The Unofficial Fan Fiction Fan Zine Price Guide
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Unofficial Fan Fiction Fan Zine Price Guide |
| Publisher: | Starborne Press |
| Editor(s): | Margaret Basta |
| Type: | |
| Date(s): | 2008 |
| Fandom: | multimedia |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Unofficial Fan Fiction Fan Zine Price Guide is a 109-page zine resource by Margaret Basta.
From the Publisher
This price guide is only for fan fiction fanzines based upon the universes created by television, movies or novels. FEATURING: STAR GATE SG1 and STAR GATE ATLANTIS All the STAR TREKS: the original series, Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, Enterprise, and various mythic offshoots such as Kraith and Klingons. All the STAR WARS movies. Other MAJOR FANZINE FANDOMS INCLUDE: THE AVENGERS, BABYLON 5, all the BATTLESTAR GALACTICAs, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, BLAKE'S 7, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL, CSI, DARK SHADOWS, DOCTOR WHO, DUE SOUTH, THE EQUALIZER, FARSCAPE, FIREFLY, FOREVER KNIGHT, MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., 007, THE PROFESSIONALS, QUANTUM LEAP, RAT PATROL, REMINGTON STEELE, ROBIN OF SHERWOOD, SEA QUEST, SENTINEL, SIMON & SIMON, SMALLVILLE, SPACE 1999, STARSKY & HUTCH, SUPERNATURAL, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, WILD WILD WEST, X FILES and many more!
109 pages with over 8000 price listings including: New prices, used prices, eBay SOLD prices, what zines sold for at conventions, original publication prices and UNSOLD eBay prices too! Some of the publication and convention data goes back to the mid-1980s. You get the zine title, number of issues (if known), fandom(s), whether or not the fanzine is for general audiences, adult audiences or slash (same sex adult) audiences. For most listings you get the source(s). Also the high and the low dollar amounts. For many zines the are multiple prices and sources - including different prices from different dealers for the same zine! For some zines, perhaps only one source is cited. All prices are in U.S. dollars.
This list is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to every fanzine that was ever published. It is only a guide listing all the fanzines that STARBORNE PRESS has encountered along the way. This price guide does not include fan club data (with a few exceptions when the fan newsletters did include fan fiction), commercially published listings, genre zines such as punk rock or horror films, etc.
THE UNOFFICIAL PRICE GUIDE TO FAN FICTION FANZINES is solely intended as a guide line for people thinking about buying or selling fanzines.
From the Zine
... But with eBay, I included the postage costs in the price. In general, all prices Include the postage, especially the "New" and "Used" listings. However, there is one major exception - the Agent with Style, (AWS) Misti Frank. Since she sells the majority of her zines at conventions, her zines do not include postage.
Per title, the first amount listed is the highest amount that I found for the zine. All those that come after that, are other sale prices. In general, most zines have new or used prices, as well as sold/unsold eBay prices. I also rounded up/down the doilar amounts. Not every zine has every issue number listed, since I never uncovered that information. But you can usually guess an approximate retail price based on what the other retail prices were for different issues. All prices are in US dollars.
"FF" stands for "Fan Fund" donation. This means that the zine did not sell, and that the seller did not want the zine returned. So then this zine was donated to the Fan Fund, where these unsold zines usually get a $1,00 donation. The "FF" does not mean that it is a lousy zine that nobody wants. It just simply means that at this specific convention, no one was buying zines in that fandom.
eBay: ALL eBay prices are from May 1, 2007 to April 30, 2008. I did not get every sold price for a zine because of the way eBay deletes its sales figures, but I did get quite a few.
I worked for a major auction house for 16 years, so I understand the psychology of bidding rather well. The auction world knows that when one person bids on an item, the item is a bargain.. When two or more people bid, then you make money. How to bid on eBay has already had many volumes written about it. But the bidder must understand that there is such a thing as auction fever. The competition of the chase can get in the way of common sense.
When you go to bid on an item, know your limits - and oe sure to check the shipping and handling charges. There are some dealers, especially in the jewelry markets, that are even adding a buyer's premium to the eBay bidding. If the buyer's premium (aka BP) is 15%, then if you bid $100 on an item, you are actually bidding $115.00 PLUS the shipping and handling and applicable taxes. Go in with your eyes wide open, and read what the seller posts about each item.
When you go to sell an item, figure out the price that you want for the zine. And then ask yourself if you really want to keep the zine if you get a bid for $1 less than your reserve. I have found, over the years, that listing auction items without reserves is usually the best way to sell something ...especially if the items are books or zines and you plan on moving soon...
On eBay, there are quite a number of sellers that seem to be making their profits of off shipping and handling. I've actually seen a few zines that sold for $10 but the shipping and handle fees were S69.95. So, should this sold zine be listed as a $10 zine or $80? I have listed them as $60 sales.
There are some comic book, collectible, and book sellers on eBay that do not have a clue as to the actual value of the zine - or even as to what a fanzine is. These dealers place very high reserve or buy-it-now prices, and oftentimes, very high shipping and handling charges on their listings, I have listed these prices as "UNSOLD" just to give you an idea of what can happen on eBay, Too many dealers think that a ST or SLASH zine should be priced outrageously, regardless of its quality or availability. What's worse is that there are several dealers who keep re-listing the same, unsold zines. But they keep raising the price of the zine to cover their eBay fees. I suppose that sooner or later someone does buy something which is why they keep fishing.
Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason to their pricing. I've seen a $50 starting price for zines that recently sold for $5 on eBay. All sellers would like high prices, but you can't pluck the buyers out of thin air, especially if the zine is currently in print elsewhere on the net, with a new price that is considerably lower than the eBay estimate.
Price does not necessarily reflect the quality of the zine. But printing costs do matter. If a new zine is published with color artwork, it's not surprising to see a $30+ price tag now. Or as many fanzine collectors know: Drugs would be cheaper.."
You will notice that for certain titles, I have more than one source selling the zine. It is sort of 'buyer beware' jungle out there when it comes to zine prices - especially used zine prices. In a few cases, the used price is higher than what the current new price is. Go figure. And some dealers, such as MELODY & JIM RONDEAU (MR) who have been selling zines for decades, have different prices for the same title. Oftentimes, condition of the zine is the cause for the difference. Or that a 1" printing had elaborate and expensive artwork, but subsequent printings did not have the artwork.
And then a dealer such as AGENT WITH STYLE (AWS), literally ships hundreds of zines to various cons around the country. When you consider the cost of gasoline, her prices are more than fair -especially if you compare her price to the price of the zine plus priority postage. She provides a terrific service to fans attending conventions. You can even pre-order zines in advance at her website. All the flyers in the world cannot really tell you what a zine is like until you grasp the zine in your hot little hands, perhaps mumbling "my precious...". With AWS, you get a chance to see what's available, all in the same place. And you don't have to worry about the ordered zines getting lost in the mail. Though what Homeland Security and the airlines might do to your luogage going home, is another terrifying thought.
The new "Hot" fandoms such as LOST or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, have very little in print probably because their fan fiction is on the web. And since some of these shows are actually filming all of the scenes that fans really want to see, the fannish need to rewrite tv isn't quite as compelling as it is with other shows like REMINGTON STEELE.
There are some publishers editing and printing web stories for fanzines too.
Many long- time zine publishers such as ORION PRESS, now have internet archives for some of their zine content.
What is a fan fiction fanzine? It is fiction written by fans based in specific TV or movie universe(s) that include stories about characters that live in these unive. Original characters can be added. (See the brilliant and beautiful Mary Sue race her horse around the captain's chair of the Enterprise, as alt who look upon her fall in love!) Impossible situations can be created. IIlya and Napoleon in the Renaissance! Dr. Who on board the Enterprise! All of them!) And then there are the Hurt/Comfort (H/C) stories, that hurt so bad it's good...
Fan Fic started out in the ST fandom as a place to write the scenes that we'd like to see but were never done. Then the Vulcan mythology took off, followed by the Klingons, and a new, vast literary universe was being created by its fans for its fans, (To this day, corporate mundane still don't get it...).
Fan Fic branched out. You had the relation shippers (aka 'shippers') who want to bring various couples of the opposite or same sexes together. Spock and Christine. Kirk and Spock. Remington and Laura. Beverly and Jean Luc. Bodie and Doyle. Jack and Samantha, Jack and Daniel, etc., etc., etc.
You had the writers that were compelled to do the stories of action, adventure and intrigue that should have been done but weren't. You also have the writers who wrote novels that Pocketbooks should have bought but never did. (When you pour your soul into a novel and it gets rejected, your efforts just have to be printed someplace.) You also have the really weird - but that is why we have fan fic.
Then along came the Alternate Universe writers who saw no reason why IIlya and Napoleon couldn't meet Machiavelli and Captain Kirk. And of course, the ST Mirror universe was a major influence. In fact, the very first ST fanzine to ever get a Hugo nomination back in 1974 was Laura Trise Basta-Sandler's Federation and Empire series that was published in BABEL. Trust me, a woman AND a ST fan getting any kind of Hugo nomination was a very big thing back then.
Then the internet happened. And fan fiction exploded. You now have writers uploading their precious stories without editors or even beta readers to catch the plot, factual or historical (hysterica?) errors, and the you really don't know much about what you're writing about bloopers, etc. Harlan Ellison's 95% shit, 3% perspiration and 2% inspiration/genius analogy for writers applies to fan fiction on the net. You still have to wade through a lot of stories in order to find something readable, much less good. But there still is good out there.
Fan Fiction has produced many professional writers over the years - fanzines with its readers and critiques, are a great way to leam the craft of writing. Many fannish writers now have Hugos of their own as well as NY TIMES best seller listings. Some of these writers are Jacqueline Lichtenberg, David Gerrold, Peter David, Sue Garrett, Sue Krinard, Vonda Mclntyre, Nancy Nivling writing as Cat Grant, Barbra Hambly, William Koenig, Diane Carey, Michael Jan Friedman, and many more. And some of them, to this day, still do fan fic on the side, because they need that outlet for their creativity without the restrictions of editors, publishers and lawyers.
Fanzines also were a great training course for artists. It's been a pleasure, over the years, to see certain artists that started out with talent, grow to become great artists. Some even make money at it too now. Sue Lovett, Jean Kluge, Karen River, Jayne Largent, John Benson, the late Warren Oddsson, Jessie McClain, Mike Kucharski, Leah Rosenthal, Terry Austin, Alicia Austin, the late Frank Liltz, Gordon Carleton, etc., are just a few of the artists that come to mind.
One of the chief drawbacks to fan fic on the net is that the outlet for fannish artwork doesn't really exist there. Many artists still do fannish art. But I fear that the younger artists don't realize that that there are editors, con art shows and people, willing to buy and or publish their fannish art. Frak.
But when the lights go out, or when your lap top battery dies, nothing beats being able to pull a zine out and reading it.