a beginner's intro to zine research by atozines
What to consider when you're considering
All zines come with some type of risk—as a host or a contributor. After all, to err is human. So it's important that you know how many risks (yellow or red flags) that you could be potentially taking on when joining a project. This guide was made with paid zines (physical or digital) in mind, and for people who are newer to the community and need a place to start.What to know before beginning
Whether a zine is "worth it" after your zine research really depends on you.
Only you can decide how many red or yellow flags are too many for your comfort. Maybe some of the red flags we list are yellow to you—or vice versa. This guide is just a starting point for your journey.Why research?
It's good to make informed decisions and look out for yourself.
What's shown to the public—through the project's socials and how the mods present themselves—can often reflect how organized the project is. For example, if the socials seem disorganized, one could infer that the project might lack organization overall.To reiterate
This guide contains our opinions on how to classify these flags. Zine research is not black and white (or in this case... green, yellow, and red). Take what you need from this guide and adjust it to best fit your preferences, opinions, and needs. This is not a rule book, it is a starting point.If you're checking out this resource, you may find these helpful as well:
| zine baby by atozines | a beginners guide to zines — typical zine structure, contributor expectations, and portfolio tips for new contributors |
| preorder baby by atozines | a beginners guide to physical zine preorders — typical timelines, types of campaigns, production & shipping expectations, leftovers |
| zine flags by deviation | red, yellow, and green flags to consider thought the entire zine process —from interest check to preorders |
| zine red flags by weiwei | red flags for all stages of a zine project |
Disclaimer: Every zine (and person) is different. These are just tips and some general information about zines. They aren't guaranteed to help you find successful zines.This resource was not beta read and may be updated in the future
Most zines typically have either a twitter or bluesky page. These tips will be specific to those profiles as navigating tumblr and instagram is a little different. But these may still be applicable
| Profile Bio | ✦ Includes most of the following: SFW/NSFW, physical/digital, profit/charity, fandom, character/ship ✦ Only included some of the info listed above ✦ Fails to mention keywords in bio so people know what the project is about |
| Link to Info Doc or Carrd | ✦ Is linked in the blurb or designated link area ✦ Is in the pinned post at the top of the page ✦ Is no where to be found—even during Interest Check an info doc is important to have during an interest check even if things will "be determined by interest check results" |
| Account Following | ✦ Is following moderators and contributors ✦ The following list is slightly cluttered with community accounts & official accounts ✦ The following list is completely cluttered with unaffiliated accounts and users and/or is not following any moderators |
| Tagging Community Accounts | ✦ Is tagging active and relevant accounts ✦ Is tagging other zines and/or community accounts that have been inactive for years running a community account is hard work, so some accounts may be on hiatus for a few weeks or months ✦ has continuously tagged accounts that no longer exists or accounts that have been inactive for 2+ years or has not tagged any accounts |
| Flavor Text | Immersive text that fits the theme ✦ a fun little touch to the project ✦ overusing it in a way that makes content hard to understand (especially for ESL/non-native English speakers) ✦ continues to use it even in situations that are more serious and should be more direct |
| Contact | ✦ has indicated a method to reach out to them: email, anon ask box/form, DMs ✦ doesn't answer any of the questions they're sent ✦ has no way to contact the moderators other than leaving a reply in the comments or tagging them in a post |
Although a carrd page is almost standard it is not a requirement if there is a google doc or alternative website (strawpage or etc) that has the same or similar info
| Information available during interest check | ✦ Includes theme, tentative zine specs, moderator information, schedule ✦ Only included some of the info listed above ✦ Does not include moderators or FAQ is not available because "its still in interest check" |
| Information available during applications | ✦ Includes theme, zine specs, moderator information, schedule ✦ Only included some of the info listed above ✦ no moderator information. Still says "to be determined by interest check" |
| Zine specs | ✦ Physical or Digital, Profit or Charity, Contributor Expectations, Content Restrictions, Amount of contributors accepted ✦ Zine size, Charity Name, Portfolio Guidelines ✦ no specs or lacks specs |
| Moderator information | ✦ Includes social media profile links, previous experience, a link to a carrd, moderator role ✦ Only included some of the info listed above ✦ has no links or previous experience or does not list moderators moderator information is important to have BEFORE a full team is compiled because even moderator applicants deserves to know who they could be working with |
| Moderator team size | ✦ the average is 3-5 ✦ 1-2 (lacks support if needed), 6 (has the potential to be disorganized) ✦ more than 6 |
| Moderator roles | ✦ Organization, Finance, Shipping, Graphics, Formatting, Social Media ✦ Beta/Writing, Art/Merch these roles are still important but are not as public facing as the ones listed above which is the only reason why they're separated ✦ If standing alone: Head Mod, General, Discord, Sensitivity these roles should not be a moderators only roles |
When researching moderators it's important to note that you're not trying to be invasive on their personal life or judge their worth as a moderator based on how active they are in the fandom. But more to gauge their prior experience in the zine space and their social media "standing".
