Zine Distribution?

So, you've made your first zine. Now what?

That depends on a couple things:

How large of an audience are you looking for?
Will you be making a series of zines or just one?

If you're looking for a local audience, your best bet is to do the leg work yourself. Go to your local bookstores or coffee shops (non-corporate... Starbucks is a "no") and ask them if they'd be interested in selling your zine. If they're into it, they'll ask you for a wholesale price, which will (in most cases) be half of whatever they end up selling it for.

(i.e. You want $2 for each one sold, they'll sell it for $4).

Another great way to gain the interest of your local stores, is to give the owner one for free! Leave your name, email and phone number, with a wholesale price & note saying to contact you if they're interested in carrying it. With your zine now in their hands, they can have time to take your zine home, read it over and digest.

Looking for a larger audience? Looking to start a monthly or a bi-annual zine? You might want to consider a distributor in this case. There are several distributors that specialize in low-cost, handmade zine distribution and getting independently published items into supportive stores and venues. The Zine & E-Zine Resource Guide has a list of great articles and links all about how to get your zine distributed.

If you're looking to pick up a book on the subject, I suggest Stolen Sharpie Revolution: Zine & DIY Resource Guide by Alex Wrekk. It has everything you need to know about how to make zines, zine culture and zine-related tips & tricks such as how to self-bind a zine, ideas for advertising in your zine, how to deal with distro, as well as a complete list of zine distributors. Alex Wrekk also has a regularly-updated blog you can follow with tons of zine-related info & events.