Reading Wednesday

[frandroid]

CW: anorexia, substance dependency

What have you finished reading?

That damn Build book by Tony Fadell. I mean every tech manager/owner and wannabe startup person should read this, it's a smart book that basically says empathy is the way to develop products and run companies. I've just been dragging it out.

What are you currently reading?

While I sell a bunch of zines, I actually collect microzines in particular, so I've been reading some of these recently, but nothing that really stands out other than Kawai Shen's BFF. Shen is the queen of microzines and she's right here in Toronto. She's a real treasure. Anyway BFF is about anorexia and substance abuse maybe? 8 great mini pages. Unfortunately I think I only sold one copy in the last couple fairs. Some of the best zines don't leave the table because the cover doesn't scream about what's inside.

There's a dark blue-ish hardcover staring at me on my night table. I might have to stare right back at it.

Comments

[sabotabby]

I found that the most stressful thing about 'zine fairs. I wish I knew then what I know now about cover design, but I still never can manage the style that flies off the table.

[frandroid]

At least you had a catchy title :)

[sabotabby]

Well, for one of my books, anyway.

[frandroid]

Oh I was talking about zines, I meant Ye Drunken Sailor!! L:)

[sabotabby]

Oh, lol. I don't think, in hindsight, that was a great title. But many disagree.

[frandroid]

CW: dying cat

It was original and got people's attention... Even if it's not representative, that's half the battle.

There's this zinester Five Seventeen who was positing that if you included some popular keywords in your title, like punk/sick/sex/cat/etc (I don't recall the rest of the list, I heard of it second hand) you had a good chance of getting your zine picked up, so one of his most popular zines was "My Cat's More Punk Than Yours", where "punk" was in the "sick" sense and it was about his cat's last weeks as it was dying of some disease. So huh, lots of people put the zine back down, but some did buy it. :P

[sabotabby]

Yeah it's true. And a certain size and aesthetic. People like things that are small and cute. I'm small and cute but not in the right way.