Against Publishing
The Gist
I’m increasing contributor pay. To help, Issue 3 of TRANSplants Zine is available for pre-order.
Essays Against Publishing
I’m two issues into TRANSplants, prepping to publish a third, and only now has Essays Against Publishing, a zine by Jamie Berrout, come to my attention.
I knew I was not original in what I have been doing with TRANSplants, but I didn't realize how much better it had already been done. Back in 2019, Jamie was sending out monthly zines written by trans women to an audience of subscribers using a structure that allowed her to pay them much better than what most current magazines do. Reading her essays outlining both her practical advice as well as underlying radical philosophy has inspired me. Anyone interested in disentangling writing and art from the current perversions of the modern industry should read her.
TRANSplants began because of a distant beckoning, a whisper of seduction, a strange far off flicker that I couldn't quite make out but knew I needed to hold in my hand until it burned through me. Mesmerized by vague possibility, I stepped off the ledge of the high cliff I found myself on so that I might get closer to what I glimpsed in the distance. As I fell, TRANSplants emerged, only half formed, and as the rocks rushed toward me, growing in size from pebbles to cobbles to boulders, I scrambled to add wings, and then as my fall became a glide, a way to steer it. After reading Jamie Berrout’s essays, I want to add a jet engine.
This is all to say: I want to pay contributors more. So far I've only been able to guarantee an upfront $10 + 2 copies with the promise of a profit split depending on sales. For issue 1 I ended up paying each contributor $45.
Going forward I would love to be able to promise at least $50 per contributor up front, ideally $100. To help manage costs I'll limit each issue to 6 contributors: three artists and three writers. It costs ~$1100 to print 300 copies in full color. Add in minor expenses for shipping supplies, credit card processing fees, web hosting, and shipping adjustments (I eat the increased cost on shipping when someone orders more than a single zine), and I estimate each zine run costs about $1800 to break even. I want to keep the cost reasonable for a zine, and therefore am reluctant to raise the per issue price above $10. While I am working on increasing distribution to independent bookstores, the standard 60:40 consignment split means that a $10 zine earns $6. So that means selling 180 zines outside of other distribution per print run.
A subscriber base would help me accomplish my goal of having a steady way to pay trans writers and artists more without relying on the fickleness and perverse incentives of grants, but is itself another overhead cost (buttondown requires a $30 per month subscription in order to offer subscriptions). If I end up with enough subscribers that this appears worth the overhead, I’ll definitely consider it, but for Issue 3, I instead am opening pre-orders several months in advance. I hope that this will allow me to at least cover up front payment to contributors, and then I will aim to earn back the printing and distribution costs over the course of several months via additional online and in person sales after release.
Place your pre-orders! Tell your friends! Submit something to me! I look forward to bringing Issue 3 into the world next year.