What’s a zine?
From Stolen Sharpie Revolution, and pronounced like magazine without the “maga-,” a zine is an independently created publication containing anything you want it to; personal experiences and stories, political ideologies, music related writing, gardening tips, fiction, travel stories, comics, photography, or anything you like. zines can be put together by one person or a group of people and they are usually photocopied but can also be printed offset, letter press, or mimeographed.
What’s a zine fest?
A zine fest is an event where zinesters (individual sellers as well as zine distro owners) meet up to sell and trade zines, as well as meet other zinesters. However, please note that trading is up to each individual zinester, and distros traditionally do not trade zines.
A zine fest is not a craft fair, comic book convention, or a book fair. We do not mind if these things are sold by tablers, but we do ask that they devote at least 50% of their stock to zines and other affordable printed matter. Because zines are generally in the range of $1 to $5, you can expect to buy a lot of great reading material for a low price!
How much is a table at zine fest?
We currently offer a half table for $15 and a full table $30. We rent tables that are the standard 6 ft. in length, which means a half table would be 3 ft.
What kinds of workshops do you offer?
Workshop topics can vary from year to year depending on the submitted proposals. Sometimes they are activity based, such as zine-making for kids. Sometimes they are demonstrations or facilitated discussions to raise awareness or generate interest. Workshops are typically 30 minutes to 1 hour long.
If you’re interested in holding a workshop at Richmond Zine Fest, we have a proposal submission form on the site. If you’re not sure if Richmond Zine Fest would be a good fit for your workshop, feel free to ask questions at: zine.fest@richmondzinefest.info.
Who organizes Richmond Zine Fest?
Richmond Zine Fest is organized by a small but mighty group of zine-makers and D.I.Y. enthusiasts in the Richmond City limits. The current, active organizers are : Celina Nicole and Brian Baynes. If you’re interested in becoming an event organizer or volunteer, email us here: zine.fest@richmondzinefest.info.
When is Richmond Zine Fest?
Typically it will be in the fall, either late September or early October, depending on our venue’s availability.
Last year Richmond Zine Fest was the same weekend as ___________ festival/event. Can you not do that?
When planning Richmond Zine Fest, we have to juggle multiple dates and concerns. We cannot and will not guarantee that we’ll be able to avoid the other local/national events that you may or may not be interested in. We’re sorry if that means you can’t enjoy zine fest, but there will be other years for us to land on the right time for you!
What is your picture and video policy?
Please see our Safer Space Policy and request the permission of any tabler/participant before taking an image where they could be easily identified. You may also want to arrive with a business card or something that explains who you are and where your images may be posted/for what reason. Recording of any programs requires communication and agreement with Richmond Zine Fest’s organizers and the programming participants.
Can I be added to your mailing list/newsletter?
At this time Richmond Zine Fest does not have a mailing list. If you’d like updates, please follow our social media accounts on facebook, instagram, and twitter.
What does it mean that this event is for “all ages”? Does that mean my adult-themed zines are not welcome?
When we say this is an all ages event, we mean that there’s typically something for everyone. We have zine-makers of a wide age range and a variety of interests. We even have zine clubs come in from high school! We also have a lot of adults who want your zines ranking vibrators, dildos, and anal plugs if that’s your thing! We have a general browsers beware policy. When deciding the table layout, we try to make sure “kid-friendly” tablers are not right next to the x-rated stuff. This is one of the reasons why we love having two-floors/multiple rooms (sorry folks who wish we’d go back to the one room model, speaking of….)
Why do you have multiple floors and rooms? I miss being in one room at Diversity!!!
We haven’t been at Diversity for awhile. We’re sorry/not sorry, but we’re not going back of our own volition. There are pros and cons to being in one room v. multiple at the library, and the pros for being at the library have resulted in one of the best mutual partnerships we’ve had despite what a pain carrying those tables are, and we love the location. Here are the top 3 reasons why we use two floors:
1. If we only utilized the basement, we’d have to accept far fewer tablers, and it’s difficult enough cutting applicants as is. We love too hard, and we don’t want to say no to you and you and you and you.
2. Multiple rooms/floors has allowed us to give better options to tablers with anxieties, phobias, and dilemmas over being in the “big room.” We are working on ways to update the application to show the map and give applicants a clearer insight into where their table will likely be before they arrive to set up on Saturday morning.
3. We have tablers who we want to include who literally cannot be in the same room with other tablers we want to include. Not everything is about you, but it might be, so having more than one room as an option has proven to be a good thing for those special situations. We try to be as accommodating as possible to our tablers, so everyone can have a great day and focus on why we choose to gather: ZINES!
Richmond Zine Fest 