Static’s only just over a year old, but zines have been going on for almost a century. The zines of today have derived from big zine movements in the 60s, 70s and 90s, which are most known for fanzines about science fiction, punk music, riot grrrl and more. In these self-publishing revolutions before the age of the internet, people were able to get creative about the stories they followed, music they liked, activists they admired and ideas they thought could change the world.

For our fifth issue, due out for Canzine on October 20&21, we’d like to honour fanzines but also have our own fun with the concept. Each contributor will get one page to make what a page of their fanzine about a topic would look like. This can be figuratively or literally if they’ve made one before. Examples of topics include music, movies, actors, musicians, activists, leaders, writers, animals, things, etc. The contributor is encouraged to use the page to show why they’re fan-ing over the topic, why it’s so great or why others should love it through the cut-and-paste/ drawn-on style familiar to fanzines.

PITCHING DETAILS:

• Email info @ staticzine . com by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH to let us know you’re interested in contributing, what or who you’d like to fan over and how you would go about doing it.
• Each person is to fan over a different topic (we’ll monitor this through pitches to make sure of no overlap).
• We accept writing, comics, illustration, photos, interviews, mixtures of them, etc. Please refer to our previous issues to see our general style.
• We encourage you to check out your local zine library, like the Toronto Zine Library, to see what other fanzines are like.
• Once we notify the contributor that their topic’s been accepted (after the pitch deadline), they”ll have until MONDAY, OCTOBER 1ST to work on their page. Then there will be two weeks for production.
• Please let us know if you have any questions!

PAGE DETAILS:

• One page = 12.5 CM wide x 8.5 IN tall (a letter-sized paper, folded in half – that one half – with borders cut off). If you go over the border, there’s more potential for your work to be cut off during photocopying.
• Photos, comics and illustrations cannot be too dark or too light, as it’s tricky when it comes out in photocopying.
• The contributor can complete their page on their own and send as a file/mail it/drop it off, or are invited to come to our HQ to make it with us.

Here are some interesting things to check out about fanzines:

• The Zine and E-Zine Resource Guide
• Fanzines enter pages of history
• A brief history of riot grrrl fanzines
• How the fanzine refused to die