Book Arts, Zines and Self-Publishing

Self-published books and zines are on the rise in the world of illustrators. It is a hugely useful way to get your work out there, whether you’re selling a few at a local zine fair, or putting them online for the world to purchase.

We visited The London Illustration Fair in December, where illustrators from all over the place were selling zines and self-published books alongside their other products. It was so great to see a whole collection of someone’s art within one small book and I think this is part of the charm that comes along with zines.

There are several different ways to self-publish zines, some artists personally print, fold and sell their own zines with no help from a publisher; some prefer seeking the guidance of publishers, Nobrow Press is a brilliant example of this.

In terms of zine fairs, there are so many that take place all around the world – building up a proper community. Some of the most popular in the UK includes the Bristol Comic and Zine Fair which began 7 years ago and involves around 100 artists selling their zines. Also worth noting is the Leeds Zine Fair which has been going for 3 years and is described as “a massive celebration of zines, self-publishing, radical politics and DIY culture.”

A list of zine fairs that take place all over the world can be found here: http://www.brokenpencil.com/zine-festivals-and-small-press-fairs

The great thing about zines is that they are relatively cheap and easy to make. They’ve been around for quite a while, they were made in the 80’s just by using a photocopier (Skate Fate was a pretty popular zine series in the 80’s*) and of course you still can make them with a photocopier – which is something a lot of self-publishers of zines do.

Of course we have more freedom with simply using a photocopier to self-publish your own zines now, with multiple colours available and techniques such as overprinting being prominent.

I’ve made a few zines now and I must admit, it is addicting! They’re just so simple to make and you can literally involve anything you want. If you do have one that you’ve made that you’re particularly fond of, then it’s relatively easy to make more copies and sell them on - especially if you’ve used the traditional zine fold. I will definitely be making them more often and if you haven’t before then I would 100% recommend you do, because you will most definitely catch the zine bug! And if you don’t fancy making them yourself, you should check out some local zine fairs – by buying artist’s zines and books you’re helping them get their names out there and maybe even funding them to make more.

*http://www.blurb.com/b/2340607-the-best-of-skate-fate-soft-cover