Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Resource for Zines and Zine Culture

Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Resource for Zines and Zine Culture

by alex wrekk Author

OUT OF PRINT! Looking for a zine history and how-to? Check out Make a Zine!

Alex Wrekk helped compile this DIY guide that teaches how to make zines, understand zine culture, and make your own zine related crafts. The stuff you know, stuff you don't know, stuff you didn't know you knew. Just about everything with a focus on zines. Tips and tricks for photocopying, doing creative layouts, mail art, zine etiquette, how to deal with distros, making paper, starting/working a distro, how to put out a record, how to make your own envelopes and stationary, binding ideas, advertising ideas, cures for writers block and tons more. Now a perfect bound book with a new layout including how to create/find zine libraries, an updated list of zine distributors and stores (as well as how to approach them), how to go on tour with your zine, and an even more extensive resource list than previously! An indispensable guide for zine makers and fans. ISBN # * new 3rd edition has 32 extra pages of distributor listings, stores, places to submit work for print, and libraries that work with zines.

Comments & Reviews

1/10/2007

I read this cover to cover. I gave it away for a holiday gift along with the DVD "$100 and a T-Shirt" plus some zines. Now I miss it and have to buy it again!

1/3/2007

This book could make any person on the face of the world want to make a zine! It's small, informative and an absolute bargain too! Alex is an inspiration to the female of the species and she packs in everything you could possibly want to know about creating your own zine"

4/16/2006

As worth the four bucks as it is pocket-friendly.

10/19/2005

The first item you should buy from this website! This helpful resource guide is essential for any zinester or DIY-er. I spent a good 2 hours being constantly wowed at all the information compiled in 160 pages.

10/3/2005

I bought a copy of $30 Writting School.. it's by a guy who, from my understanding and his writting, was pretty decent with the whole DIY thing in many ways.... his advice was good but this book helped me out so much more with it's basic guides and helpful hints. A MUST HAVE FOR ZINE CREATORS!

9/14/2005

Best book ever for zine related stuff I started a zine with the help of this little book and even have a patch with the copy and destroy logo which is on the back of that book. All in all its a great book

6/19/2005

The best 4 dollars I've spent in a long time!

5/7/2005

Great stuff in here! The best $4 you'll spend today!

If you're thinking about starting your own zine, distro, or printing your own book, you NEED this. Alex of Brainscan zine has tons of inspiring hints, with explanations for such things as silk screening, mail crafts, and even zinester etiquette. Check out the pattern for making your own envelopes.

Beyond the fact that I found SSR to be incredibly interesting, useful, and entertaining, I hold out the sad hope that this resource for zine makers will inspire and encourage folks to make better zines. SSR has suggestions and step by step instructions to improve every aspect of the zine creation process; from making your own paper to creative cover concepts, to finding distros. Not only is this little zine crammed full of information, but it?s all presented in a rad format that show these people know what?s up. Before you make another crappy zine take a look at this one. Hopefully you?ll be able to glean something from it that will make your project more of a success.

I found this zine really useful. Heaps of great ideas and suggestions here that inspired me and sparked some creativity in my warped mind.

This is a great tool for the beginner or the advanced zinester. There are a lot of helpful hints and ideas on where to get material for your zine. I especially liked the envelope templates, I now make envelops to ship my zine out in along with other practical uses i have strolled across for them.

From the intro: ?Stolen Sharpie Revolution is about DIY ethics. this zine is about looking at things and saying ?I can do that!? Well, I?m all for that attitude. This is a handy little resource for new zinesters, or ones who either need to brush up on their skills or are looking for some new tips. There?s even a table of contents (I?m sorry, but that always impresses me in a zine)! For those who are just into reading zines and not creating them, there?s an excellent list of tips for writing to zinesters. Most of these tips probably seem like common sense by now to veteran zinesters, but many people who are unfamiliar with zine etiquette probably would find them to be quite helpful. Other sections of this zine include a design skill share, tips on making copies, promotion ideas, distro etiquette, advice on navigating the USPS, and a lengthy list of zine distributors. Very well done!

Hell yeah. I want this to be required reading material for anyone who is thinking of writing a zine or starting a zine distro. Or maybe even anyone who wants to learn more about scamming Kinko's, learn new ways to bind zines, make handmade paper, or silkscreen. Alex Wrekk has put out a fantastic thick little resource guide to all this and more. The list of how-to's is too extensive to list all of them, but believe me that you won't be disapointed.

