Zines Books

This collection of mostly magazine profiles stands up through the transition into a book -- which is saying something. Pagan Kennedy has a good eye and a good ear, and an obvious affinity to creative oddballs who are mostly trying to improve the human condition, whether it's through bringing easier ways to grow and produce food to Third World countries or trying to get the inhibited English and Americans to embrace open marriages and group sex. At times she even ventures into participatory journalism, as when she volunteers to try transcranial direct current stimulation -- with a device she characterizes as "the Ronco Brain-O-Matic of the research world." I liked a lot of these pieces; my favorite might have been a profile of a political activist/jokester who changed his legal name to Vermin Supreme. In a few sentences she captures his character and a lot more besides. "He didn't have answers about his own motives," Kennedy writes. "He didn't seem to know what made him tick. In that way, too, he reminded me of a career politician. His own inner life bores him. He's interested only in his public self."

What do Dr. Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex, Amy Smith, director of the International Development Initiative at MIT, and Dr. Gordon Sato, former resident of the Manzanar interment camp in California, all have in common? They, along with the other 9 people profiled in this book, are modern-day pioneers, attempting in their own unique ways to "reinvent this country (and others) as a kinder, sexier, smarter, funnier, or more compassionate place." And as the subjects of Pagan Kennedy's essays, they are all fascinating.

Pagan Kennedy is the writer we all want to write our biography. She has an incredible way of figuring out what makes each person interesting while still allowing that person to tell their own story. None of her subjects are perfect, but she is so obvious in her compassion for them that we can't help but feel it too. I would love to see several of the chapters expanded into books themselves, because Kennedy has infected me with the desire to know these people and their lives.

As an additional treat, the last 3 chapters are personal essays about her own life. Kennedy's writing truly shines in these stories, as she discusses alternative family arrangements, shares a vacation story, and allows us a glimpse of her own family and their quirks. Again, I was left wanting even more. It is always a treat to discover a new author who you can't wait to read again, and Pagan Kennedy certainly falls into that category for me.

If I could describe this book in one phrase, it would be this: Touchingly candid. Whether writing about her own life or those of the odd and eccentric, Kennedy recounts her stories with loving detail and wonder. The people she writes about are truly people to ponder and marvel at. She deals with them all with a level of respect normally not afforded to these quirky trendsetters. Throughout their stories, she captures their brilliance, strength and mostly their humanness.

Among some of these unusual people are the quiet scientist and doctor Alex Comfort, who created a facet of the modern sexual movement by authoring the book The Joy of Sex. An older, shy man, Comfort reinvents himself as a sexual guru who reclassifies sex as a freedom of expression and who even bases the models in the book upon himself and his partner. She chronicles unknown scientists whose inventions just may relieve the economic pressures of third world countries, and sheds light on the brain bank, an organization at Harvard College that studies donor brains in an effort to understand the organic causes of mental illness. She explores people who are scouting new fuel sources and a man who realizes that children are the scientific future and creates an educational fun house for them. We meet one of the strongest women in the world, and a parrot named Alex with an attitude. Even more revealing are her personal essays, touching on topics of scary vacationing encounters and relationships that defy conventional thinking. Kennedy explores all these subjects with venerable compassion and an infectious marvel that highlights the importance of these people's advancements and uniqueness.

I tore through this book, wondering what and who was coming next, and enjoying the exposure to people who would have otherwise been unknown to me. The subjects in this book are fascinating and complex, inspired to make the world sit up and take notice of the unmentionable and unpopular. Some of the stories have hidden glimpses of humor, and some are laugh out loud funny. I particularly enjoyed the story of Vermin Supreme, a quirky and sometimes offensive activist who travels to rallies and protests with a boot strapped to his head, releasing the crowd's tension with his absurdities. The story of the Mystic mechanic, a man who wants all religions to embrace each other and has built a machine to be closer to God, was just as curious as it was humbling.

All in all, this book of stories was refreshingly peculiar and winning. It sparked a part of my interest that I didn't know was there, and made me think about the extraordinary people who are lurking behind their everyday facade. Kennedy's graceful style in addressing these compelling people made this book an admirable read. Highly recommended for those who would like an unusual experience.

The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex by Pagan Kennedy is a compilation of true stories. Glorying in the eccentricities that all fascinating people share, the stories are compelling, entertaining and yet frequently humble. Often contrasting hubris with humility, Kennedy tells us stories of Dr. Alex Comfort, the author of the Joy of Sex, who in his arrogance thought he could permanently re-work the cultural norms of sexual relationships. She brings us the story of Amy Smith, who uses her genius and common sense to make lives better in the poorest countries on earth. We read of Vermin Supreme, who enjoins the anti war protestors to respond with "A Pony", when they are asked to join the antiwar chant, "What do we want?". Kennedy's stories are uplifting, thought provoking and entertaining.

