The Zine Connection

Zine
Title:	The Zine Connection
Publisher:	FireTrine Press
Editor(s):	Jean Hinson
Type:	adzine, fanzine index
Date(s):	January 1991 to May/June 1995
Medium:	print
Fandom:	multimedia
Language:	English
External Links:
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The Zine Connection is an adzine published by Jean Hinson.

From an ad in The Monthly: "A bi-monthly adzine covering all aspects of fandom, from gen to K/S. No frilss, no bells, no whistles, just ads and an occasion review. Personal sales and notices welcome."

It ran for 34 issues between January 1991 and May/June 1995.

from a December 1992 article by Susan M. Garrett in A Writers' Exchange #5

Description

Zine Connection runs ads by press/publisher (like Zine Scene), but it does not separate fandoms whatsoever. The print's tiny, but Zine Connection is certainly the cheapest and timeliest of the lot, coming out every other month, and with only one exception (the recent earthquake) is always on time. Although TZC does not list as many as any of those listed above, it does have by far the most complete K/S zine listing of any of the adzines.

The End of the Line

This adzine ceased in May/June 1995.

In July 1995 (several months too late), a fan implored fans to support this zine, and others by Jean Hinson so that Hinson didn't gafiate.

Everyone: Just wanted to pas on some disturbing news that recently reached me. One of our most consistent and enduring zine editors is thinking of ceasing publication due to lack of orders and more importantly, lack of interest.

Jean Hinson, who publishers Way of the Warrior and "The Zine Connection" among others, under the name FireTrine Press is considering getting out of fan publishing.

How about sending a SASE for some flyers, If not, how about just dropping her a line to tell her how much you have appreciated her zines in the past and want her to continue.

Zine editors: Jean cannot keep tZC up to date without you sending periodic updates on your publications.

See last page of CT for her address. Come on people, lets keep Jean in fandom.

Issue 1

The Zine Connection 1 was published in January 1991.

Issue 10

The Zine Connection 10 was published in May/June 1991 and contains 34 pages.

It contains a reviews of:

• • Paean to Priapus #2, see that page
  • Quantum Mechanics, see that page

• 

  front cover of issue #10

Issue 14

The Zine Connection 14 was published in Jan/Mar 1992 and contains 34 pages.

It contains a reviews of:

• • Perestroika, see that page
  • Oblaque #5, see that page

• 

  front cover of issue #14

Issue 15

The Zine Connection 15 was published in Mar/Apr 1992 and contains 34 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #15

Issue 16

The Zine Connection 16 was published in May/Jun 1992 and contains 42 pages.

It contains reviews of:

• • Nightmare Road, see that page
  • Resistance #6, see that page
  • Other Times and Places #2, see that page

• 

  front cover of issue #16

Issue 17

The Zine Connection 17 was published in Jul/Aug 1992 and contains 42 pages.

It contains reviews of:

• • Mates #1, see that page
  • Bene Dictum #1, see that page

• 

  front cover of issue #17

Issue 18

The Zine Connection 18 was published in Sep/Oct 1992 and contains 46 pages.

It has an ad for The Zine-Taping Service for Blind and Print-Handicapped Fans.

It contains a review of Off the Wall, see that page.

• 

  front cover of issue #18

Issue 19

The Zine Connection 19 was published in Nov/Dec 1992 and contains 42 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #19

Issue 20

The Zine Connection 20 was published in Jan/Feb 1993.

Issue 121

The Zine Connection 21 was published in Mar/April 1993.

Issue 22

The Zine Connection 22 was published in May/June 1993.

This issue contains a long letter by Alexis Fegan Black regarding zine pirating. For more on this see, Open Letter to Fandom by Alexis Fegan Black Regarding Zine Pirating.

Issue 23

The Zine Connection 23 was published in July/August 1993 and contains 35 pages.

front cover of issue #23

The editorial:

First, I want to thank all of you who responded to the letters in last issue of TZC concerning pirating. Your reaction was, to my mild surprise, nearly all positive, and some of you appeared to be shocked that the practice is so widespread. Your expressed support of legitimate zine editors is greatly appreciated; most of you obviously understand the problem we face, trying to continue publishing in the face of a diminishing market for our product. We can only hold the line against pirating with your help: you are, after all, the controlling factor---the purchasers.

In this issue, in the interests of fairness (though I don't agree with all her comments), I have printed a letter received from Candace Pulleine of the RevelCon committee. Her assertion that observations of zine pirating at RevelCon amount to a "smear campaign" of the whole membership and the con itself seem to me to be a bit overreactive.

A while back, according to Bill Hupe, zine copying became so prevalent at MediaWest that members were bringing their own xerox machines to do large scale copying in their rooms. When the problem was brought to his attention, he took steps to halt the practice. No one blamed MediaWest, or Bill Hupe, nor least of all the whole membership. In the same vein, Reveleon was noted merely as the PLACE where the problem occurred; no one intimated that the whole membershjp was involved, so her references to "libel" and "smear campaigns" seem a bit explosive....

The fact remains that either the events Bill Hupe observed took place, or he is lying (which is highly unlikely); because we don't know the names of the people who were doing it doesn't mean it isn't true.

• the usual ads
• a long letter by a Russian person who wanted to exchange postcards
• a review of Outrider, see that page

Issue 24

The Zine Connection 24 was published in Sept/Oct 1993 and contains 34 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #24

Issue 25

The Zine Connection 25 was published in Nov/Dec 1993 and contains 34 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #25

Issue 26

The Zine Connection 26 was published in Jan/Feb 1994 and contains 30 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #26

Issue 27

The Zine Connection 27 was published in March/April 1994 and contains 26 pages.

• the usual ads
• a review of The Extremists, see that page

• 

  front cover of issue #27

Issue 28

The Zine Connection 28 was published in May/June 1994 and contains 30 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #28

Issue 29

The Zine Connection 29 was published in July/Aug 1994 and contains 30 pages.

• 

  front cover of issue #29

Issue 30

The Zine Connection 30 was published in Sept/Oct. 1994.

Issue 31

The Zine Connection 31 was published in Nov/Dec 1994.

Issue 32

The Zine Connection 28 was published in Jan/Feb 1995 and contains 30 pages.

This issue contains a review of Sojourns, see that page.

• 

  front cover of issue #32

Issue 33

The Zine Connection 33 was published in Mar/April 1995.

Issue 34

The Zine Connection 34 was published in May/June 1995 and contains 15 pages. It was likely the last issue.

front cover of issue #34

From the editorial:

For the past year or so. there appears to have been a falling off of interest in The Zine Connection. Each time I put out an issue. I print about five to eight fewer copies due to unrenewed subscriptions. It has now reached the point where I wonder if there is sufficient interest to continue it any further. I've been doing this for nearly six years now, through thick and thin (as all of you well know from my whining editorials) and fewer and fewer editors are even bothering to renew their ads lately.

I have not yet made a firm decision to discontinue The Zine Connection, but it will be made — one way or the other — before the next issue is out. If I do decide to drop it, all incomplete subscriptions will be refunded on a pro-rated basis of the number of issues remaining in the subscription. A strong factor in my decision will be new subs and renewals in the next two months. There will be at least one more issue, and I'll let you know then what I have decided.

At the same time, the steady downhill slide of zine sales has brought me to a place where I haven't the capital to invest in zines that gather dust for years before they sell (if ever). LoCs — response of any kind, for that matter — appears to be a thing of the past, and it's getting harder and harder to work in a vacuum. Consequently, as titles sell out, they will be discontinued. As for the proposed zines in progress (if you can call it that), see the Proposed section in this issue for details.