#zine marketing

[netherworldpost]

Once more social media companies are starting down the path of "hm, what if we roll in a feature... everyone will hate..." so I am again reposting my very basic in progress to being polished HOW TO MAKE A ZINE post

I will expand it when the blog launches and I don't know when the blog launches, but this will get you started. Or at least closer.

...and now...

... a ramble...

For Netherworld Post Office:

I'm going to stay where I am on various platforms

Continue building our "Let's Stay in Touch Occasionally" mailing list

I'm fleshing out a blog that is 2/3rds "slice of life stories of monsters living in paradise stories and comics," 2/3rds "Here is how and what to mail, how to make it fun and vibrant, cheaply" and 2/3rds ramble. Also discount math advisories.

The blog will be on a WordPress site. Free, no subscriptions necessary, open to read.

I'm working on a $2/month (USA postage included, global shipping a bit extra but not much) zine. Full color, 8 pages, decorated envelope, discussing Halloween, mail, and Halloween mail.

Spoiler if you're working on a zine and scrambling "how can that zine be $2?!" we lose about $0.05 - $0.10/zine and this is an acceptable loss. Marketing costs money. The strategy is people will subscribe to the zine and then once or twice a year say "oh wait I need a birthday card, I should get it from Netherworld Post" and that 1-2x year order will cover the loss + add profit to our coffers.

This point is made because I'm not seeking to start a pricing war on zines.

I AM seeking to make something fun and enjoyable and as affordable as possible so as many people as possible will say "huh that's neat."

When the blog goes live and the page about how to make a zine goes live, I'll go into the numbers on how I am making it and offer ideas and tips on how You as a Maker of Things For Sale can make one

I'll also offer tips and ideas on how You as a Maker of Things Not Necessarily For Sale can make it too, it's not exclusively for art shops.

There are no zine laws.

The split is purely "do you care about shaving $0.24 per outbound envelope because you're going to send lots or not"

Here is my reality:

As a person, I enjoy Tumblr. As a business, it's been very good to us.

Our Instagram isn't going anywhere. I'm preparing for the eventual bleed of people using it. Maybe it'll affect us, maybe it won't.

This is NOT a doom-and-gloom EVERYTHING IS DYING post. I'm not nearly online enough or smart enough to offer thoughts beyond general vibes and feelings.

I am saying "enough people have commented enough times they enjoy my business ramblings that I want to share what I know/am doing because I strongly feel a diversification of outlets helps more folk make more art and more folks making more art means there is more art and I'm going to enjoy it."

It takes at least a year -- far more likely a few years -- to build up a sizable social media following.

Sizable = "posting on Platform is more valuable to meeting our goals than Doing Something Else"

You can throw money at the problem (ads and/or hiring a consultant and/or an agency). This will scale you up far faster because they'll build the shortcuts do the research and the yadda yadda.

The reason Netherworld Post Office is able to offer very inexpensive, very high quality greeting cards, at a very low shipping price is because we are largely focusing on "What can we do in-house? How can we get smarter, more clever with our very limited resources?"

We just wrapped up Phase 01 and are about to head into Phase 02 on this plan. It's working well.

Slowly

An agreeable pace but well.

The new app-of-the-day, Cara.

Will it be great? No clue!

Will we post there? Probably not!

Why am I offering this part to the news above? I don't want to gate-keep information I have! Recurring theme to my rambles :)

There is a significant chance that someone who says "It makes sense for my personal goals to make Cara" and then that's great.

The key to building a shop or ongoing project is realizing:

There are many paths available

You have to figure out what path is right for you

It will be a unique combination exclusive to you -- elements can be shared but ultimately every path is going to have it's own unique aspects

This path will change over time

You have to tinker constantly

That's part of the fun :)

Final Link List Now That I Am Done Talking Above Image is My Producer's Reaction When I Finish Talking

Netherworld Post Office shop

Netherworld Post Office Let's Occasionally Stay in Touch email signup

Netherworld Post Office first draft writeup on how to make zines, a tumblr post, because I love zines

Netherworld Post Office final disclaimer for reasons: Your art path is your own, it will look unique to you, it will share elements with many other folks but at the very core? It is unique to you :) All above is shared purely in hopes of giving back to the small art shop community that helped get me to where I am

Cheers everyone

I hope we all make it :)

[sreppub]

🦨 skunk crossing 🦨

my cracky little skunk red hood AU, compiled into 1 post + some new drawings :)

bonus! If anyone out there likes silly AUs and collecting zines as much as I do… these are printable for free :)

can we all make zines so i can print them out and eat them

[critter-wizard]

i wish i were a monster...

