Zine summary: a zine (pronounced as zeen) is a body of personalized literary work presented in an abstract style. Zines can contain anything, from personal stories to political discussions, there are no rules when it comes to making a zine. Zines are creative in appearance, covered in magazine cut outs, to drawings that go with its contents. They are usually self published, non commercial, and are in small circulation. Because of their rarity, they are mainly found in large cities in independent book stores and some libraries. There is very little money to be made through zines unlike books. People who make zines mostly just want others to read their ideas and indulge in their creativity.
I’m not aware at what point in time zines came into appearance but I’m guessing it was before the creation of the Internet. In a time where there was no form of published self expression, the idea of a zine and its freedom must have been revolutionary. Now we have the Internet which is similar to the zine. In the World Wide Web we can make and personalize or own websites to our liking, much like a zine. We have the power and opportunity to share our ideas, beliefs, and emotions, whiles having a finite audience, however small or big it may be. Before the Internet, people would have had to give out for free or charge a small fee for their zines in order for other people to read them, but of course there was a small number of people who would consider reading a zine, let alone be able to obtain one from another person. The zine is a tangible book, and it has a feeling of limitation because of its lack of access to a larger audience. But now, there is the opportunity to share our perspective with the world through the Internet.
