bananafishzine

[bananafishzine]

Do you know if anymore copies might be sold at some point? I'm so sad I didn't hear about this until after orders closed

I’m sorry! We aren’t planning on doing any more sales. I would encourage you to check out our artists though! A bunch of them sell merch independently and may be selling their pieces for the zine.

[bananafishzine]

See you, everyone!

Hello everyone! We will be largely stepping away from monitoring this tumblr now. You can still get in contact with us through our email bananafishzine@gmail.com. THANK YOU ALL for making this zine so successful  ❤️❤️❤️

I’m still blown away that it’s 2019 and we've completed a zine on one of the most underrated shojo manga of all time. Banana Fish first published in 1985. I wasn’t even BORN then. Thanks to all the artists who really made this into a success, thanks to MAPPA for seeing the potential in this hidden gem, and of course thanks to Akimi Yoshida for showing everyone that manga marketed towards girls can still be everything Banana Fish was ❤️

Stay safe, hydrated + always stan Banana Fish!! 🍌🐟

- Limedumplr

[bananafishzine]

Our vendors

Hello everyone! For anyone out there looking to run their own zine, I’d like to share a bit about our process throughout the last few months :) Let’s go!

I’ll give a little background about the timeline for the project, then I’ll give some descriptions about the vendors we used and our experience with them. 

So we (@limedumplr​ and @redsketches) started the zine. I ( @limedumplr ) originally thought I’d handle everything myself but Red volunteered to help me and I’m so glad she did - It’s a lot to organize for just one person. We began around September of last year and wrapped artist’s final drawings in January. One of our artists asked me why the timeline was so long and it was honestly because I was attending a wedding in the middle of that which I was a large part of (so I’d have to split my time to focus on that). Orders opened January and closed February, we wanted to send things out in March but we ended up sending things in April because we needed to re-print the zine. 

When we recruited for the zine, we only used Twitter and Tumblr. I definitely noticed a decrease in Tumblr traffic after the great purge :p Next time, I’d probably use Tumblr as a backup instead of a ‘base’ and also use Instagram and Discord which is where most fandom seems to be migrating. 

As for our venders:

For the acrylic charms we used Acorn Press

Link: https://acorn.press/

Our experience:  We loved the quality, and the price. They don’t include any sort of clasp so be aware you only get the acrylic. It was easy enough to buy a set of cell phone straps on Amazon though. Customer service was very friendly and they held our shipment when Red and I were both on vacation for a week. I’d definitely use them again for our next project. 

For the magnets and stickers we used StickerMule

Link: https://www.stickermule.com/

Our experience:  Their customer service was excellent. I talked to a few of their team members since I wasn’t happy with the original proofs they sent. All of them were very accommodating and revised my proofs multiple times to give me something I liked. Similar to Acorn press, they took care of the shipment when I asked them to hold it while I was on vacation. The products also came out great!

For the prints we used MOO

Link: https://www.moo.com/

Our experience: We’ve used them plenty of times before and I’ve come to expect great quality and price. I’m sure others have used them since MOO is pretty popular. I especially loved that we could customize the matte back sides of our prints. 

For the enamel Pin and Lanyard, we used Erichgift

Link: http://www.erichgift.com/

Our experience: They were very responsive and great to work with. The only caveat is that their turn around is pretty long so you have to be willing to wait about a month after you begin talking with them to when they finally ship out your products. They are China-based so it may be hard to work with the time difference if you are US-based like we are. However, the quality of the products were great and I have NEVER seen prices as low theirs. They are also very nice and sincere. I’ll most likely be using them again but next time I’ll account for how long I’ll have to wait for the products :P

For the laser cut magnets, Red used her own laser cutter to make those for us :D

FINALLY, for the Zines, we used Smartpress

Link: https://smartpress.com/

Our experience: Their customer service was a little tense, I wouldn’t say it was bad, just not friendly. However, They’re prices are the BEST I’ve seen and they were very good about re-printing our zines after we pointed out the error in the first set. They also have a nice proofing process.

To sell the zines, we used BigCartel and I liked it a lot compared to other platforms we’ve sold on (Big shout out to one of our artists, @JUSTN4Z on twitter, who recommended it to us). Etsy makes you pay-per-post and doesn't have as much of a fandom culture around it. You also don’t have as much freedom to customize your shop. The last time we made a zine, we used Tictail and I HATED it. The user interface appeared friendly but it really was not :/ It was also difficult to set up shipping. 

