About a month ago I had a few days of alone time and set about to organize my very own writing retreat. But, instead of going somewhere else or joining a course online, I decided to set aside a few hours each morning to dedicate to writing.
Those were the last sunny & warm days of fall and I really enjoyed my mornings sitting on the grass or sipping tea at my computer. I brain-stormed, I typed, I got a lot done! And then, life started up again. My partner came back home and we had a lot of work to do on our build and in my small business.
My "DIY writing retreat" was cut short but, I have still been working away at my self-published zine when I have a free moment in the mornings before work and sometimes in the evenings too. Today I want to share with you all how far I have come!
If you aren't familiar with the term zine let me briefly explain. A zine is a DIY, self published booklet. A zine can be about anything. It can be printed on a single page and then folded into a booklet shape. A zine can resemble a novella or even take the form of a magazine. But, unlike magazines, zines don't contain ads and are usually printed at home or in libraries rather than traditional publishing.
I have been making zines for over a decade. Some contained mostly images and others were so personal I didn't feel that they could be shared with more than a handful of friends. This zine is something new for me. It is the longest zine I have ever published and the first to be formatted on the computer.
It is also the most "polished" zine I have ever made. My idea was to transform some of the articles I have written for Hive with the idea of turning digital art into physical art. Part of my DIY writing retreat was spent picking out my favorite articles written over the past few months, editing and expanding upon them. I also wanted to include writing that can't be found anywhere else but this zine.
A few days ago I finished all of the text of the zine and printed everything out on high quality paper. And in order to keep with the "cut & paste aesthetic" of the zine world I have been adding my own photography. And while I started out this zine with the concept of writing about fall and my life as a mystic and an herbalist, the zine has taken on it's own theme: of preserving physical art in the digital age.
In just a few days I plan to print off the first edition of the zine. I think I will start with 50 copies, to take with me on my trip to my home country in July and maybe even list on my online shop. Exciting days ahead for this DIY publisher!
