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1 |  |  | Submit an update to this guide by August 31st, 2022! Visit tinyurl.com/ZineGuideUpdate | ||
2 | Distro Name | US / International | State/Province/Country | URL | Self-Description |
3 | 8-Ball Publishing | US | NY | “8-Ball Publishing develops unique concepts for new publications and collaborates with artists to create works in a variety of formats, focusing on underrepresented content and emphasizing handmade printing and binding techniques. The publishing team also hosts educational workshops on bookmaking, self-publishing and the care of printed matter, often in collaboration with other organizations and museums. One of the main production for the Publishing team is also to reproduce various informative and radical zines from various collectives around the world, and sell them as "pay-what-you-want". For all info about our publications, email: 8ballpublishing@gmail.com” | |
4 | Active Distribution | Int'l | United Kingdom | “Active Distribution has been around since the 1980s, as a DIY and voluntary project to support our scenes. Run by Jon for over thirty years, he's now stepped back to focus on Active Distribution Publishing, and a new crew based in Bristol have been running the distro side of things. Still keeping things priced as low as possible, distributing a wide range of 'all things anarchist' and maintaining a DIY and not for profit ethic.” | |
5 | Antipode | Int'l | United Kingdom | "We are a UK-based partnership of zine enthusiasts. We founded Antipode to bring you a curated catalogue of self published and small press publications from creatives all over the world. Together we've scouted our favourite art, comics, poetry, and tabletop gaming zines and we are certain you will love them as much as we do." | |
6 | Antiquated Future | US | WA | “Antiquated Future is an online store, zine distro, pop-up shop, and tape label that began in 2008 out of Olympia, Washington and currently operates out of Portland, Oregon. Over the past thirteen years, we've distributed several thousand different zines, books, tapes, records, and handmade odds and ends by independent artists. Though we've grown over the years—and even gone through a name change (originally we were the Ms. Valerie Park Distro)—we've been essentially the same since the beginning: we spread print and physical mediums through digital avenues, employing the future to preserve the past.” | |
7 | Birdcage Bottom Books | US | NY | Birdcage Bottom Books was founded by J.T. Yost in 2008 with the help of a Xeric Grant with the goal to help independent artists get their work into more hands. / Our focus is mostly on memoir style comics; we love highlighting the peculiar, hilarious, and poignant moments of every day life. Come check out our offerings! We sell not just comics published by us but also works put out by other small trade publishers as well as self-published material. / Submissions for distribution and publication are currently closed as we make sure we grow the company right. We are currently restructuring the BBB and will open submissions again once we have all our ducks and other fowl in a line. | |
8 | Bottles on the Sill Distro | US | “I am proud to carry many lesser known zines that deserve admiration, along with some handmade items and prints. Join me in spreading zine readership.” | ||
9 | Brown Recluse Zine Distro | US | CA | BROWN RECLUSE is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit zine distro of self-published zines of political education for and by Queer and Trans Black Indigenous and People of Color. Brown Recluse was established in 2013 as a direct response to the lack of support in the zine community for non-white creators. We are entirely volunteer-run and 100% community-funded. The project was originally founded by a zine maker and blossomed into a collective project in 2015, as the work has always been communal and non-hierarchal. In the last 9 years, we have embarked on reading tours and tabled at zine fests across the country, expanded into a collective, hosted workshops, and have connected zine makers of color to one another across the country + the world. We are the only distro that offers Black zinemakers 100% of the cover price to distribute their work. Collective members + volunteers read submissions, print zines, run social media, send out orders, write descriptions, update our online catalog / shop, table events around the country, answer emails, hustle money, redistributes $$$ directly to QTBIPOC in need, and deal with all the day to day operations. BRZD has operated out of Coast Salish and Ohlone Lands. | |
10 | Bunny Ears Distro | US | NM | “Bunny Ears Distro is an audio-zine distro, aimed at bringing zine readings directly into your home!” | |