Overall, this was a low-scale zine compared to some of the others I’ve seen. But I think the product came out fantastic and I loved being a part of something that brought so many people together. 

If anyone has any more questions about our process, recommendations, etc, please don’t hesitate to ask! We’ll answer as much as we’re able to :)

[bananafishzine]

Here is my piece for @bananafishzine  I wanted to focus on the city of New York since it’s such an important part of the manga.

[bananafishzine]

Orders are closed!! Thanks everyone :) :)

We will me closing orders for misprints THIS FRIDAY!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far!!

[bananafishzine]

what time around your time zone will you be closing? so i could translate that to mine bc i literally get paid tonight aa

Hey! We will be closing at 12am Pacific time or PDT (California time zone)

[bananafishzine]

‪This is the LAST day to order! We will be closing orders tonight :)‬

We will me closing orders for misprints THIS FRIDAY!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far!!

[bananafishzine]

We will me closing orders for misprints THIS FRIDAY!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far!!

[bananafishzine]

Hi! I was wondering what happened with the fanzine, I've read it'll be re-printed, is it getting delayed because of that? (I've ordered the digital zine). Have a nice day!

Hey! I’m not sure when this ask was, but as of now all the digital copies have been sent to the email connected to you BigCartel order (so that would be your PayPal email) If you don’t see it, feel free to get to us directly at bananafishzine@gmail.com. Thanks!

[bananafishzine]

We will be closing misprint orders in a few days - hurry to get yours!

Misprints available for order

Hello! We have opened up orders for misprint zines! We only have a limited few so please grab them asap. Your order will include a misprinted zine + misprinted merchandise for $20. The misprints are minor and should not affect your enjoyment of the product :)

Order here: https://bananafishzine.bigcartel.com/product/misprinted-zine

We will be sending out orders as we receive them. Orders for leftover zines will close at the end of the month on May 31th. 

Please go ahead and order before we run out!

[bananafishzine]

hi, it might be just me worrying too much but i still havent gotten a shipping notification from big cartel for the eiji set i ordered. the only email i got that has to do with the zine is the pdf file over a month ago. do you know if it was delayed or something?

Hmmm.. all the eiji sets have been shipped already. If you still haven’t recieved your order, can you email us at bananafishzine@gmail.com? And please include your order number- thanks you!!

[bananafishzine]

Hi there! I’m sad I completely missed out on the official run but I just ordered a misprint! Will I be notified when it ships?

Hi! Yes you will be notified via Big Cartel when it ships!

We are doing routine shipping runs every few days :)

Thank you so much for supporting the zine!!

[bananafishzine]

Just receive this lovely package in the mail!!!

Thank you so much @bananafishzine for this wonderful opportunity and bringing this project to life!!!

[bananafishzine]

Misprints available for order

Hello! We have opened up orders for misprint zines! We only have a limited few so please grab them asap. Your order will include a misprinted zine + misprinted merchandise for $20. The misprints are minor and should not affect your enjoyment of the product :)

Order here: https://bananafishzine.bigcartel.com/product/misprinted-zine

We will be sending out orders as we receive them. Orders for leftover zines will close at the end of the month on May 31th. 

Please go ahead and order before we run out!

[bananafishzine]

Misprints available for order

Hello! We have opened up orders for misprint zines! We only have a limited few so please grab them asap. Your order will include a misprinted zine + misprinted merchandise for $20. The misprints are minor and should not affect your enjoyment of the product :)

Order here: https://bananafishzine.bigcartel.com/product/misprinted-zine

We will be sending out orders as we receive them. Orders for leftover zines will close at the end of the month on May 31th. 

Please go ahead and order before we run out!

[bananafishzine]

I just got the zine in the mail today! I just want to say thank you for your extra care in packaging bc my post has a habit of just shoving packages into this tiny square. Everything turned out great! Thank you so much!!!

Aww, thank you for letting us know you’ve recieved everythinng ❤️❤️✨

Thank you for your support 🥰

[bananafishzine]

if i haven’t received an email abt shipping info for an eiji set, should i be worried?

Hey! Sorry, we just saw this ask!

We finished shipping everything last weekend ao please check your order again on BigCartel. If you haven’t recieved a shipment notification, please email is at Bananafishzine@gmail.com.

So sorry for the wait, we hope to hear back!!