| Social Accounts | ✦ Fairly "old" account(s), recently active, if they do a lot of zines: having a carrd or doc with previous and current projects available ✦ has multiple accounts that are dead and inactive with no active accounts ✦ all their accounts are bare, inactive, new, or has new accounts and refuses to be associated with old accounts |
| Age | ✦ is an adult. has an age, year or age range (i.e. 21+) on their social media or carrd/website ✦ is a minor often has less autonomy due to their age ✦ there is no indication of age or is known to have lied about their age |
| Previous Experience | ✦ has their own list of previous or applicable experience outside of the project ✦ only lists the standard 3-4 experiences on the project carrd or info doc ✦ does not have any list of previous zine experience or alternative but applicable non-zine experience previous experience is most important for shipping, finance, formatting, production please remember that this guide is for paid zines, it is normal for free zine mods to have no prior experience |
| Zine List | a list of previous projects they've participated in. typically a carrd, google doc, or page on a personal website ✦ Easily accessible from their social media profile, includes the following information: project name, role, a link to the project ✦ list is not up to date, not easily accessible, lacks important project info, hard to navigate ✦ does not have a list of previous zines despite being in "many zines", list contradicts information given on project accounts |
| Ongoing Projects | ✦ Does not have a lot of ongoing projects ✦ Is in a lot of projects but projects are staggered, has a lot of long standing projects (onging for 2+ years), list is not up to date ✦ is in multiple zines with "big roles" (i.e. finance & shipping), has a lot of ongoing projects in similar timelines, has no concluded projects but a lot of ongoing ones "a lot" is subjective and may depend on role or your personal preference on how many projects one should be in at a time |
| Concluded Projects | ✦ A "healthy" list of "successful" and concluded zines ✦ primarily has "emergency" mod roles, only has concluded free zine experience although free zines are a good way to gain experience they do differ from paid zines ✦ Has no concluded projects but a lot of ongoing ones |
| Public Portfolio | Graphic, Formatting, Writing, or Art Moderators ✦ A public space to see their relevant work: carrd portfolio, behance, instagram, ao3, etc ✦ is outdated, not easily accessible, lacks relevant samples ✦ does not have a public portfolio for people to browse |
| Public Experience | Shipping Moderators ✦ has proof of shipping things in the past—for past zines or their own online shops proof can be an long standing online store or zine photos of received packages. (an online store is also good public experience for finance mods) ✦ does not have a previous shipping experience in general |
If a zine does not have the information you're looking for readily available or your confused by the information given and need more clarity. You can ask. A lot of moderators are more than happy to clarify information and answer your questions.
| If asking through an askbox or zine email | ✦ Be polite, professional, and patient ✦ Give the moderators at least 3-4 days to answer your questions before following up—they may be in different timezones and may have to discuss the answer to the question ✦ Do not personally reach out to a specific team member unless its been 2+ weeks since you've sent your inquiry |
| Things to ask before onboarding | These things are not that common to have in zine FAQs but may be important for an accepted contributor to know before accepting ✦ Where is the zine shipping from? Depending on where you live, this question may be important due to shipping restrictions and import taxes as it may affect your contributor bundle. ✦ What platforms will payout be done through? Most zines only do PayPal, if you can not have one for whatever reason, you should see if there are any other options before onboarding into a for-profit project. if the project is charity, it does not matter. |
And in case you need it, here are some questions you may have as a contributor and might want some guidance on.
| Asking for an extension | ✦ Ask in advance if possible, mention a new date you would like your extension for some projects may have guidelines on extensions ✦ Asking for an extension the day of check-in or final submission ✦ Asking for an extension a few days after it was due—especially for a final submission |
| If you need to leave a project | moderators cannot keep you hostage in a zine but you can be courteous when it comes to stepping away from a project ✦ Reach out to a moderator and let them know you have to leave. no details needed. wait for a moderator to confirm with you before exiting the server ✦ A long winded explanation with personal information the moderator team did not need to know, leaving before confirming with a moderator ✦ Leaving the server without telling anyone, threatening to leave a project in attempts to strongarm the mod team into allowing you to do what you want |