11 | Burn All Books | US | CA | “Burn All Books is a risograph publisher, distro, and studio in San Diego, California. Focused on community and collaboration, we work with San Diego and Tijuana, MX based artists, writers and creators to produce zines, artists’ books, alternative comics, and art prints. Through the accessibility and versatility of risograph printing, Burn All Books has become an avenue for promoting and publishing alternative art as resources from and for the people. As of January 2023 we have published over 35 publications and worked with over 100 artists, writers and zine makers since beginning in October 2017. Burn All Books strives to continue printing, growing and fostering an inclusive space for art and culture with a DIY spirit. With the opening of our physical location BAB & Friends has developed into a multi-use artist space, facilitated by a core crew of independent self-publishers, artists, printmakers, and organizers.” | |
12 | CRAPANDEMIC | US | IN | “World's only goth zine distro!! Run by Midwestern zine vet julia eff & friends, dedicated to the cut & paste life with a Hot Topic soundtrack. Zines for outcasts, by outcasts. Scoring points for passion and persistence.” | |
13 | Emerald Comics Distro | US | WA | “Emerald Comics Distro is an independent comics distributor based in Seattle, WA. ECD works with independent cartoonists and small presses to bring innovative and diverse indie comics to your favorite local comic shop, or right to your door. We will reopen submissions in 2024, probably around March! [Looking for] [f]iction or nonfiction comics that have a some kind of story or narrative in them. Poetry comics. Zines that have a strong visual element. All genres please! Autobio? Yes. Space opera? Yes. Queer romance? Yes. Romantic queer space opera based that's sorta autobiographical? Heck yes! I'm actively looking for themed anthologies, all-ages comics, and comics about/by LGBTQIA+ folks. That being said, send all genres please.” | |
14 | Gatosaurio | Int'l | Mexico | https://gatosaurio.com/ | “GATOSHOP is an online store from Mexico City [specializing] in comics, stickers, apparel, patches, unique graphic art and precious trinkets. Created by Inés Estrada in 2013 and to this day still run by herself, GATOSHOP offers a very personal curation of items with a DIY spirit and some drops of vintage nostalgia. The eclectic vibe of her selection comes from her obsession with cartoons and their transformative power– deceptively mundane characters able to impact our consciousness by being cute, funny, weird and even profound.” |
15 | Heavy Mental Zine Distro | Int'l | Germany | “Heavy Mental specializes in distributing zines and comics, offering queer_feminist perspectives or challenging discrimination. If you know more zines, or if you make them yourself, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch!” | |
16 | honey boy press | US | California | Our mission at honey boy press is to amplify and facilitate folx at the margins of publishing to develop and publish their works independently as zines. we believe in zines as a truly emancipatory and radical medium and work to minimize the barriers in access to creating and distributing zines more widely. although our practice is based in california our work knows no borders. drop us a line for more info!!!!” | |
17 | Look Mum! Distro | Int'l | Canada | “To make it simple I distro stuff I like, which includes, Per Zines, Zines about sex work, Art Zines, Queer Zines, Sex Zines, practical radical zines, anarchist zines.... the list goes on but have a look at our stacks for a better idea.” | |
18 | Mend My Dress Press | US | WA | “Mend My Dress Press is a small publisher and distributor based out of Tacoma, Washington. We are purveyors of anthologies of zines, small art books, investigative social pieces, and local authors. Mend My Dress Press was born out of grrrl love and the need for more small, independent publishing houses on the west coast that focus on preserving zines in the form of anthologies. We believe these forms of writing and art should be preserved as part of our collective cultural history and look forward to our active roll in this effort.” | |
19 | Microcosm Publishing | US | OR | “Portland (and Cleveland!)'s most colorful, authentic, and empowering publishing house and distributor, Microcosm Publishing & Distribution is a vertically integrated publishing house that equips readers to make positive changes in their lives and in the world around them. Microcosm emphasizes skill-building, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom with books and zines about DIY skills, food, bicycling, gender, self-care, and social justice. Microcosm was started by Joe Biel in his bedroom as a distro and record label in 1996 and is now among the oldest independent book publishing houses in Portland, OR. Microcosm focuses on relating the experiences of what it's like to be a marginalized person and strives to be recognized for spirit, creativity, and value. All books are printed in the U.S. on post-consumer papers, and the company doubles the industry average in number of women authors and prioritizes hiring of special needs employees. Microcosm constantly poses the question “How can we remove barriers to success for marginalized people in our industry? In 2022, Microcosm was named Publishers Weekly's Fastest Growing Publisher." | |
