On zine costs.

[sarren]

kirkspock_recs sometimes has recs for stories only available in zines.

I have a lot of zines, from those dark days before the internet. I try not to think about that time too closely. *covers eyes*

I got thinking about my favourite Kirk/Spock zine - Broken Images. I'd quite like to rec that, so I googled it and found this! http://www.agentwithstyle.com/startrek.htm

And there was a function to search for other stories by the same author. I found two! in a zine called Nome 8! Yay! Except the zine costs $69 AUD!!!!

Who pays this, seriously? Can it really cost that much money to produce each zine? Or is it a business now?

Comments

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

The one zine I've ever considered buying — a Pros zine with a Sebastian story that's not online — is something like A$60. !!!!! Needless to say I decided not to order.

[zoerayne]

*koff*

#1 - The person behind Agent With Style is a boil on the ass of fandom.*

#2 - Reputable zine publishers still only charge production costs. There are, however, very few of them left.

#3 - Some people are selling zines on fucking eBay for whatever the traffic will bear. Argh.

* Personal opinion, though one that's shared by at least a few other people. However, since we're not allowed to say things like that publicly (because it's mean, yo), she continues to screw over newbies (and even some fans who should know better) and make her living from agenting zines.

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

And failing to pay the fees even to the zineds she bothers to get permission from....

[sarren.livejournal.com]

zineds ? Zine editors? That's so cute :)

How does she get away with this? Why don't the authors chuck all their stories up on the net so people don't have to pay for them? Or are they her mates?

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, zineds. :) I forget and use the OLD l33t speak sometimes....

Where some of us got burned by her was as far back as in the 80s. In my specific case, we had paid a writer for the rights to re-publish her zine, one of the earliest Trek zines out there. She had gone pro and wanted people to still be able to get the stories, but she was busy with lots of other things and couldn't do this too.

Maybe I should point out that at one point these zines were being done on MIMEOGRAPH machines. Because quick print places either weren't available or were too expensive.

Anyway, this person offered to sell copies of the zines at conventions and give us a cut. This was also in the day where the idea was that you did all this work for the fun of it, and only charged enough to cover your costs.

At first, she sold a decent number for us and all was well. But sales slowly dried up and she claimed it was because now our zines were old and people had moved onto newer stuff.

Except word got around that she was still selling plenty of older zines for us and everyone else. But she had made her own masters and printed up her own copies, and THOSE were the ones she was selling!

Speaking personally, the reason I haven't got ALL my stories up on line (although I would like to someday) is that a boatload of them were written ON A TYPEWRITER! Or later, on a DOS based computer that used a 5 1/4" floppy! To repost my old work would require RE-TYPING every bloody letter of the dang things! And since I have to struggle to find a few minutes here and there to work on NEW stuff...well, it will have to wait until I retire or win the lotto or something. :)

[jya_bd_cp_ttgb]

It's K/S fandom that makes me cry for the fact scanners are so freaking unreliable with words. *pets beaten, tattered copy of Broken Images to chest and whimpers*

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Your descripton made me LAUGH.

I don't understand how telling the truth is 'mean'. Does she have lots of 'mates' who beat up on people or what?

[zoerayne]

I don't understand how telling the truth is 'mean'.

But it's saying bad things about someone; you don't speak ill of people in fandom, that's mean. Never mind that it's the truth. *sigh*

And her friends don't beat up on people, but they do defend her and tell you that you don't know the whole situation and blah blah blah blah.

[klia.livejournal.com]

PLEASE do not buy from that... person. I'm not a zine gal, but I've been hearing about her asshattedness for years and years, and from so many people I know personally (not just online) and trust, it's not even funny.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why the authors don't put all their stories up on the net so that people don't have to pay this. Or do they get commissions or something?

[klia.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how it all works, but AFAIK, contributors only get their freebie trib copies, so they're basically donating their stories, and the zine publisher is the one raking in the bucks. I assume this person finds writers who are unaware of her bad rep and eager to "publish."

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I've had this Broken Images zine for about 17 years, I think. Haven't these writers found the internet?

Seriously, this whole thing bewilders me.

[klia.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are some who have and some who haven't. But, I think for some writers, there's something really seductive about the idea of having your work "published" on actual paper, you know? To have something tangible to show for all your time and effort.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I get that. But once the story's been in a zine a few years, why wouldn't they put their fics up on the net? Especially if they know the distributor is screwing over the people buying the zines?

[klia.livejournal.com]

I don't know. Maybe *they* don't know she's screwing people (after all, you didn't know; as a friend of mine always says, fans shun badly). Or, maybe they're her friends.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I guess. Of course, I footle about in a very small corner of the internet - I suppose it's possible that some of the writers have posted their stories online, it's not like she could actually stop them, right?

[klia.livejournal.com]

it's not like she could actually stop them, right?

Legally? No, she couldn't. But I think she usually has them agree to not post them online for 2 years.