Wait - some people pay for zines?

I also wasn't aware that people ask for money for zines. Then again, I have never seen a zine in the wild :/ This one is definitely worth a read, it's a whole mood

Yeah, 30+ years is far too expensive. 🫤

I've definitely seen $20 zines in the wild before and as an indie author it blows my mind. I've written multiple books with professional editing and design and everything and I'm not silly enough to think they'll sell for $20 a pop. The idea of a book that took years to finish being cheaper than an eight page zine is wild XD

But I really like this zine's thesis of zines being a part of liberation and community building, NOT a way to make an income. When I finally finish my first zine, I'm gonna post it here for everyone to use and then distribute it among my in-person friends c:

I have actually paid for zines, but we're talking like 2-3€, which I think is fair and to me feels more like a little donation to an artist. I give it gladly as support.

But I've also seen photo zines for 20€ and...while I understand that people want to put their photos on nice paper or let them print, it does not feel like a zine anymore? It is self-published, yes. But it feels too professional if that makes sense.

Personally, I feel like sharing, trading and just putting them out in the world feels the best.

The high price of (many) new zines today is why I love zine libraries, and libraries with zine collections. Also while I prefer paper zines, I do appreciate that so many zinesters are putting digital copies online for free!

I wonder if many new zinesters are coming into the scene from an Etsy business perspective, where you have "production costs," and not a punk DIY perspective, where scamming free copies from Kinko's and re-using postage stamps was a common way to save money. That might explain some of the prices...