Since I changed the format of my site, to a blog as the main landing page, I guess I should be writing about the things I make, and why I make them a bit more often. Gone are my long rambling and seemingly inconsistent posts!
To begin with, why even make a blog in the TikTok era of the web? My interests in self publishing has been long drawn from the first time I used a blog to write things about girls in my teenage years (worst decisions ever, I was cancelled before getting cancelled was a thing), which pivoted to very personal blog sharings that later became email threads— there were things I really wanted to share with the world, and web based publishing was the way ahead then.
Later as an older teen studying graphic design, I found the wonderful world of zines. These extremely stylish pieces of print were the beginnings of an era I still don’t really understand. The fact that you could print something, not put it online, and yet, people might want to read it? That sounded crazy to me then, and extremely exciting.
Now, I’m in my mid thirties and making zines as part of my job. I see it as a means to showcase creativity in extremely non-traditional ways. After all, if someone was able to do something the traditional way, then why would they have approached zine making in the first place?
It’s a space where anything can exist, just because. If you dare to make it, you can, and someone will read it. Zines and zine culture is so obscure and individual, and some part of it hates to be cool. I know how that feels like with skateboarding in my history too. “I wanna stand out but I really don’t like other people standing out with me.” type of vibes.
I make zines now because I am also thinking about writing and publishing. I like writing, this blog as proof, my Medium account as proof, my lame Substack as proof. I do. I love reading too, my Goodreads account over there. Zines are a first step for me to dare and try with my writing creativity. It’s not always perfect, but having something is a better start than an unpublished idea.
I will keep on making zines, but I hope one day, I’ll get a book actually going. Maybe sooner than I think… maybe!