Mag vs Zine

ryan said...

it's true-- the idea of starting a magazine (or small press) can be really persistent, even after tons of smart people say that it's emotionally/phsyically/mentally killer and painful :)

but... but, doing a mini zine on the cheap with friends is LESS painful... right?

Good question Ryan.

Let's start off with the top part. The idea of starting a magazine, it's a tough deal. Sleepless nights, figuring out your place in the world of print, getting the cash, meeting flakes, finding out you got ripped off here or there, a page doesn't bleed right, copy edit errors, photo isn't high enough res, miscounted the pages, have an ad missing, distributor does under, people complaining about their subscription, and this is maybe 1/1o of the things you need to deal with. Maybe one day, I'll compile more, but for now, this is a start.

Doing a mini zine can have equal headaches. Things can go wrong there too. Even though it's supposed to be more punk rock and loose, what's your cutting line of "POS" to being decent? Will you exceed that level? Can you live with being under it? If you take even "just" a zine carefully, there are other sets of issues to worry about. Printing a zine is always more money than you think. Pages can't bleed, layout issues, and much more. It's easier, but doing a good job is always tough.