20 | Neither/Nor Zine Distro | US | MO | “Neither/nor is owned and operated by Kansas Citian, Jess Hogan (they/them). Jess is a biracial (latinx/white) genderfluid/nonbinary/queer person who loves making, reading, trading, and collecting zines. It’s that love that led Jess to connect with other local zinesters and work towards putting on KC Zine Con for the first 5 years of its existence! [...] The mission of Neither/nor Zine Distro is to be a source for novice and veteran zine makers/enthusiasts to sell their zines and support one another and to act as a zine destination/resource in KC year round. Zines can take many forms reflecting the individuals' vision. They are inherently empowering since the entire process (content creation, editing, layout, reproduction, distribution) is controlled by the artist. By distributing these unique creations uncapitalized voices are disseminated and elevated! Local (KC), personal, DIY, self-care, self-help, radical/political, identity politics (gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality,etc.) and feminist zines are the focus of this distro.” | |
21 | Nonmachinable | US | MN | "Nonmachinable, purveyors of zines and artist’s books, was founded in 2022 by the artists allison anne (they/them) and Jeremy P. Bushnell (he/him). Nonmachinable promotes and disseminates collage, asemic writing, visual poetry, and other optically interesting publications, with a focus on work made by trans people, queers, artists of color, and women." | |
22 | paper view books | Int'l | Portugal | “paper view is an independent printer and bookstore from portugal. they release odd pages, centered in collage and concrete poetry, the smaller (in size) collection pluriversalis and collagen series. they act as a printlab, running experiments with outdated materials and crossing mediums. they also have a photo series called point of view and several illustration books.” | |
23 | Partizanka Press | Int'l | Canada | “Partizanka Press is a micropress and distro of zines, artist's books and multiples, based in Hamilton, Ontario.” | |
24 | Pen Fight | Int'l | UK | “We’re pen fight, a feminist and queer shop and small press based in Manchester, UK. Independently run since 2015, we sell zines, radical books, badges, and other DIY and small-run art and craft. / On our shelves you’ll find work on feminist and women’s rights, disability and mental health, food, veganism, gardening, politics, race, class, art, friendship, music, fanzines, and anything else with an ace DIY ethic. / We also operate a small press, printing zine titles by women, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ folks, we want to amplify the voices and creative work of the marginalised and new artists.” | |
25 | Portland Button Works | US | OR | “Portland Button Works specializes in making custom buttons, magnets and other items for your project, school, band, non-profit, memorial, pub crawl or whatever reason you may need tiny pictures to pin to your clothes! Your order can be picked up and paid for at our shop or shipped around the world! We offer rush orders and design services for additional fees. / We also offer a large selection of our own button designs (get in touch for wholesale pricing if you are interested in reselling), as well as a growing zine, comic, and book distro. / We operate an online distro & brick and mortar shop (by appointment but not currently due to the pandemic) in Portland Oregon, and we normally vend at five or more zine events a year around the US (sometimes other countries) If we decide to carry your zines we request 20 or more copies and pay 50% of retail upfront (no consignments) or 60% in trade for anything from zines, buttons, or custom buttons and other items. We also have a few arrangements where we can print from flats or PDFs. We are interested in zines that are based in DIY and punk ethics in regards to politics, content, production, and pricing. In an effort to keep zines accessible we prefer zines that are $5.00 retail or less.” | |
26 | Radiator Comics | US | FL | "Radiator Comics distributes, produces, and promotes hand-made, self-published and small-press comics that focus on self-expression and storytelling. At the core of our mission is a commitment to increasing the population of comic book readers, providing support to comic book makers to create the best work they possibly can, and to fairly compensate those creators for their work." | |
