Zine Scene

You may be looking for the multifandom fiction zine, The Scene Zine.

Zine
Title:	Zine Scene
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Ann Wortham
Type:	adzine
Date(s):	March 1991-May 1993
Fandom:	multimedia
External Links:
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flyer

Zine Scene is a multifandom gen zine that functioned as an information clearing house for zines, conventions and other fannish activities. It was published quarterly on the 1st of March, June, September, and December.

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

By September 1992, this zine was printed by Bill Hupe. "We now publish Zine Scene on behalf of Anne Wortham, but we do not accept listings, nor compile it."

From a 1991 flyer:

Ashton Press announces the birth of a brand new ad zine!!! Having trouble finding that great zine everyone is talking about? Can't locate fanzines and merchandise related to your favorite fandom? Want to get to know other fans through the mail? Interesting in submitting your artwork or prose but don't know where to send it? What you need is ZINE SCENE to answer all of your questions!

All you editors out there! Having trouble locating your market? Send me your ads! There are literally hundreds of fans desperately searching for you and your merchandise. Give them a central place to find you! Got t-shirts to sell? Buttons? Old zines? Anything at all fannish? Advertise all of them in ZINE SCENE!

All ads place in ZINE SCENE are free and there is no limit to the number of ads you can place. Also, no limit on the fandom(s) which you may advertise!!!! Any and all fandoms will be happily carried in ZINE SCENE!!

[snipped]

Once again, advertising space is free and there is no limit to the number of ads an editor may place. Please limit personal ads to one per issue. Please keep the length of your ads within reason. Make sure you send me a written ad, not a flyer. I will not write your ads from a flyer!!!

Deadline for submitting ad copy to the first issue of ZINE SCENE is April 15, 1991. If enough ads are received in time, the first issue will be available at MEDIAWEST CON '91. ZINE SCENE will be published quarterly thereafter.

Relationship With "IMHO*"

Fans who had had outstanding subscriptions to "Zine Scene" when it ended could transfer one issue to the Blake's 7 reviewzine IMHO*, another zine produced by Ann Wortham.

From the second issue: "Special Offer. If you have outstanding copies of Zine Scene due to you, you may transfer your subscription to IMHO*. If you are owed more than one copy of Zine Scene, you may ask that only one issue be transferred to IMHO* and still retain the rest of your subscription to Zine Scene, as well. Please contact me with instructions and we'll work it out."

Regarding Zine Reviews

From the editorial in the third issue:

ZINE SCENE welcomes zine reviews from all and sundry and offers a contributor's copy of an issue if your review is published. Please note that the opinions expressed in reviews are that of the reviewer only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone else associated with ZINE SCENE. If you read a review here that you disagree with, we invite you to submit a review of your own to counter it! When submitting a review, please remember to list the name of the zine you are reviewing, the editor's name, the address where the zine may be ordered and, preferably, the price of the zine(if you know it). An indication of what fandom the zine covers and whether or not it contains adult material would also be appreciated.

V.1 N.1

Zine Scene V.1 N. 1 was published in March 1991.

V.1 N.2

Zine Scene V.1 N. 2 was published in June 1991.

V.1 N.3

Zine Scene V.1 N. 3 was published in September 1991.

V.1 N.4

Zine Scene V.1 N.4 was to have been published in December 1991 but was canceled. See the next issue for the reasons.

V.2 N.1

Zine Scene V.2 N.1 was published in March/April/May 1992 and contains 100 pages. It contains one illo by Leah Rosenthal.

front page of v.2 n.1

NOTE: this zine was to be published quarterly, yet the editor calls this the "third mammoth issue of ZINE SCENE." The reasons for this are in the editor's personal statement at the beginning and end of the zine: "For those of you who are wondering what happened to the December issue of ZINE SCENE, please read my Ashton Press newsletter which appears at the end of this issue. I have a little bit of an update here, though. I've changed printers and will hopefully not experience any further difficulties in that area.