In all honesty I bought this book mainly because, much to my surprise, I found that my work is actually included...for Ms. Gill to stumble across my site, she really must've scoured the web. And you can see that from the rich variety of other examples included. Brava!

I just wish she sent me a copy for free! ;)

After you read the title, you expect exactly what the book delivers: excelent visual stimulation and the best magazine websites briefly analysed. Salon, Feed, Rolling Stone and all the best are there, both Internet-only mags and the printed ones with a cool version on the Web. Essential. It's impossible, even for the best and most experienced webdesign professional, do not like it. It's not the "complete guide" or something, but the 40/50 websites there are really THE ONES. A little over-priced, true, but you can consider yourself a lucky guy if you don't have the chance to put your hands on it: this book is one of those that once touched, it is immediatelly bought.

It was nice to see some of the old zine names again. I was a little disappointed that a short review of each zine mentioned was not given except for the really big name ones. However, those of us who were around and writing for and/or publishing at that time will definiately enjoy seeing old friends again. I would like to have seen the years split up into two volumes and more details given for each zine and whether they are still publishing or not. However, Verba is a good writer and covers alot of material. It's sorta like putting a tidal wave in an empty bath tub, hard to do, but squeeze more in anyway. It is a wealth of information that can be used by all and a book worth reading.
For Trek fans, it is a good reference guide to have all the zine names at your finger tips. It would also be helpful in buying zines at conventions, and filling in missing ones in ones' own collection.

From A to Zine is a great introduction to the world of zines for librarians in traditional public and academic libraries. It explains all the main things you'd need to know to start or expand a zine collection. Very helpful.

The Zine Yearbook, Vol. 6 samples from zines published in 2001 that had a circulation of less than 5,000 copies. Arranged alphabetically, the article and comic excerpts preserve the original layout. As such, each sample is a microcosm of the originating zine. The varied compendium starts suitably with an analysis of the current state of zines from Ache (more "metacommentary in graphic form from Cat and Girl) and thus begins a swatch the runs the gamut from personal rants (America? and Etidorhpa) to the activist agenda (Media Reader and Resist). While, statistically, most 2001 zines of small distribution were probably poetry and music publications, The Zine Yearbook continues the worthy task of presenting a spectrum of guerilla social criticism and the wit that arises from punk ideology.

This book feels to me like a compilation of the simplest pieces of other books on the subject. I didn't get a real authoritarian feel here, which I think is necessary in a 'How To Make Money' book. With the way the world is now, anyone can claim themselves to be an expert, and here, I did not see anything other than regurgitation. If you are looking for a book on this subject, I would go with Carol Harris's book.

The book is wonderful for the busy business person who wants to get straight to the point on how to organize a profitable e-mag. I wanted to use an e-newsletter for marketing purposes for my small business. Because of this book, I have started a whole new subsidiary to my business. It has actually started to become an income stream, though minor, for my business. It more than pays for itself. I owe a large percentage of this success to "How To Publish A Profitable E-mag. If read from front to cover, it will take you less than 1 day to read. The author presents valuable resources and bullet point information. She also promotes other valuable resources that she doesn't even profit from. I find her book to be genuine and practical. I have used it as a blue print for our new business. She is very honest in mentioning the limitations in her book, but she points you to other books and periodicals that get further into the technical aspects of e-magazines. "How To Publish a Profitable E-mag" is definitely the first stop in publishing a profitable e-mag.

I bought this brief "How To" book and was rather impressed. It provides a sound methodology for writing and publishing e-books in an age where small self-publishers can theoretically compete with the large publishers, especially if the self-publishers are skilled at digitizing their publications for online sales. The references to key "virtual" partners were also invaluable. Finally, I liked the fact that I could read the entire book in an hour or so.

This tedious wide-eyed look at zines presents a nominal how-to course, but there's nothing in this book that you couldn't pick up in a half-hour conversation with anyone who does a zine, or just from sending for a copy of a good zine. Utterly lame. Am I allowed to say that this book really blows?

This book is great for those who want to create the next _Rolling Stone_ or _Factsheet Five_, but for those who have smaller ambitions (Or smaller budgets) the tips in here tend to aim a bit high. However, most of the information is revelant to anyone wishing to create a zine.