27 | Red Letter Distro | Int'l | New Zealand | “An international ‘occasional distro’ of curated zines and independent arts publications from Aotearoa, New Zealand, founded by Kerry Ann Lee in 2001.” | |
28 | Silver Sprocket Zine Distro | US | CA | “a tiny San Francisco-based comics publisher that is also a bicycle club and an activist collective” – New York Times “Silver Sprocket’s disingenuous insistence that they’re an ‘anti-professional… all-around raging dumpster fire’ gets a little more tiresome by the week, as they put out volume after volume of thought-provoking and/or entertaining comics.” – Broken Frontier | |
29 | Small Zine Volcano | Intl | Australia | “Small Zine Volcano distributes free zines. You pay the postage, we send you the zines, wherever you are in the world.” | |
30 | Spit and a Half | US | WI | "Hey, my name’s John Porcellino. Since 1989 I’ve drawn and self-published my own zine, King-Cat Comix and Stories. In 1992 I started a zine and comix distro called Spit and a Half. This was before the internet! It was all on paper. People sent me orders through the mail, and I sent comix to them through the mail! In 2000, due to health problems I was having, I quit doing the distro. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life. 10 years later, I was feeling a lot better, and was more committed than ever to trying to keep the world of self-published comix and zines thriving. So I brought the distro back to life. I focus on small-press and self-published comics from around the world, ones that might fall through the cracks more easily, and are harder to find. This may sound obvious, but when you buy zines and comix from me, or from another distro/shop, or from the creator themselves, you’re really helping everyone involved to keep going. Money from the sales goes directly into the creators’ pockets, so they can eat, pay rent, and make more beautiful zines. Also, as a zine publisher myself, I can’t be anything but fair. I pay the creators a good price, and always pay what is owed." | |
31 | Stay Kind! | US | MA | “Stay Kind! publishes and distributes creative works including zines and buttons. A portion of all sales are donated to initiatives supporting positive change in our communities. Stay Kind! is especially interested in supporting groups and organizations doing work around racial justice, gender and sexuality, youth voice, animal rights, violence intervention and prevention, and mental health.” | |
32 | Sticky Institute | Int'l | Austrailia | “Ardent defenders of zine culture since 2001. We have a shop underneath Flinders Street & we run Festival Of The Photocopier!” | |
33 | thankubody | Int'l | Australia | “thankubody is a health and wellbeing site with empowering zines, tools, and articles to help you thrive online and offline.” | |
34 | The Concern. Newsstand | US | NC | The Concern Newsstand is an e-commerce bookstore based in central North Carolina. Originally formed & named in 2017 for the concern of a changing Chapel Hill (its original location), commercialization and a lack (at the time) of places to buy artist made books & zines, The Concern has pivoted with the times focusing on a range of concerns. The shop includes art books, zines, some used & rare books and magazines from the US/ UK/ Europe. It also has had a publishing arm and hosted poetry readings at Attic 506 in Chapel Hill. It is a curated focus by artist, arts administrator & Chapel Hill native Orvokki Crosby and an experimental business model of sustainability. It is an evolving project. | |
35 | The Word Distribution | US | NJ | “We here at The Word are into the finer things in life - sports, cats, sex, food and things like that. We like it light and airy and let the other distro's out there carry the heavy load. We are also all about other DIY related projects. Things like music, art, pins and patches. Submissions of all kinds of welcome just see the contact page for e-mail or snail mail addresses.” | |
36 | Vampire Hag Distro | Int'l | UK | “we like zines! our favourite kinds are perzines (all sorts; feminist, mental health, queer, the list goes on forever) food zines & some art zines but we’re open to everything, though we’re not super into poetry or music zines, but there are always some exceptions.. nothing racist, girl hatey, homophobic, misogynist, transphobic, cissexist, hateful etc stuff though! those are a definite no-no.” | |
