PLAINTEXT DISPATCH 05 : GZF Report!
PLAINTEXT DISPATCH 05 : GZF Report
Welcome to the Plaintext Dispatch list. This is an email list for the Plaintext Distro, a digital zine distro specializing in low-tech, DIY, game dev and anti-capitalist zines.
LOOKING BACK ON OUR FIRST DIGITAL TABLE
A bit ago, I sent out a quick email to let everyone know the zines sold during Glasgow Zine Fair have been mailed. I hope they will all be arriving with you soon!
For our GZF digital table, we featured zines by 5 creators, and received over 20 orders. The orders consisted of around 146 zines total, and around half went locally to the UK, while the others went to places across Europe and North America.
This was a great result that really impressed me for my first time tabling digitally and tabling as a distro project rather than just presenting my own work.
So, after transaction fees, the total intake of the zine table was £274.34. The suggested tabling fee for GZF was £20, so I took care of that. Additionally, the print order ended up costing £121.33, and postage and packaging costs came to £82.89. If you subtract all this from the total, it comes to £50.12.
After reaching an agreement with all of the creators, I made a £50 donation to Remade Network, a Glasgow-based repair hub that teaches tech repair skills, ensures safe e-waste reuse and disposal for the local community, and provides computers for community organizations as well as vulnerable populations, like the elderly and asylum seekers, in need. I thought it fit well with the themes of low tech and sustainable practices that the distro supports, and everyone agreed!
Thank you to everyone who contributed their work or purchased zines to make all this possible!
WHAT NEXT?
There's no upcoming digital zine events that I'm aware of. As lockdown restrictions begin to let up, zine fairs like the one in Dundee may start happening in person! I'd be interested to try an in-person zine fair with this project, once it's safe and I'm fully vaccinated, because it would reduce the overhead costs of having to make a print order (rather than copying/assembling the zines myself at the library) and shipping (which was tricky to do with the Paypal button system and a large cost), which were the biggest complications and expenses this time.
So for now, we have no concrete plans, but this is a project I'd like to keep alive for any forthcoming zine events that happen in my area or online circles. If you have a zine you'd like me to add to our offerings in the meantime, let me know!
HMM... WHAT ELSE?
I wrote a short review of some zines I got from GZF on my personal blog! Have you read anything good lately?
Thanks for reading! And of course, feel free to get in touch by replying to this email if you have any questions.
~Em