I'm excited about this! First of all - a great name. This is a quarter sized, offset printed zine that is compiled to help give useful info on how to embrace the do it yourself spirit of zine making. With tips constructing zines, making copies, handling mail, distro and promotion, people to network with. Alex is a zine queen - always making nice looking and good reading zines - and this is a commendable effort as well.

This is like the diy zinester bible. Great graphics and layout and amazingly informative. Zine creation tips (lots of neat tricks that you might not have thought of), blockprinting, silkscreening, papermaking, book binding, stenciling, scamming copies, zinester etiquette, mail crafts, and a huge list of distros, stores, and places to send zines for review. If you are interested in putting out a zine or if you need some inspiration this is for you. Even if you've been making zines for years there is something in here that'll help you out. This would also make a great gift for a friend you want to help get into making zines. wow wow wow!

Entering its third edition this is still the best zine resource book that you are likely to find. If this was submitted for a university course it'd get an A+. Amazing.

I reviewed the first edition, and, since I believe this is such a valuable resource, I?m reviewing the second one, too. Anyone who is interested in publishing a zine would do well to acquire a copy of this. In addition to the new layout and new perfect bound book format, Alex has included updates to both the resource list and zine distributors and stores section. New additions include sections on going on tour with your zine and how to compile issues of your zine into a book. Featured artistic advice includes instructions on block-printing, papermaking, screenprinting, and bookbinding. Other zine-related issues that are covered include printing costs, promotion, distribution, and zinester etiquette. There?s so much information here that both novice and seasoned zinesters alike will be able to make good use of this resource. Also, libraries that have zine collections and/or offer programs for teens on zines and zine-making will find this to be extremely helpful.

This is less a zine than it is a book, ISBN and all, but it feels like a zine and reads like a zine, and it's all about making zines. Well, making zines, starting a distro, info on mail rates, starting a zine library. Plus info on zine printing resources, finding new distros and there's even a guide on how to put out a record. I'd have to say this is a must read for anyone in the zine world, even those who have been at it for a long time can learn something here.

It's difficult to sift through the lovingly created zines that pile up in our library without grabbing paper and pens, hijacking the office copy machine, and printing my own. Now that I've stumbled upon Stolen Sharpie Revolution (Microcosm, 2005, third edition), Alex Wrekk's zine on making your own hand-crafted publication, I have no excuse not to. The DIY guide offers invaluable advice on creating, printing, and distributing zines. And if all that doodling, cutting, and pasting becomes overwhelming, you can always sit back and relax with a title ordered from the list of distros (distributors), bookstores, libraries, and websites compiled in Wrekk's resource appendix.

Alex is a goddess of the zine world. Brainscan is one of the rare books that tells a truly personal story that people care enough to read. But if Brainscan is a biography, SSR belongs in a non-fiction section.
Here Alex lends her years of expertise to zinester virgins (figuratively). She walks them through the gates and into the depths of a scene that has always frightened newcomers. In fact, this lesson is so thorough that if Portland High School taught a zine publishing class (and I'm sure this will happen soon) this will be its textbook.
Also included in this edition are how to start a zine library, how to start a distro, how to release a record, and 40+ reference pages of materials, events, and distros.

You know that saying of how the first Velvet Underground record didn’t
sell that well but for every copy sold a [new] band was formed? I keep my copy on with me at all times, if not for reference, then for inspiration.

The first Velvet Underground record didn’t sell that well but for every copy sold a [new] band was formed. I see this zine/book as doing the very same thing. I keep my copy on with me at all times, if not for reference, then for inspiration.

A bright red, pocket sized book chock full of info for the ins and outs of the DIY zine world. This little book is packed with information; how to make a zine, how to distribute it, how to correspond with folks and receive contributions, how to go on tour, how to put out a record, and more. There is also a section devoted to skill share for those interested in learning the basics of paper making, screen printing, book binding, and stencils. The back of the book includes a list of resources for zine distros around the world, stores that sell zines, zine libraries, and places that review zines. This is a wonderful resource for the zine maker at heart - well worth having for reference as well as a great example of comprehensive information wrapped into an easy to read, adaptable package. Highly recommended!