Where to Find Zines
| Related terms: | Zine |
| See also: | Searching for Fanworks on the Internet |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Finding fanzines can be tricky even in the age of the Internet. Here are some ways fans can use to find these ephemeral print materials.
Zines can be purchased at many cons. They can also usually be ordered and shipped by mail, either through the publisher directly or through an agent.
As of 2015, active agents or resellers for the sale of new fanzines include Requiem Publications. You will find the fanzine information listed on available fanzines in the infobox (upper right corner) for zines listed here on Fanlore. Fanlore has over 8,000 fanzine pages, sorted by fandom.
Other places to buy/sell both new and used fanzines:
- Zinelist mailing list
- SlashSwap mailing list.
- Fandom Swap mailing list
- Jim and Melody Rondeau agent fanzines online and at conventions for a small commission
- fan's private collections
- on eBay -- beware you may be charged 2-3x more than you would buying from fannish sources
Internet Archive Texts include many older fanzines and other fan-produced material along with books and professionally published books and magazines. Search on "zine" or "fanzine" there. The Archive's Open Library aims to provide free access to every book ever published.
If you're trying to track down a fanzine producer's website that has moved or gone away, try using the Wayback Machine. Ex: The Zine Zone (last updated in 2003) is archived here. You can also do a search here on Fanlore using the term "Fanzine Publisher".
In July 2009, the Media Fen was created as a clearinghouse for zine information, both what zines are currently in print and what new zines are seeking submissions. The site included a list of publishers and agents. However, that site went offline early 2010.
Fanzine Libraries
Some fans have created zine lending libraries to help their fellow fans.
Some public and university libraries also keep zine collections, though they use the term variously to include music zines, science fiction zines, media fanzines, or any amateur/underground publication.
Fanzine collections in the United States include University of Iowa Fanzine Archives, Bowling Green State University's Browne Popular Culture Library, the University of California - Riverside, and Temple University's Enterprising Women Collection and Paskow Science Fiction Collection. The University of Minnesota has a large Sherlock Holmes collection that includes Sherlockian journals. The National Library of Australia holds the Susan Smith-Clarke Fanzine Collection.