[chaosquillcollection]

What's this? a revival of the 2020 and 2021 sonic OC zines?

you can download ACT 1 and ACT 2 on the new Chaos Quill Collection itch page! ✨ (get silver zine while you're there if you haven't yet)

Chaos Quill Collection is an umbrella for all of talaka's (@superemeralds) creative sonic projects.

Stay tuned for more info very soon. 👀

[itzspringyy]

WOWIE!! I’m so happy to be back from my hiatus with NEW stuff for you guys!

-

RENDERED COMMISSIONS ARE NOW DISCOUNTED TILL 1/1/2025

Busts - $12

Half Bodies - $15

Full Bodies - $25

This includes a colored background of your choice. Any extra additions are regular price. Terms and conditions from my original post STILL apply.

-

I ALSO NOW SELL ART PRINTS ON INPRINT!!!

Want to get a print of my art and support me? Check out my shop on INPRINT. All of my higher quality arts are shared there and it’s not just Mob Psycho 100! We have some Ninjago and Lego Monkie Kid pieces as well as one Deadpool drawing. Check it out!

[superemeralds]

SILVER ZINE INTEREST CHECK

https://forms.gle/GqqnwzdyBEjjapDw8

[inesvazquezart]

Hello there! I´m opening my online shop for a few days. You can find some prints ( Ahsoka, Spy x Family and Inuyasha stuff), alongside a self pubished 150 page Star wars comic book, satirical of course.

And, this 16 page Pride and Prejudice zine I put together last summer. It was an experiment to play with style and go back to traditional inking. It follows the characters after what happens in the 2005 book adaptation.So if you are into regency England nonsense, you now know where to grab it:

link

[coolerhope]

I have reorganized my Pokemon shelf

[pigeon-princess]

Is there any chance you'll restock on some of your sold out items? I missed the vampire lanyard and Strahd keychain sadly.

Yes! I undestimated the popularity of the both the Strahd keychains and the vampire lanyards aaa! I'm planning to order a whole new batch within the next month so they'll definitely be back in stock! I'll be selling the Strahd keychain seperately as well when they are back in the store. Thank you so much for your interest in them!!

[thesolarangel]

Went outside today, masked too much, overshared, completely cringe, sweaty, now I need to crawl into a cave and not come out for 5-7 business days.

[ashleabechaz]

I’m at the @sticky_institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair today!!

It’s running from 12-5pm and I’ll be here Saturday only 🌞 (Meat Market, Nth Melbourne)

I’ve got zines and stickers 😏😏 COME GET EM!

[netherworldpost]

With the various rumors and releases of Tumblr possibly changing how they do things... (gestures to the vague rumor mill)...

Zines.

I really think we as Folks Who Make Things and Folks Who Like Art Writing Poetry Music Comics Other Things need to explore zines. And I mean ZINES. Nothing glossy. Nothing fancy.

Very. Cheap. Zines.

I've been threatening mentioning I was going to create a guide on how I'm going to approach this -- and I'm going to -- but I am also realizing in the writing I Do Things Highfalutin because I am who I am + had a career in graphic design.

Let's talk about how you can make a zine very cheaply and very pretty.

STEP ONE: SUPPLIES

Very bright paper. I like "Astrobrights" because they are absurdly bright. Here is a link in a store I like. I buy a lot of paper and envelopes from them. You can generally find Astrobrights in big box office stores. It prints on laser printers and ink jet and photocopiers.

