I love being a weird little guy among weird little guys
San Francisco Zine Fest 2025 was a blast and a half! Thank you to everyone who made it possible, and thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat, trade zines, or buy something from me. 🥰 I’ll say a little more about the warm fuzzy feelings the fest gave me, but first…
Not enough zines in your life? Bay Area Queer Zine Fest continues!
Alongside many queer zinesters in the Bay Area, I have a virtual table at BAQZF, now thru September 14! There is a wide array of creative folks showcasing their work online, so I recommend taking a peek at all the virtual tables instead of doomscrolling this week.
If you prefer the IRL stuff to the URL stuff, there's an in-person event on September 14th as described in the poster (and alt text). I hope to be able to pop by, so reply to this email if you think you'll be going 😊
New stuff: dragon eye pins + pastel zines!
Items debuted at SFZF2025 included button pin versions of my colored pencil illustration “Smaug”, which were a huge hit among kids and adults alike. Previously I had tried making these pins but wasn’t sure if people would like them, and needless to say it was fun to be proven wrong.
Last newsletter edition I was super excited about neon printing paper, but this time let’s pause for a moment to appreciate pastel printing paper. I now have printed copies of mini-zines “What to read when you’re in the hospital” and “Hospital self-care essentials you may forget (or really want later)” in baby blue and mint green, respectively.
Why these colors? First, I tend to find cool colors more soothing, and these mini-zines intend to be helpful and calming. Second, if you’ve spent any amount of time in a hospital setting, you’ll notice how these kinds of colors crop up — hospital gowns, surgical scrubs, grippy socks, etc. Heck, even surgical masks are a shade of pastel blue. I wanted to evoke those colors in an approachable format.
SF Zine Fest: a place for weird little guys (complimentary)
SFZF was my first time selling primarily zines at an event, and my first time vending at a zine fest. While I had attended zine fests before, and as such had an idea of what kinds of people and vibes to expect, I was quite nervous about the whole endeavor: will my work resonate with people? Will my table decor be up to snuff? Furthermore, this was my first time vending at all in 2025 due to various medical circumstances, so I felt quite out of practice. Fortunately, due to surgery recovery, I had extra down time to prepare my table, print lots of zines, and otherwise get my shit together.
The fest itself was intense but fantastic. I hadn’t seen so many zines in one place before (truly a danger zone for my wallet). I saw so many unique art styles, zine topics, and booth decor…it was both intimidating and inspiring, but mostly inspiring. I made several zine trades and one button pin trade. Let’s not forget how much a zine fest is a fashion event, too! The fits did not disappoint. The organizers estimate that there were ~3500 attendees, 231 exhibitors, 35 volunteers, and 6 organizers. What a monumental event, especially given how tiny the organizing team was!
The conversations I had with attendees and fellow exhibitors alike were the warmest I’ve had at any event where I’ve been an exhibitor. People attended to see and purchase the creative wares, but also to connect. Tbh I’m used to more transactional conversations and judgmental appraisals of my items, but I found more people here willing to stop by, ask questions, and interact with me as a person. I commiserated with people about chronic illness; I learned about new bands and clothing makers; I discussed how gen AI impacted someone’s business; I heard the stories behind the zines made by folks I traded with. Perhaps this had something to do with zines requiring a little more interaction than, say, an image; perhaps it had something to do with my work heavily leaning into personal experience and difficult subjects. As with most things, it was probably the combined effect of multiple components.
I would ascribe some of the depth of discussion to the communal aspect of zine-making, but I wonder how much of this reflects on our moment in time, too. People are tired of infinitely scrolling social media platforms that are increasingly consolidated into the hands of billionaires, surveilled by government entities, and manipulated to censor marginalized people. Online we see more from brands than we do our friends. Artists are exasperated after years of constraining their work and expression to feed the algorithms. More journalists, among others, are starting their own newsletters and publications; independent publishing is on the rise. Taken together, it’s no wonder zines are making a comeback; heck, even WIRED wrote about the value of making zines in 2025. It’s cheap and easy to distribute a zine, and the physicality of it speaks to those of us who want less life to happen on a screen.
It’s trite to say it, but people want to connect more with each other, especially when creeping authoritarianism is designed to make us feel alone and powerless. Zines are one way we can counter that. There are lots of zines sharing important information and resources, as well as distributing the artwork of people whose voices may soon be erased. Zines are, let’s be honest, one of the best mediums in which to be yourself in all the wildest ways you can imagine; I’ve written previously about how much I think weird art is crucial at this moment in time. In their niche glory, zines are a means to share ways you’re a weird little guy, and it’s a joy like no other to find other weird little guys who like the same weird little stuff you do (my best-selling item at SFZF was my very silly poem zine “This could’ve been a zine”).
I can feel the suds rising as I stand on my soap box, but I think you get the idea. SFZF was an incredibly rich and human experience that gave me hope and joy, and I hope this inspires you to look into zine fests and zine-making near you!
Latest inspo
I’ll keep it brief since I shared lots of queer zinesters above, as well as a link to a Canadian zine press (does this make the newsletter a scavenger hunt now?)
I’m obsessed with button pins from Word for Word Factory. I just bought a few at long last. A lot of their pins are statement pieces about this moment in history, but they also have lots of bookish, queer, and chronic illness themes throughout.