Stolen Sharpie Revolution

I have updated the zine events page as well as the zine event google calendar. Check it out.

I’ll be at the Chicago Zine fest and the Brooklyn Zine Fest. Come and say hello!

Also, Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY resource for zines and zine culture the book is just about out of print! I’ll be reprinting in the next few months. So please, don’t go posting or buying overpriced and outdated copies on E-bay or Amazon or I’ll think you are a dick.

You’d do a lot better ordering the remaining copies from one of these fine distro:

Crabby Media

Parcel Press

Sweet Candy

or get it from my Etsy shop or my distro, Portland Button Works.

Also, here’s a little self promotion. I have a new zine out! Brainscan zine #30 is my 30th issue in 15 years! You can also get that in my Etsy shop or at Portland Button Works. It is 40 pages with 5 color Risograph prints on recycled paper.

It’s been a busy summer and I’m getting life back on track after International Zine Month and the Portland Zine Symposium and keeping my zine and button distro/shop up and running. My next project involves a trip to the UK for a tour with a zine themed band! Maybe you’ll come and see us? More on that latter.

Here’s some zine stuff that has crossed my path:

I updated the zine events page. As always, I need your help to keep it updated. Send me a message if you know of any that I an missing.

Check out these Zinester’s Dilemma articles 1 & 2

The POC Zine Project talks about having a POC zine conference in 2014.

Telegram zine is being collected in an anthology!

The Lesen Lounge seems like a bicycle version of the Fly Away Zine Mobile!

The Brooklyn College has a collection of Brooklyn zines.

This is an interesting exchange and discussion about the Birmingham Zine Fest in the UK and how out of touch the organizers seem to be about zines and zine culture.

Last, but definitely not least, Sage and Sarah are hosting another issue of their Postage Paid Zine Podcast tomorrow! Get on it and listen.

Happy Valenzine’s Day! Remember to write your zine crush or, write to Zine Crush about your zine crush.

At the Portland Button Works shop we are having a ValenZine’s party. If you are in Portland you can come and make a  Valenzine to send to your Zine Crush! We will also have a stop by the Fly Away Zine Mobile tomorrow!

Here’s a great article about the Zine Apothecary in Minnesota. This library has over 2,500 different zines!

Today (Tomorrow? What time is it there) the Folks in Indonesian are rocking the Bandung Zine Fest! I wish them success!

What else do I have for you this week? Awesome zine librarians attempting to make the worlds largest zine!!! July 21st is Zine library day! If you happen to be in Pittsburgh you should check it out!

Today’s activity is to try something new! If you draw comics, try writing fiction. If you write a per-zine, try drawing comics. If you write poetry, try writing a per-zine. What are you going to work on?

Next week is postal love week.  Get out your stamps and those letters you need to respond to because this is your week to send out some mail!

Other cool stuff:

Bad Zine, Everyone’s Fault: A Zine Reading tour!

check this out if it comes to your town:

7/20 – Chicago, IL @ Quimby’s Bookstore–1854 W. North Ave (7pm)
7/21 – Grand Rapids — MI 622 Benjamin (7pm)
7/22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Cyberpunk Apocalypse – 1200 Boyle St
7/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wooden Shoe Books & Records — 704 South St
7/24 – New York, NY @ Witch Beach
7/25 – Atlantic City, NJ
7/26 – Baltimore, MD@Red Clover Collective — 603 E. 30th st.
7/27 – Washington, DC

And of course, come to the DC Zine Fest on 7/28 at St Stephen’s Church!

University of Iowa Libraries Zine Month in Special Collections Follow along on twitter!

Wow! Did you know there is a twitter hash tag for IZM! #InternationalZineMonth Ya, it is kinda long. But look! People are using it. Follow along and post your own activities.

Taryn Hipp is a superstar! She’s blogging about her zine activities here. It’s pretty inspiring.  Also, she and Sarah of Once Upon  A Distro are going for extra extra credit by not only reading a zine everyday, but reviewing a zine everyday here.

Sage from Sweet Candy distro is also playing along!

Let me know what you plans are and I’ll add them!

Greetings! Happy International Zine Month! If you are following along at home with the 31 activities for 31 days of International Zine Month today’s activity is to head over the WeMakeZines, a social networking site just for zines, and post about International Zine Month.

Oh, if you would like a a copy of the 31 activities for International Zine Month poster along with a Portland Button Works Quarterly here’s how you get them: Send a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to:

I want to hear your plans for International Zine Month. I’ve been adding events into the 31 activities calendar. I’ll also be adding the activities to the google calendar. You do know about the Google Calendar of Zine Events don’t you? You can add it to your own Google Calendar and see when there are zines events all around the world! Let me know about your zine events and I’ll add them to the calendar.

Ok, a big reason I picked July for International Zine Month is because that was the month of the 24 Hour Zine Thing. I think it is an awesome project and everyone some at least try it. Did you know that you need to sign up to be counted? Go here and sign up to be a part of the 24 Hour Zine Challenge.

That being said, The Portland Zine Symposium is hosting their 4th annual 24 Hour Zine challenge. This awesome event is a fundraiser for PZS and works like a charity walk. You sponsor a participant (or participants!) and you only have to pay-up if the participant/s finish the challenge! If you sponsor someone for at least $10 you will even receive the zine the participant makes! I have taken part in this event for the past two years and have finished both times.  I will be participating again this year at this event that will be held at the new spacious Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, Oregon on 21 July. I would love love love it if you could help out the Portland Zine Symposium and sponsor me, Alex Wrekk, in the 24 hour zine challenge. There will also be live cams to watch our sleep deprived scribbling….and also so that you can laugh at us.

Spill The Zines, a UK based zine news site, reposted the 31 activities poster! So did 365 Zines A Year!

There is a new issue of Zine World out! Zine World #31 is available for you to purchase and pursue zine reviews and find some good new zines to read. The cover is really cool and looks like a hidden object game! Also, have you sent your zine to Zine World for review? You should do that. Here’s the info on how to do that including this handy form to fill out so they get all the details right.

This is an interesting article about zines libraries from a Library School!

And to sum all this up, here’s a cute comic about how trading zines is rad.

I printed these little posters on my Risograph of 31 things to do for the 31 days of July. If you would like to make some of your own you can get the PDF here. Also, posters (and PBW quarterly zines) are free with every order from Portland Button Works and Zine Distro.