A zine — pronounced “zeen,” short for magazine or fanzine — is a self-published work, typically printed in small quantities, distributed independently, and created outside the commercial publishing system. The form has existed in various guises since the science fiction fan publications of the 1930s. It flourished in the punk underground of the late 1970s, mutated into the riot grrrl zines of the 1990s, went quiet when the internet seemed to make it obsolete, and is now, in 2025, experiencing a genuine and interesting resurgence.
Why Zines Went Away (And Why That Story Was Wrong)
The conventional narrative is that the internet killed the zine by making self-publishing free, instant, and global. Blogs could reach thousands of readers; Tumblr could build communities overnight; social media could distribute content to anyone. Why go to the trouble and expense of printing, collating, and mailing a small publication when you could post something online?
This argument misunderstood what zines actually are. A zine is not primarily a distribution mechanism. It’s an object — something made, held, given, and kept. The social meaning of a zine is embedded in its materiality: the paper, the staples, the hand-cut edges, the photocopier artifacts, the cover that someone spent time on. When you give someone a zine, you’re giving them something you made. That exchange carries a different weight than sharing a link.
Zines didn’t disappear during the digital years — they went underground. Distros (zine distribution networks) kept running. Zine fests kept happening. The communities that had always sustained zine culture kept making them. What changed was that mainstream culture stopped paying attention, which in some ways made the space more interesting.
The Current Wave
What’s different about the current zine moment is its scope and diversity. The form has expanded well beyond its punk/alternative roots to encompass everything from academic research (scholars making zines about their work to reach non-academic audiences) to corporate internal communications (brands making zines as marketing objects) to neighborhood journalism (hyperlocal zines covering specific streets, blocks, or buildings).
The Risograph machine has had a significant influence here — it made small-run color printing economically viable for the first time, opening up visual possibilities that photocopier-based zine culture couldn’t access. Many of the most interesting current zines are visually sophisticated objects: designed with care, printed well, sold for $10–$25 at zine fests and in independent bookstores.
Why Make a Zine Now
The case for making a zine in 2025 isn’t really about reach. It’s about the relationship between making and thinking. Writing for print — even a small, informal print run — imposes constraints that online writing doesn’t. You’re committing to a form. You’re making decisions about what’s in and what’s out. You’re creating an object that exists independently of you, that can be held and passed on.
There’s also something to be said for the audience. People who pick up a zine at a fest or order one through a distro are actively choosing to engage with something physical. The attention they bring is different from the half-attention of a social media scroll. The intimacy of the zine format — small scale, personal voice, visible labor — invites a kind of reading that online formats rarely achieve.
Getting Started
The entry point for zine-making is deliberately low. A half-size zine — eight pages from a single sheet of letter paper, folded and cut — costs almost nothing to make and can carry significant content. A photocopier is sufficient for black and white. For color, a Risograph service bureau can print 100 copies of a small zine for $50–$150 depending on page count and color complexity.
The zine community is welcoming. Zine fests run in most major US cities — Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Minneapolis all have established fests with vendor tables available for modest fees. Online distros like Pioneers Press and Microcosm Publishing accept zines for distribution. The infrastructure is there. The only thing you need to start is something to say.