37 | Wasted Ink Zine Distro | US | AZ | “Wasted Ink is a distribution center for zines, resources/info, and funds in Phoenix, AZ that provides international distribution, printing services, the annual PHX Zine Fest, and an extensive zine library - all dedicated to uplifting voices of historically marginalized creators who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, chronically ill, or neurodivergent. / Self-publishing has always been a form of resistance and subversion, allowing writers and artists to speak directly to their lived experiences while shaping their culture. Wasted Ink aims to honor this tradition and support as many zinesters as possible in utilizing the freedom of the press.” | |
38 | Zine Gang Distro | Int'l | Australia | “We're a zine distro from Melbourne, Australia, bringing zines and comics from more than 20 zine makers together in one place.” | |
39 | Zineomatic | US | CA | Part of what makes zines so great is that they are handcrafted by the artists themselves. Artists pour their heart and soul into creating their zines, but sometimes struggle with how to get their work out into the world. Similarly people who love to read zines know that there must be great zines out there, but can’t seem to find out where they're hiding. Zine-o-Matic takes the best zines from places like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Chicago, and curates them into an awesome shipment every month. | |
40 | ** maintained by Nonmachinable Distribution | @nonmachinable | nonmachinable.com |
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2 | Distro Name | US / International | State/Province/Country | URL | Description |
3 | Boneshaker Books | US | MN | https://www.boneshakerbooks.com/ | "Boneshaker Books is a volunteer-run, radical bookstore based in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN. We aim to introduce readers to leftist politics, facilitate conversations, support ongoing movements, and collectively create a space that will grow, evolve, and respond to community needs and pressing issues. " |
4 | City Lights | US | CA | https://citylights.com | "The nation’s first all-paperback bookstore, City Lights has expanded several times over the years; we now offer three floors of both new-release hardcovers and quality paperbacks from all of the major publishing houses, along with an impressive range of titles from smaller, harder-to-find, specialty publishers. The store features an extensive and in-depth selection of poetry, fiction, translations, politics, history, philosophy, spirituality, music, film, cultural studies, and more, with a staff whose special book interests in many fields contribute to the hand-picked quality of what you see on the shelves." |
5 | Dale Zine | US | FL | dalezine.com | "Dale Zine, established 2009 in Miami, is an independent printer and publisher with the goal of giving a platform to multimedia artists and designers. With humble beginnings as a zine collaboration about Garfield, Dale has broadened into something of an open cultural space for the Miami community, with offerings ranging from all- age zine workshops to our independent radio show, pop-up events, and most recently a storefront in Downtown Miami. Collaborations of note include those with Tim Biskup, Matt Furie, Legowelt, Friendswithyou, to name just a few of our over 75 titles and counting. You can find our work in Miami, Tokyo, LA, New York, Beijing and online at DaleZine.com." |
6 | Desert Island | US | NY | https://www.desertislandbrooklyn.com/ | “Experimental and underground artistry is the norm at Desert Island. Look through the Williamsburg store’s plywood shelves and you’ll find glossy paperbacks as well as photocopied-and-stapled booklets with a D.I.Y. aesthetic. Surrounded by ice-blue stalactite sculptures and tapestries, regulars, travelers, and fellow artists immerse themselves in visual publications, seeking escape, inspiration, or both.” |
7 | Elliott Bay Book Company | US | WA | https://www.elliottbaybook.com/ | "Located in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, The Elliott Bay Book Company is a full service bookstore, home to over 150,000 titles, set on cedar shelves in a multi-level, inviting unique atmosphere. We offer one of the region's best selection of new books, as well as a large collection of bargain editions. Elliott Bay presents an unparalleled schedule of author readings and events throughout the year." |
8 | Magers & Quinn Booksellers | US | MN | https://www.magersandquinn.com/ | "Magers and Quinn is an independently owned new and used bookseller located in the heart of the popular Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis, near the chain of lakes for which the city is famous. Our location in Uptown has been in operation since 1994, when Denny Magers moved his smaller bookstore, All Books, from its location near the University of Minnesota to Hennepin Avenue and gave the store its current name. From rather humble beginnings (some of us can still remember when many of our books were laid out on tables instead of bookshelves) the store has steadily grown. Thanks to the support of the book-loving Twin Cities community, and supporters from across the globe, Magers & Quinn is one of the largest independent bookstores in the Midwest." |