Very bright envelopes. What's that? Astrobrights has envelopes?! AM I SOLVING PROBLEMS let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Letter paper is 8.5" x 11" and is the most common size in the united states (overseas folk will have to use this advice with a grain o'sea salt and search yer own waters).

A9 envelopes are a letter sheet folded in half.

A2 envelopes are a letter sheet folded in half, then folded in half.

#10 envelopes are your common long envelopes, letter paper folded in thirds.

Pick the size you like.

If you want to get big and fancy, Tabloid is 17" x 11" -- so double a letter sheet. This gets tricky to work with but is neat in sizing.

STEP TWO: ZINE CONTENT

Do you know how to use InDesign or similar program? Use that.

No? Use Google Docs or Word or whatever other program and ramble.

Want something special? Write out some or part with a sharpee or pen.

Mix and match both.

If you are feeling fancy, design it like a booklet -- mock up a sheet of blank paper as if it were a brochure. If not, just design it straight up and down like a letter. There are no zine laws.

STEP THREE: ZINE PRINTING

Print at home on your home printer.

Don't have a printer at home? Print it at work (don't get fired)

Can't? Your local library may be able to help.

You need 1 copy on white paper.

FedEx Office has photocopiers. Your local library may too. Or your job.

Print 1 copy of your zine on white paper and then photocopy the rest onto colorful paper (or white paper, it be yer zine seadog).

Or print everything on the color paper if you have access to free printing, that's fine too.

The photocopy setup is purely "printing tends to cost more than photocopying."

If you want to slash prices, print 2 per sheet and have FedEx office cut them for you, this will cost $1 - $5 depending on how many sheets you are dealing with. This is for when you're doing a LOT of zines at once.

Or use their manual paper cutter yourself for free.

STEP FOUR: ZINE STAPLING

"Long reach stapler" is what I recommend. There are a few varieties. They tend to be $20 - $30.

Or just use 1 sheet!

STEP FOUR: ZINE POSTAGE

A single first class stamp for 1-2 pages. If you get up to 3+, go to the post office and ask them to weigh a comp you have assembled.

This is a guideline.

It's a really good idea to check at least once how much your zine weighs just in general. Post offices have scales. And are pretty. And have stamps.

OKAY ENOUGH LUSTING FOR THE POST OFFICE FROM THE GHOTS POST OFFICE BLOG BACK TO WORK

STEP FIVE: ZINE MAILING

This is actually the most difficult part. Label printers exist with various costs -- if you're starting out? Go with printable labels.

Your office supply shop will have them and they'll have templates you can drop in the customer addresses.

Save yourself time by using this label as the thing that seals the envelope -- don't lick envelopes.

A key tenet to staying in business is constantly reviewing physical (and mental) labor and stressors and reducing them as much as possible.

Return address labels are intensely cheap in literally every online printer, google "return address labels." Make sure you have this because at least a few of your shipments will come back to you.

STEP SIX: ZINE PRICING

Okay here is where we get uncomfortable because we're talkin' coins.

Prices are based on above links. You can get whatever paper you want, so this is guidelines. All numbers rounded up.

Payment processing ($0.30) + $0.05 sheet + $0.15 envelope + $0.66 first class postage = $1.16 base cost

$1.16 + 2.9% of $1.16 payment processing = $1.20

Plus taxes. I'm not getting into tax figures YOU DO THAT (just say 30% for easy math, this is not saying "your taxes are 30% or that mine are" I am saying "I am going to factor 30% for this equation to complete this guide".)

I did not include the mailing label (it will be $0.01 - $0.05 depending on how fancy and how many you buy) because you have the option to just write things and also it fits into the rounding of the above.

If you use Patreon, include your fees. Probably replace the above processing fees with your patreon processing... fees? I don't use patreon I don't know how it works.

Retail option 01: $1.50 - 1.20 = $0.80 gross - 30% = $0.09 / net / zine.

Retail option 02: $2 - 1.20 = $0.80 gross - 30% = $0.56 / net / zine.

Retail option 03: $3 - 1.20 = $1.80 gross - 30% = $1.26 / net / zine.

