Set the way back machine - fanzines
Mar. 14th, 2008 01:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grnvixenI was sorting through old fandom stuff last night, and then was using a comb binder today here at work to assemble some booklets for a seminar next week. This prompted some memories from when I was more active in SF fandom. Cut in case I get long I didn't really get involved in fandom until the mid-70's. This is when mimeographs still reigned as King. Printing was to expensive, so putting out anything, from a zine to a newsletter, could be an exercise in frustration. One little typo...... And the mimeo pages would only last for so many pages.
Easy access copy/print shops helped zine publication a lot. Altho I can still remember agonizing over trying to get that one perfect typed page that we would then be able to print from. We cut and pasted the artwork (and not with a mouse & cursor :) ), knowing absolutely nothing about the art of the layout and usually putting a piece where it was the easiest to print. Having the shop collate and staple the zine was still to expensive so there were usually big parties to get a zine put together. I remember several at Kay J's house, and a couple of times up at MediaWest con where an unused ballroom was taken over by a small mob of folks, all sitting on the floor, passing stacks of paper around. More hands truly made for a fun time :). Zines were pretty expensive (most of the good ones I remember were $15 and up at this time) so often, if it was a big zine, the collaters got a free copy or reduced price.
Word processors were the next step up but the extras were still expensive, even the collating. Didn't slow production, there was a flood of zines in the 80's, any fandom had their zines. Trek hung in there with Star Wars, Blake's 7, Starsky & Hutch, Man from UNCLE to name a few.
Desk top publishing seemed to really open things up as the zine publishers learned what *could* be done, and the competition lowered shop prices. Oh for a Kinko's in the early 80's! Comb binding, like I'm doing today for the booklet, was still unusual. Most of the long-time zine publishers had also learned more about layout by this time; 2-column format is easier to read. Of course back then, who was worrying about their eye sight!
All this was in the days before easy internet access with blogs, journals, discussion groups and websites. Yes, at one time there were even 'letter zines'. You sent your letter with the topic de jour to the publisher, it was published the next month, and hopefully you had some intelligent discussion by the next month. We take instant gratification so much for granted now :). Poking around on the web today there is a lot of fan fiction on the internet now but there still seem to be some hard copy publications too. Glad to see it still going.
Most of my fandom involvement was Trek and boy, did there used to be a LOT of ST zines! Some of the writing, and art, was pretty good and still holds up today. The rest? Not so well, and I say that having done a little of both myself :). It was a marvelous creative time though and a part of me will always remember it fondly.
Easy access copy/print shops helped zine publication a lot. Altho I can still remember agonizing over trying to get that one perfect typed page that we would then be able to print from. We cut and pasted the artwork (and not with a mouse & cursor :) ), knowing absolutely nothing about the art of the layout and usually putting a piece where it was the easiest to print. Having the shop collate and staple the zine was still to expensive so there were usually big parties to get a zine put together. I remember several at Kay J's house, and a couple of times up at MediaWest con where an unused ballroom was taken over by a small mob of folks, all sitting on the floor, passing stacks of paper around. More hands truly made for a fun time :). Zines were pretty expensive (most of the good ones I remember were $15 and up at this time) so often, if it was a big zine, the collaters got a free copy or reduced price.
Word processors were the next step up but the extras were still expensive, even the collating. Didn't slow production, there was a flood of zines in the 80's, any fandom had their zines. Trek hung in there with Star Wars, Blake's 7, Starsky & Hutch, Man from UNCLE to name a few.
Desk top publishing seemed to really open things up as the zine publishers learned what *could* be done, and the competition lowered shop prices. Oh for a Kinko's in the early 80's! Comb binding, like I'm doing today for the booklet, was still unusual. Most of the long-time zine publishers had also learned more about layout by this time; 2-column format is easier to read. Of course back then, who was worrying about their eye sight!
All this was in the days before easy internet access with blogs, journals, discussion groups and websites. Yes, at one time there were even 'letter zines'. You sent your letter with the topic de jour to the publisher, it was published the next month, and hopefully you had some intelligent discussion by the next month. We take instant gratification so much for granted now :). Poking around on the web today there is a lot of fan fiction on the internet now but there still seem to be some hard copy publications too. Glad to see it still going.
Most of my fandom involvement was Trek and boy, did there used to be a LOT of ST zines! Some of the writing, and art, was pretty good and still holds up today. The rest? Not so well, and I say that having done a little of both myself :). It was a marvelous creative time though and a part of me will always remember it fondly.
