List of Zine Red Flags

Flameo hotmen. Weiwei here. I wrote this based on my experience participating as an artist in a bunch of zines in the past, most of which were GREAT and some of which were BAD. If there's something here you'd like to add or contest, let me know.

This is for PAID, PHYSICAL zine projects, ORIGINAL OR FANDOM, for PROFIT OR CHARITY. As long as goods are exchanged for money, it IS a small business and a degree of professionalism is required. If you want to treat it as a Fun Friends Project, DO NOT ASK FOR MONEY. Host a Big Bang instead.

All these "red flags" are just that - not things that completely invalidate a zine project. There are always exceptions. BUT if you're looking at a zine, and the mods show multiple red flags, that's a little shady and you should be careful and maybe reconsider.

Zine projects usually run 3-4 months at LEAST. If you cannot commit to this (if ur a student u KNOW u will have exams, don't use "exams" as an excuse to ghost later on), do NOT RUN A ZINE, GO STUDY

Mod and Artist responsibilities

@mods, understand that your job is not just to curate a bunch of cool art. There's a LOT MORE TO IT, and you should ask for help from other people in the zine when problems arise.

MODS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

  • Organizing ALL aspects of the zine, being managers and leaders

  • Marketing + graphic design for social media presence

  • Graphic design + layout of the zine itself

  • Managing artists - select artists, provide templates, make sure progress checks are met, adjust schedule if needed, verify art dimensions/sizes are correct

  • FINANCES - generate reasonable budget, manage storefront, compensate participants, actually donate the money in the end, preserve receipts and screengrabs for transparency and proof throughout.

  • PREORDER FULFILLMENT - Buying merch and books, negotiating with manufacturers, packaging and shipping orders, compensating artists, wrapping up expenses properly.

  • QUALITY ASSURANCE - Provide digital/soft proofs to artists before they are released to the public. Quick screengrabs are ok for soc media announcements, PDFs for book design. Artists will always find typos, alignment issues, request social media plug changes, etc. You aren't stupid for making those mistakes. Wrangling a big image-heavy pdf is a hell of a job and errors are inevitable on a first pass. Be open to artists' critique and revisions.

  • TRANSPARENCY throughout whole process - Communicate with zine participants AND social media/customers. Update even if the update is “still waiting for x and y! Estimated shipping will depend on when we receive x and y, but we’re hoping late August. Will update in 2 weeks!!” Bad news is less bad if it comes directly from the organizers, it shows you are transparent and still working to deliver on your promises.

  • Roles can be split depending on mod team skill distribution, but communication should be CONSISTENT for all mods. If the mod team has a “communications mod”, that’s stupid as fuck and you should leave.

Yes, mods have the biggest responsibilities, but artists also need to do what's expected of them.

ARTISTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

  • Making quality pieces for the zine, following guidelines

  • MEETING DEADLINES - Deadline extensions are fairly commonplace, no one will hate you if you ask for one BEFORE the deadline passes. Needing an extension because of exams or you being in a lot of concurrent zines? I'm judging a little bit but it's not a huge issue, as long as you explain.

  • Communicating with mods ASAP when problems arise. If you can no longer participate in the zine, just say so and gtfo. Don't waste a mod's time by ghosting.

  • Whistleblow if you feel like the zine's quality is subpar, have suspicions about mods, etc. Be respectful but don't be afraid to provide constructive crit if mods are not doing what they promised. Don't create drama. Just be honest and straightforward. Everyone in the zine (mods and participants) all just want the zine to look as awesome as possible.

Red Flags Before Applying

  • Mod is a teenager - Not all adults are qualified to run a zine either, but younger people tend to react to obstacles more immaturely (ie, by ghosting because they’re Overwhelmed), and they have less financial freedom - if things go wrong, they cannot afford to eat the costs

  • Mod has no track record of COMPLETED delivery of physical goods- currently “in progress” zines do NOT count. Look for an online storefront with ratings, or previous completed zines or crowdfunded projects.

  • None of the mods are a decent artist/designer/writer themselves. Remember, mods control zine quality standards.

  • Mods don't have an established soc media presence - bigger follower count IS a reassurance, it’s harder to just disappear from the internet if you have more connections online

  • Mods running 4+ zines concurrently..... hmmmmmmmm

  • Too many “main mods”, unclear roles. 2-4 mods IDEAL, more than 5? Can easily become disorganized.

  • Zine social media don't list mods in an easily visible way.

  • Typos in soc media graphics

Before Accepting an Invite

Always reply to zine acceptance emails with questions (don't be rude though), especially about fulfillment. Here are some things that you should get answers to:

  • Who is responsible for finances?

  • Who is responsible for shipping? Ship from which country?

  • Who are manufacturers, are they confirmed yet?

  • Are you prepared for worst case scenarios (ex. if only a couple ppl buy the zine and the budget becomes a deficit, sudden shipping law changes, manufacturer problems, paypal money freezes etc.) who will cover those costs?

  • Will artists be compensated even in worst case scenarios?

  • Will you be transparent about money, by posting regular sales updates during pre-orders, and purchase expenses during fulfillment? Can participants look at budget sheets (excel or google sheets are fine), purchase receipts/order invoices, paypal screenshots, etc? Detailed breakdowns are GOOD.

  • How often will you update us during fulfillment/shipping phase? (Once every 2 weeks is usually good enough)

  • If you need to "take time off for mental health", will you make arrangements for someone else to take over before you leave? Otherwise, that's literally called Ghosting.

If the responses are vague, non committal, “we’ll tackle it when we get there”, “thats the other mod's responsiblity, not me, the person responding to ur email”, then gtfo

After participating

  • Not showing zine team (all participants) the graphics and layouts before it gets uploaded to social media or published. Shows lack of communication, fear of feedback. Artists LOVE to be in on the design process (we are all creatives after all!!!) and often have great ideas to improve the zine visuals.

  • Still, a lot of mods seem GREAT and organized during production (drawing) phase, then disappear for months after pre-orders close, so it can be hard to predict. Best thing you can do is start saving conversation screenshots, and reach out to the mods on any platform you can, but offer to help and BE PROFESSIONAL.

  • Mods that are FRIENDLY and SWEET are not necessarily GOOD MODS