Zine Books | Suite101.com

Are you hip to the zine scene? Whether your answer is "absolutely!" "sort of," or "what's a zine?" everyone can learn from and be inspired by the funky, funny, fertile ideas set forth in Zine Scene: The Do It Yourself Guide to Zines. Written by Francesca Lia Block, author of the Weetzie Bat books (collected in Dangerous Angels), and Hillary Carlip, author of Girl Power: Young Women Speak Out, this book is both a tribute and a how-to guide to zines. Lots of zines by teen girls (both authors write for teenage female audience) but as a twenty-something, I loved this book. It's a fun read and I discovered a lot of zines that I had not seen before.

The Factsheet Five Zine Reader: Dispatches from the Edge of the Zine Revolution by R. Seth Friedman is one of the best for historical information on zines that I have found. He explains the origin and evolution of the zine phenomenon and goes on to offer more than seventy examples from almost as many different zines. Also interviews with zine publishers, tips on how to start your own zine, and subscription information for a number of popular zines. Factsheet Five Magazine web edition: http://www.factsheet5.com/.

The Book of Zines: Readings from the Fringe by Chip Rowe has over 80 selections from various zines. There's something here for every maladjusted ex-teenager, from cutely benign tales of Brady Bunch fandom to recipes for making your own edible underwear to odes to Hello Kitty. It also has blurbs from zine publishers on the art of zine-making. Also a companion website - http://www.zinebook.com/.

Fiction writer and publisher of the now defunct zine "Pagan's Head," Pagan Kennedy knows from zines. There are plenty of collected writings from her zine in Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally...Found Myself...I Think., which takes the reader through the zine queen's experiences in underground publishing. I've read this one 4 or 5 times already. Note: Kennedy's fiction is also excellent - her latest novel is The Exes and it was great! Also Stripping and Spinsters, both short story collections. You can get a sample of her work at Pagan's web site - http://www.channel1.com/users/pagan/.

In the past several years, more and more people, particularly women, have begun to produce their own magazines--xeroxing pictures, handwriting articles, or doing layout on computers at home. Freed from the constraints of investors and, in many cases, advertisers, these publications explore issues and opinions not often found in more mainstream outlets. A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings from the Girl Zine Revolution. by Tristan Taormino and Karen Green includes articles, essays, interviews, artwork, and fiction by many of these innovative women. I stumbled across this book in the public library a few years ago and I haven't been the same since. After reading this book, I knew that I wanted to make my own zine. Includes excerpts from popular zines, such as Hip Mama (http://www.hipmama.com/) and BUST (http://www.bust.com).