In fact, I have three printers to fall back now. Also, the next issue of ZINE SCENE will be printed on a computer! I'm hoping to find some new ways of formatting the issues which may save space (and therefore money). Unfortunately, my word processor disks won't translate to the computer so the June issue will have to be completely re-typed. It's a good time for you editors to renew your ads! In any case, for those of you who missed the December issue, I have adjusted your subscriptions so that you will receive the number of issues you are entitled to."

Contents:

• zine ads
• proposed zines
• a short fannish etiquette question and answer column
• personal statements (apologies for late zines, fans looking for other fans)
• "My Two Cents" by Rachelle S—an essay on "how much time is reasonable to allow for the delivery of zines." It includes her statement of policy regarding zine orders sent to her and starts with "Zine publishing is starting to become work, and I ALREADY have a full time job. To restore zines to hobby status..."
• a very, very long personal statement by the editor on the many events in her life during the last few months and why zines have been late
• a review of Who You Gonna Call?, see that page
• a review of Hibernation Sickness, see that page
• a review of The Fantastically Fundamentally Functional Guide to Fandom, see that page
• a review of Eridani, issues #1-#13, see that page
• a review of Rerun #9, see that page
• a review of The Kuryakin File #9, see that page

From "My Two Cents":

I read with interest the ongoing debate about how much time is reasonable 'to allow for delivery of zines. As a reader, editor, and publisher of fan fiction for eight years or so, I have noticed some disturbing trends of late...

[much snipped]

I believe that if readers were better informed, they would come to understanding just what a massive undertaking publishing a zine is, how time consuming and oft-times, frustrating. That batch of zines that had to have the last 20 pages reprinted because the printer dropped a page, or the blizzard that prevented the order from being picked up for over a week, or the computer that died, or the author who didn't get the rewrite back until the last minute, or the art that never showed up, ad nauseum, are not rare occurrences. Seven and a half weeks? I aim for 6 to 8 weeks and figure if I can get the zines to the readers earlier, they'll be thrilled, and I'll look real good. I no longer have my zines printed locally—too expensive—so I first have to send the orders I receive to my distributor who mails the zines. I bank the checks, write out mailing labels for the orders, then mail the labels and money for postage to my distributor-done once a week or every two weeks, depending on how fast the orders come in—who then binds the zines and mails them out, according to when she can get to the post office. That we can accomplish this within the weight week time frame is sometimes a miracle. No, I do not think 6 to 8 weeks is unreasonable. I buy zines, too. I know how impatient one can get when one is eager to read a new zine. I have also had to deal with contributors who are impatient to see their efforts in print.

A while back, I figured I was doing this to reach an audience. I was writing, anyway, and contributing didn't seem to be enough. I discovered I enjoyed it. I like putting a zine together. If I sell 50 or 100 copies, it's all the same to me. If the only copies I print are for the contributors and the five or six other people who want to read the zine, that's all right, too. Maybe I've become jaded, but I've learned to take praise with a grain of salt, same as criticism and even, insults. I have found that some people will love anything that features their favorite character and I've been criticized for not featuring one character in a series over another. I do this for fun. If people want to read what I write and/or print, that's nice. If they want to pay for those zines, that's gravy. My goal is for the zines to pay for themselves, or at least, to keep the deficit small. This is supposed to be a hobby. I get enough aggravation on my job.

V.2 N.2

Zine Scene V.2 N.2

According to the previous issue, it was to have reviews of P.K.E. Readings #2, Knight of Shadows, For Those Who Came in Late, South of Heaven, Zen and the Art of Rebellion, and Out of the Frying Pan.

Reactions and Reviews

By far the largest and most complete of the adzines, Zine Scene does run longer ads than the others. If it's printed, you can probably find it in Zine Scene. Due to printing problems, the winter issue was skipped, but otherwise Zine Scene does tend to run more or less on schedule.