Free Advice

from The Book of Zines

"Don't count on friends to help you. You're setting a booby trap for yourself. And keep your zine going at least a year. Factsheet Five founder Mike Gunderloy once told me that the typical half-life of a zine is a year. Beat that."
Jim Hogshire, Pills-a-Go-Go

"I have more respect for a zine that comes out only once a year but which reads well and looks professional than I do for a monthly piece of genital toss composed of a zillion reviews and a few poorly written essays. It's not enough to say, I can do this. You have to say, I can do this better."
Dan Kelly, Chum

"Don't hide your creativity, and don't hide yourself, except maybe now and then to be polite. Who knows, maybe you'll change someone's mind. Remember Gandhi's line: What you are doing may not seem important, but it is extremely important that you do it."
Bob Bellerue, Basurame

"Don't try to make everyone love you and your zine."
Sean Tejaratchi, Crap Hound

"Don't get too discouraged when you return to the copy place to pick up your finished product and the guy behind the counter yells to his co-workers, 'El Sucko is back!' "
Steve Steinberg, Meanwhile...