Zines: Bulletproof hope in a post-truth world

Ideas don't need servers to spread

Dear reader!

Staying in zine land today. This newsletter holds 2 things:

1. First: why zines are so important right now, because [checks notes] the world is going to 💩.

2. Then: how to fold every kind of zine (video tutorials!) and print them from home

Also: I’m filling up my own zine archive as I type this, with titles, themes and pics of each zine. Check it out ✨ Reminder: download the slow art zine for free. Pause and Create: a ‘slow art’ starter kit zine is a hands-on workbook that guides you through mindful creative rituals, DIY art materials, reading suggestions, a 5-day slow art plan, and simple art exercises like stitching, collage, contour drawing, color observation, and breath-based mark-making.

But1st a message from my spirit animal created by everyone’s favourite anarchist art wizard =

“Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof.” — Alan Moore (V for Vendetta).

/// inspirational manifesto ///

Why zines are so important right now, because [checks notes] the world is going to 💩.

It’s only February and I already feel like it’s been a longggg year.

All the *gesticulates wildly around* things that are happening in the world¹, the bombardment of notifications and fractured attention spans.

I’m reading news articles compulsively (in the correct order of course)², but also wondering who is paying the writer and if this is real fact or an “alternative truth”.

It’s extremely f*cked up to not be sure what’s really real and what isn’t.

And so, to the zine. Radical =

1. writing your words / drawing / whatever you need to say

2. putting them on paper

3. folding that paper into a zine (keep scrolling to see how)

4. putting it out there into the world without having to go through publishing gatekeepers / magazine editors /etc first.

1. we’re living in an over‑digitised world 🌩️

So yeah, we’re surrounded by screens that pinch and poke us every which way to get our attention. You’re reading this on one!

I hope you didn’t have your notifications on…

You know what doesn’t poke you for your eyeballs? ZINES. There’s no growth hacking or updates or side hustles or ‘pay this to get even more of that’ with zines.

I work in digital marketing and sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind with all the everything! everywhere! all at once! 🤖🤖🤖 (me = a robot)

Zines = ideas, hands, scissors, glue, pen, paper. Maybe a typewriter (I love them: my friend Woz talks about writing on them a lot (like in this post called Writers Who Type), go read her work. PS hi Woz)

It’s a tactile thing in a world of doomscrolling.

2. the power of publishing yourself 🌈

Traditional publishing still has its gatekeepers.

Zines don’t.

You don’t need approval, permission, connections, or a “platform.”

You don’t need to build a “personal brand” first.

You can literally just publish yourself, and it doesn’t even need to be fancy: you’re not having to wait for permission.

3. counterculture for a post‑truth era 🌅

I really, really hate & (honestly) am pretty freaked by how what’s true depends on who you ask these days.

Zines are the opposite of that. They are the gloriously shitty opposite of that.

Zines have always been the voice of resistors and weirdos. This is a year where we need our weirdos more than ever. 🫶

4. ideas don’t need servers to spread 👁️‍🗨️

Finally, my dear friend:

Ideas set people on fire.

Algorithms actively mute ideas they don’t like. You can’t kill an idea, or lock it up or deport it or stick it in direct provision forever with no end in sight.

/// bonus: How to fold every kind of zine (video tutorials!) and print them from home ///

• How to fold a minizine

• 3 ways to fold a zine

• How to make a 16 page zine (templates included)

• How to make a 12 page zine from a single sheet of paper (thanks Austin Kleon)

• How to print your own zine at home

/// the end ///

What’s your dream?

My dream is to have space to make art and live slower, and not have to think about will this weaving sell? To make art and be able to see the daylight for what it is, and write words, and gather up the loose ends of a life and turn them into something shimmering and gleaming.

Tell me in the comments <3

Be kind to yourself and everyone else. I always love to hear from you in a comment, with a ❤️, or even a restack to Substack Notes. ✨ See you next time

Jess

1. yes I’m researching what European countries would be better to live in as the effects of climate change are growing exponentially worse here…and cross referencing that with countries that are safer to live in case a war breaks out. what a time to be alive

2. The Journal, The Guardian, CNN, VRT, De Morgen