Should it be $1.50? Should it be $3.00? MORE? LESS?! That is for you to decide. Base it on what your zine contains, how long it takes you to write/draw/etc. it and how you want your flow to be.

STEP SEVEN: ZINE FREQUENCY

When my shop launches, it'll have a zine once a month. We are going to offer a subscription option + a "I just want 1" option.

You can do a zine monthly, or every few months, or whatever.

Keep in mind that the purpose of doing this is to break the dependency on social media marketing.

KEEP IN MIND AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER TO A CREATOR YOU LIKE THAT THEY ARE DOING THIS TO BREAK THEIR DEPENDENCY ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING.

If you have a lot of energy and an audience that comes to your shop a lot? Consider doing a zine monthly.

If you do not have a lot of energy and/or your audience is tapped for cash frequently? Considering doing 1 zine per season.

Consider 2 zines a year if that works better for you!

NO RULES ONLY JOY

Not sure? Experiment! Be upfront! "This is new. I'm figuring this out. Billionaires are tinkering with these things and we gotta figure something else out."

BONUS STEP: NETHERWORLDPOST.COM

so hi I'm atty and I'm your loud long rambler today

Netherworld Post Office used to be @evilsupplyco and now we are rebranding in prep of relaunching. Same person behind the rambles and comics, new name with a more focus (mail instead of mail + seemingly everything else in experiment)

if you enjoyed this ramble and/or like ghosts, monsters, witches, mermaids, and fun stories and projects focused on cozy Halloween, you may like us when we finish the rebranding and relaunching in autumn 2023.

email sign up (the zine will come when we are open)

WHETHER YOU JOIN MY LIST OR NOT

I really, really, really hope you consider doing a regular, or irregular, zine. Something outside of email, something outside of social media, something that connects I MADE A WEIRD THING and the people who say I LOVE THIS WEIRD THING YOU MADE.

The walls are closing in on free social media as a platform for people who make weird things to build audiences for free or very cheap.

And with that...

netherworldpost.com as one final hat pass

good luck folks

thanks for listenin' to the ol' ghost

[tompuschautz]

Some things I brought to the House of Vans Skate Market.

[cycyanart]

If you're in Winnipeg/Manitoba come check out Prairie Comics Fest! It's our local indie comic and zine faire 💖

[rustbeltjessie]

All the items in my Ko-fi shop are 10% off from now until December 4. They're all pay-what-you-want anyway, but the base price is a bit lower for the next week (and obviously, nothing has changed about the items that start at 'free'). Any orders placed by December 4 will be sent out by December 8; after that, I won't be mailing anything else out until after the new year. (Note: I only have shipping calculated for within the U.S. If you live elsewhere and would like to order a physical copy of something, please contact me so I can calculate shipping—I'll still honor the discount. Similarly, if you prefer to order outside of Ko-fi, no matter where you live, please contact me. I accept PayPal and Venmo, and will still honor the discount.)

Also—my commissions are 15% off until December 11.

[maiji]

I have several exciting events coming up this month!

2024 Spring Canzine

Where: Online!

When: April 13 to 21

Broken Pencil's virtual Canzine features creators from Canada, and around the world. I love these events because you can check out and support work from multiple indie creators, and only have to worry about one shipping fee. I'm always so impressed by the behind-the-scenes coordination that makes this possible! 

All my Now Recharging comics are going to be available at a discount from their usual prices in my online store, because everything will be in CAD instead of USD, and I'm not changing my prices! (Ah, our Canadian dollar.) Also they'll be able to ship to more countries than just Canada and the US!

(Psst, I'm also going to be running a Canzine special for my Lenormand oracle deck and my Genjimonogari art deck during the full festival time period! Stay tuned for more info when Canzine starts!)

You can see the full list of vendors here!

Momiji Spring Market April 2024

Where: 3555 Kingston Road, Scarborough Ontario

When: Saturday April 27 from 11 am to 4pm

Momiji Health Care Society is hosting a Spring Market, full of local artists, crafters, and makers! Momiji events are in a beautiful space, and always have the best food. The venue is a seniors' care centre so please aim to mask for the safety of all! 

More details on April Momiji events on their instagram.