This is a pretty thin how-to book for zinesters, from that bastion of self-publishing, Disney/ Hyperion. There's no evidence that the author has ever published a zine herself -- and it really shows. In every regard, "Start Your Own Zine" suffers by comparison to "Make A Zine!," the self-published how-to guide by zinester Bill Brent - "Start Your Own Zine" has a lot fewer pages, a lot fewer illustrations, a lot fewer good ideas, and it's double-spaced, so there's dramatically less text. Kalmar uses "zine" and "fanzine" as synonyms, and when she devotes several pages to helpful tips for zines seeking corporate sponsorships [?!?], you have to wonder if she even knows what a zine is. This book has a minuscule store & distro list, which includes several addresses that are years out of date, a few that are flat-out incorrect, and Kalmar has apparently never heard of such huge, famous zine stores as Atomic Books, BlackOut, Bound Together, Epicenter Zone, Mind Over Matter, or even Quimby's! "Start Your Own Zine" is simply not a credible effort. -Doug Holland, Zine World

Lisa Shaw explores lots of ways to develop information products, no matter where your starting point. She's been out there way before many other authors who have since jumped on the self-publishing bandwagon.

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own home-based publishing business? Have you been hesitant to put your plans into action? This book contains all the necessary ideas and strategies you will need to successfully launch and grow your business. Lisa Shaw, a home-based publisher, reveals to her readers everything they need to know to successfully start and run a home-based publishing business.

I have read and re-read the book so many times, the cover has gotten frayed. The genius of the book is that it is based in sound business practices and could theoretically be applied to any business. Whether you want to earn your living creating newsletters and brochures, zines and postcards with this excellent book at your side you can experience the satisfaction of building your own home-based publishing business.

As Lisa Shaw's livelihood (designing and distributing greeting cards for companion animals) is near and dear to my heart, it truly pains me that I have to pan her book, "How to Make Money Publishing from Home." However, I feel as though I'd be remiss if I were to review the many other self-publishing books I've read and skip over this guide.

Before deciding to self-publish my first eBook, I ransacked my local libraries and checked out every volume I could find on self-publishing in general, and electronic publishing in particular. Ms. Shaw's book was the first to arrive, and I digested it in one night - in one sitting, actually. "Digested" is perhaps too strong of a word, though - there's so little substance in "How to Make Money..." that there wasn't anything for me to digest at all. It's so general a guide that the author manages to say very little about a whole lot.

In under 200 pages, she briefly discusses self-publishing booklets, books, greeting cards, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, software, `zines, ezines, and websites; writing, following, and revising business plans; tax and zoning issues; accounting and finances; the necessary self-publishing technology, including computers, scanners, printers, phone lines, fax machines, networking, and software; day-to-day business operations; and marketing and publicity. Thus, no one subject is afforded more than a few pages. From the wide variety of topics covered, it may appear as though Ms. Shaw offers a wealth of information in her guide. Yet, the opposite is actually true: she tries to cover so many facets of self-publishing that she doesn't adequately address any of the topics she raises. Any one of the aforementioned subjects deserves its own guide: each is so complex and complicated that only an entire book could do it justice. Indeed, if you were to perform a keyword search for any of these terms on Amazon, its search engine would return dozens of results.

My advice is this: If you're interested in self-publishing, don't try to save money and buy just one "how-to" guide (such as this one) to answer all your questions - you'd be cheating yourself as opposed to protecting your wallet. Rather, consult at least one book on traditional publishing, another about self- (or electronic) publishing, a third on marketing, yet another on taxes and finances for small businesses, and so on. "How to Make Money Publishing from Home" is so basic that it should be called "Remedial Self-Publishing" or, better yet, "Self-Publishing for Sixth Graders." There's almost no useful information in here - you're much better off spending your money (and time) elsewhere. Heck, you can even Google "self-publishing" and find more meaningful resources (and largely for free, to boot)!

Finally (and perhaps I'm just nit-picking now), the author began by introducing the different forms of self-published material (booklets, books, greeting cards, magazines, etc.), offering a short summary of each. This left me with the distinct and distasteful impression that this book was aimed at those who want to publish their own work just so that they can make wads of money without leaving the house (which rarely happens, despite the anomalies you read about in the "author profiles"). After all, if you're self-publishing for self-gratification, because you have knowledge that you want to share with others, or just for the love of the written word, shouldn't you already have some idea of what you're going to publish? In any case, this really put me off - anyone consulting a self-publishing book should already know what books, booklets, and magazines are, otherwise they don't really belong in the publishing business. Unless they're still in the sixth grade, in which case their ignorance is forgiven!


