inventing Mailing Comments
H.P. Lovecraft was a member of NAPA.

Links:

Here are some (mostly active) Web links, also from Wikipedia and also on this site:

1997 Southern Fandom Confederation Handbook
Comicopia Website (My baby!)
Apatoon's website
Interlac - The Website says it's still ongoing, but the information is almost 2 years old.
New Moon Directory, site dormant
Klordny (no specific site; this one seems to be from a member only)
Alarums and Excursions
APACalypse
Legends APA

letterhacking

JeffAB — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:16:15 CST

"letterhacking" is similar to "lochacking" for zines and shares some similarities with Mailing Comments in APAs: the writer is giving their feedback, in this case in comicbooks.

The trend brought us many legends in the letterwriting field, one of them the late and lamented T.M. Maple (Wikipedia mentions him here and Sequential has other links here ). There was a time you could open any issue of a comic or comic news magazine and find a letter in it written by him; he's credited with over 3 thousand letters. Makes my current claim of 13 or 14 seem insignificant.

I gave him an invite to Comicopia many years ago. He had to turn me down due to lack of time available. He sent me a nice letter on his own letterhead. I haven't found it since my last move, which is a tragedy; he died from a heart attack a few months later.

Several of us in Comicopia have histories as letterhackers, and some of us still do (with me currently being our sole lochacker). With more and more changes to online discussion forums, as well as DC Comics abolishing letter columns a few years ago,the art of writing letters has been vanishing from the world. Hopefully those of us still doing it can slow that passing into history!

APA History

JeffAB — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:46:43 CDT

The various APAs I've been a member of:

Mordred :the first I was ever part of, long defunct. This was a general RPG one.
Comicopia: my baby, still going strong.
APAcalypse: RPG APA. I was a founding member, but I left more than 2 years ago when it became an electronic/PDF thing. I don't know if it still exists. I have an answer below.
Rogues Gallery: A HERO Games APA. When I joined Aaron Allston was the DM. Stephen R. Long took over, but with him now in charge of DOJ (the folks who resurrected HERO) I don't know if the APA is still around.

Now for the others out there. I know there are a few (one of my friends is a member of Klordny, a Legion of Superheroes APA). Share them here!

APAcalypse

Ketherian — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:31:45 CDT

A role playing APA

APAcalypse is a quarterly (every three months) APA dedicated to the art of Role-playing. The subject matter included within the articles must, in one form or another, deal with Role-playing in some fashion. This includes anything that the author/artist can justify, in good conscious, to the members of this chronicle as gaming related material. Each issue is host to a different (usually holy-text related) theme that members are welcome to follow when writing their articles, but are not restricted to said theme. APAcalypse has been in print for almost six years.

To join, or learn more about APAcalypse, please visit the APAcalypse web site.

Black Book Press

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:02:35 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Alarums and Excursions

JeffAB — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 16:30:25 CDT

This is one of the oldest and longest-running tabletop RPG (role-playing game) APAs in existence today.

I have a copy from many years ago. For that issue at least all zines had the exact same fonts and overall appearance, but that may be different long by now.

Many of today's gaming pros passed through this APA's pages. Several RPGs, including the Over the Edge game, began in the pages here.

Website

Ezines

JeffAB — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:54:58 CDT

This is simply a zine delivered through e-mail. They're often free of charge. Many do accept feedback letters and commentary, but tend to be much shorter than print zines - so the letter section is also shorter.

Example E-zines:

There are many different themes and varieties of Ezines. Here are some to start with.

Boogie Jack: This is mostly targetting Web Design, but also covers some life events. The newsletter is called Almost a Newsletter.

Sitepoint: One of the most detailed Web design portals. It also offers several design-themed newsletters.

Writing Etc.: Filbert Publishing sells a wide range of publications for budding writers. This newsletter covers many such avenues.

Writers Write: More of a listing zine, but very encouraging for writers.

Heroic Stories: Want to hear stories of the good ordinary people do? then this newsletter's for you.

Legends APA

JeffAB — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:04:18 CDT

Legends APA is a comics APA. Founded in 1986 by Rich Liu, it was originally chartered as a DC Comics-focused APA.

Legends continues to operate to this day, and maintains a home page and blog site.

Music

JeffAB — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:51:45 CDT

There are as many flavors of music zines as there are types of music. These include:

pop
punk
rock
reggae
ska

Distro

JeffAB — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:08:01 CDT

"Distro" is a shorter form of "distribution". Many distros (feel free to correct me on this if you know better) are collections of links to other zines.

Factsheet Five was an example of what was eventually a North American professionally published distro; a review and showcase zine of zines.

GAFIA

JeffAB — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:25:58 CDT

This is an acronym for "Getting Away From It All".

When a professional in the field the APA deals with joins, often they're said to be "gafiating"... getting away from group politics in their field and deadline pressures to produce (for pay, anyway).

Perzine

JeffAB — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:05:14 CDT

Definition from Wikipedia:

Perzines are a genre of zines; the "per" meaning "personal". Although almost all zines could be considered personal, this term describes zines that are written about one's own personal experiences, opinions and observations. This genre has become increasingly popular within the zine community and is probably the largest used format for zines today. In many ways, the perzine could be considered the paper predecessor to the blog. This is because perzines are usually written like a diary or journal.

Genzine

JeffAB — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 22:59:58 CDT

This stands for 'general interest zine'. It'z a zine open to anyone. Unlike an APA, it isn't aimed at only one specific area of fandom interest.

This term has been used for science fiction zines, but it can also refer to a zine aimed at several areas of interest, general instead of specific.