The Role of Fanzines in Fandom

In recent years, more and more magazines and other publications have moved to a digital format in an effort to reach more readers.

This change can also be seen in fanzines, fan-created magazines that publish fanworks. Fanzines started off as physical objects that fans distributed to each other at fan events or through the mail. With the rise of the internet, many of them have moved online as well.

But whereas some traditional media sources continue to struggle even after the transition to digital, fanzines remain popular. That may be, in part, because they aren’t usually meant to earn a profit. Instead, they’re created out of a love for a fandom and for the joy of creating them.

What are fanzines?

Fanzines, also just called zines, are periodicals similar to magazines that are created by and for fans. The focus of any particular zine depends on what fans it was created by and for.

Often, fanzines serve as a curated selection of fanart and fanfiction. They could also include nonfiction essays or comics. The sky's the limit. Fans have found ways to incorporate all kinds of creativity into fanzines.

The scope of fanzines also varies widely. They can be multifandom or, more commonly, focus on only one fandom. If they focus on one fandom, they might focus on fanworks about any character or pairing in the fandom, or they might focus on only one pairing. Once again, the sky’s the limit, and the creators of zines can narrow the focus as little or as much as they want.

Because editors of zines must also pick and choose whose fanworks go into the zine, zines can offer a level of curation that isn’t always present in other fandom spaces. However, when it comes to fanzines versus other types of fanworks, the biggest difference is that zines are often physical objects. Many fanworks, particularly fanfiction and fanart, are frequently posted online and shared digitally instead of being published in print. Most fanfiction authors who write novel-length stories aren’t going to have them bound into physical books, but that’s what happens with fanzines. While digital fanzines do exist, print copies remain an important part of zines.

Zines being physical objects means that distribution can be tougher than for digital fanworks. Traditionally, zines have often been distributed at conventions or other fan events. Many zine makers also mail the zines to fans who order them online.

There are a lot of varying opinions about whether it is okay for the makers of zines to earn a profit. Some zines are distributed for free or only for the cost of printing and shipping while others ask for payment that is distributed to the editors and contributors to the zine. Sometimes, readers are asked to give a donation that will later be donated to charity. The ethics of this is a conversation within fandom that will continue for a long time.

History of Fanzines

Fanzines date as far back as the 1930s when they originated in science fiction fandoms. These early zines often focused on nonfiction essays as opposed to the fanwork-focused zines that grew in popularity around the 1960s.

As the popularity of the internet rose, fanzines became less common. Not only did posting fanworks online take less work than printing a zine, but the internet also allowed fan creators to reach a larger audience than one fan-published zine often could.

However, around the 2010s, zines began rising in popularity again. Perhaps out of a sense of nostalgia or fans’ desire to have print copies of fanworks that they enjoyed. Today, many fandoms have active zine communities in both digital and print form.

How to discover zines

In the past, print zines were often distributed at conventions, which were a way to get the world out about them to new fans. These days, if you want to find a zine for your favorite fandom or ship, you can probably search for it online. Many zines have their own websites and social media accounts that provide information both for how to get your work in the zine and how to get your own copy once it’s published.

Many zines still rely on word of mouth to get their zines into the hands of fans, but much of that word of mouth is now spread over social media.

Fanzines have changed in many ways since they began in the 1930s, but these changes have allowed them to remain relevant in fandom today.