Kelly Garbato

Author & ePublisher, "13 Lucky Steps to Writing a Research Paper"
Peedee Publishing / Hot Dog!, LLC

Lisa Shaw's advice on the economics of starting a home-based publishing business is something of a conundrum. First, she claims startup capital and money for living expenses can be unnecessary luxuries that sap motivation. "In fact," she says, "I had no money in my early publishing ventures, so I had to rely solely on my creativity and my intractable faith in my own abilities." Later, she recommends this reality check to help assess the level of risk you're comfortable assuming: "How would you react if you or a family member had to spend a week in the hospital and you didn't have health insurance because you needed the money to pay the mortgage?"

She goes on to take a superficial look at a number of self-publishing enterprises (including booklets, books, greeting cards, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, software and e-zines); considering ease of startup, initial investment, time commitment required and other factors.

Each chapter contains a brief profile of someone who's been successful in each line of home-based publishing, but little detail is given. The profiles tell what each entrepreneur did, but offer only limited information on how they did it, since names and contact information for the resources they used are kept secret. Despite citing the growth of the Internet as one of the key factors making home-based publishing viable, there's scarce information on how to utilize the World Wide Web as a marketing tool for your efforts. And in a chapter dealing with computer hardware and software titled "Technologically Speaking" - a chapter one would expect would be brimming with detail based on the book's topic - Shaw's best advice is, "do your own research...."

The final chapter begins, "You now have the knowledge and the tools necessary to start your own home-based publishing business."

Not unless you're prepared to do a lot of supplemental reading.

Unless you're looking for a very brief introduction to home-based publishing, there's no "how-to" in How to Make Money Publishing from Home.

Shaw's book is drive-by writing, without the research.

Publishing is part of the daily routine at my 13-year-old, home-based marketing and public relations firm. So, I was wondering what innovative things Lisa Shaw would be able to teach me in her book HOW TO MAKE MONEY PUBLISHING FROM HOME. Well, trust me--this "old dog" learned PLENTY of new tricks! Of course, there was the usual, basic stuff: reasons to begin a home-based business, financial assessments, skills needed and exactly what to expect from your new venture. But then I learned about: new niches I could fill within my company; some areas of publishing I'd NEVER want to try based on Ms. Shaw's descriptions (which saved me time); and Zines ... never had heard of them! There were a few things I wish the author HAD included, and perhaps they can be in a revised edition: a) contract examples for independent contractors, b) confidentiality statements for use with clients and c) since the book is about publishing, more updated information on copyright laws. Her Resource List included many of the titles I have relied on over the years, and which should be "must reads" for budding entrepreneurs. And, I'd like to add two titles to her list: 1)GETTING BUSINESS TO COME TO YOU by Paul & Sarah Edwards and Laura Clampitt Douglas and 2) 101 HOME OFFICE SUCCESS SECRETS by Lisa Kanarek. It was apparent in the content of Ms. Shaw's book that she had "been there" and obviously "done that" (publishing from home) extremely well! Warning: Running a home-based business isn't for sissies! Do you homework and research BEFORE you begin to save you a lot of heartache later. And, oh yeah, GOOD LUCK!

Any serious scholar who reads this book's introduction will get the feeling it was cobbled together from yet one more conference that didn't quite work out. Too wide-ranging to hold together theoretically, the piecemeal and somewhat simplistic analysis of the introductory chapter is disappointing. This is an important topic and one would have expected veteran Donald Moore to do better, even though it's an edited volume. A few of the individual chapters are interesting, although those authors have done better work elsewhere, such as Tania Li, Paul Gilroy, or Donna Haraway. The chapter which holds promise as covering some new ground is the one by Alcida Ramos, an innovative and synthetic thinker, although it too would benefit from more polish and finesse. The whole volume has a hasty feeling to it and is ultimately a disappointment.

This "book" is really a magazine in magazine form. I regularly am open to such things coming from channel 23 ( Butt Ugly Martains and Spongebob Squarepants) but this magazine really is B O R E D O M spelled out.
The whole point of the show is a bunch of elementary schoolers who skateboard and surf, but nobody around really is into sports like that anymore. And if they are skateboarding people, I assure you they pay no attention to ROCKET POWER. They say words from the last mellenium such as "THE BOMB", "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY", "LAME-O", "BOO-YAH", ETC, in a "lame-o" attempt to relate to 4th and 5th graders.Sorry, welcome to the real world. The magazine is obviously not a top selling item because it's been put together without much reguard or plot. Anyone could put together another already-been-heard-of plot like they do. Thats what they are good at. Please do NOT make the mistake I've made and DO NOT ATTEMPT to purchase this item. Althoguh, i HIGHLY, HIGHLY, recomend the spongebob squarepants item "Survival Guide" book as a refreshing alternative.