9 | Powell’s | US | OR | powells.com | "Powell's Books is an independent bookseller serving Portland, Oregon, since 1971. Through Powells.com and our expansive online community, we also reach readers around the world, people who are as excited about books as we are. We are grounded by our company's core values, which have guided us through the ups and downs of the bookselling industry. Each and every employee's love of books drives us forward. We look forward to a future filled with many new opportunities, new innovations, and, of course, new books!" |
10 | Quimby’s | US | IL | https://www.quimbys.com/ | Quimby's is an independently owned bookstore that sells independently-published and small press books, comics, zines and ephemera. We favor the unusual, the aberrant, the saucy and the lowbrow. |
11 | The Secret Headquarters | US | CA | https://www.thesecretheadquarters.com/ | "Located in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, California. Secret Headquarters offers a sophisticated take on the traditional comic book store. Specializing in comic book culture, Secret Headquarters features the best in graphic novels, trade paperbacks and monthly titles." |
12 | Skylight Books | US | CA | "Skylight Books is a general bookstore serving the historic Los Angeles neighborhoods of Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Downtown. Located in the shadow of Griffith Park and its iconic Observatory, our Los Feliz neighborhood is host to many independently owned shops, restaurants, and movie theaters. Our curated selection features the best of literary fiction; graphic novels; children's books; California history and culture; political and social sciences; essays and nonfiction; and books on art, photography, film, and music. We also feature hand-picked magazines and zines, along with a selection of stationery and gifts. Our events program is nationally recognized, and features major touring authors, local favorites, and debuts." | |
13 | TACO ché - ようこそタコシェへ – | Int'l | Japan | “Taco Che has a variety of books, old and new, including self-funded publications, small-volume / limited publications, books that are difficult to distribute normally such as out-of-stock books, and back numbers of magazines, as well as indie books. We handle CDs, cassettes, videos, clothing, musical instruments, miscellaneous goods, etc. We have nearly 10,000 works in various genres such as comics, literary arts, art, subculture, customs, music, theater, and video. We handle a large number of non-general distribution books such as mini-comics, self-produced books, private books, limited books, paintings, goods created by artists, and performance pamphlets. Some of the mini-committees and handmade works are simple and poor, but please do not be bound by appearance or prejudice, but please see and listen to the works and meet your favorite.” | |
14 | Verbatim Books Zine Corner | US | CA | “Verbatim Books is a used and rare bookstore with an eclectic range of gently-loved and antiquarian books. Our stock is extremely curated to help you find quality editions of classics, favorites, and new discoveries. We also carry titles from over 200 local authors. Our zine corner is full of stuff made by local zine and chapbook creators, as well as some of the best from micro-distributors such as Burn All Books, Caboose Press, Eternia Press, Microcosm Publishing, Tiny Splendor, Genderfail, and more. Our walls are covered with work by San Diego artists and photographers to enhance your browsing and reading experience. Our zine corner is full of stuff made by local zine and chapbook creators, as well as some of the best from micro-distributors [and micropresses -ed.] such as Burn All Books, Caboose Press, Eternia Press, Microcosm Publishing, Tiny Splendor, Genderfail, and more.” |
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2 | Resource Name | US / International | State/Province/Country | URL | Description |
3 | Sea Green Zines | Int'l | Australia | "I review zines! I also show them off on YouTube. I also love zines and occasionally pet them. If you want to send zines (or other items) for review or adoring petting, send them to: Nyx PO Box 378 Murray Bridge, SA 5253 AUSTRALIA Want to talk trades, send letters in to Dear Anonymous, ask me about mail, or something else? You can email me at: seagreenzines@gmail.com" |
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1 |  |  | |||
2 | maintained by Nonmachinable | ||||
3 | @nonmachinable | ||||
4 | nonmachinable.com | ||||
5 | last updated Feb 2022 | ||||
6 | |||||
7 | get the Nonmachinable Guide to Zine Distributors in zine form, coming soon |