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Revision as of 12:15, 21 September 2004 by Lankiveil (talk | contribs) (typo)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A zine is a small circulation, non commercial publication of original and /or appropriated texts and images. Zines are distibuted through trade, at zine symposia, record stores, at concerts, independent media outlets, by mail, or through zine "distros." Many zines are distributed for free or cost less than $1.00 and rarely more than $3.00-5.00. The time and materials necessary to create a zine are seldom matched by the sale of zines. Zines are seldom copyrighted and there is a strong belief among many zinesters that the material within zines should be freely distributed.
Topics covered in zines are broad, and continue to include political, social, or sexual content sufficiently far outside the mainstream to be published in more traditional media. However, zines did enjoy a brief period of attention from conventional media in the 1990s, when a number of zines were collected and published in book form.Some believe that the widespread adoption of web browsers starting in 1996 marked the end of the classic period for print zines.
While 'zine is obviously a contraction of the word magazine, The exact origins of the zine and the moment when the word was first used are controversial. It appears likely that zine was invented independently by several subcultures, among them political groups, science-fiction enthusiasts, poets, and literary writers. Zines created and distributed today are most closely associated with the zines that emerged as part of the punk rock movement in the late 1970s.
Zines continue to be popular. Currently zines are important to the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) movement. Recently galvanizing social issues such as globalization, environmentalism, media conglomeration, American imperialism and consumerism have been addressed by zinesters.
Zine Guide is a contact list available at some news stands that lists titles and publishers of 'zines. Factsheet Five was one such contact list but has been on hiatus since 1998.
See also fanzine, samizdat.
Zine (zeen) listing: http://www.undergroundpress.org/infoshops.html